Tomb of Annihilation

July 30, 2022 by Adam in Adam's Games

Seraph, Robbie, Frankie, Jordan, Emma and I had a great first "real" session of Tomb of Annihilation.  It began by fending off pirates in which Seraph got the MVP award for setting fire to the most pirates at once.  The next big event was a dinosaur race through the streets of Port Nyanzaru.  It ended up being surprisingly fun for everyone.  Emma's character rode Jungle Princess over the finish line after a tense first part of the race.  Fortunately a touch of magic and Robbie's character foiling the other team's plans to sabotage the race all managed a win for the party.  Next up is getting together an expedition into the jungle - so many exciting places to visit!

Impending Nerdy Weekend

July 29, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's been a hot week where Joanna's been feeding chickens veggies and fruit embedded in a block of ice.  It's funny the things one does in times of crisis.  Otherwise it's been a relatively uneventful week, if full of appointments and such.  Ben's last day of summer school is today, so he'll have to do science on his own now.  I've been working away in the shed - so far the air conditioning is keeping up with the weather but we'll see how today goes.

It's also another big D&D weekend, with a game both Saturday and Sunday.  I think I'm all ready to go, with maps, notes and miniatures all ready to go.  I'm so caught up on miniatures that I'm printing things that I probably won't break out for a couple months or more.  Nice to feel prepared, though.

Fun-filled Weekend

July 25, 2022 by Adam in Family

It was a fairly full weekend in between projects and rushing around to various events.  Saturday Emma and I made soap with some of the oils and callendula petals she'd collected.  Joanna and I went to see The Trouble with Tribbles performed in the park, which was beautiful on so many levels.  I love watching people who are really into something share it with the world.

Sunday morning had Joanna, Emma, and I go to the fair to see the baby animals and crafts.  I ran into my old high school English teacher at the Society for Creative Anachronism booth.  We oohed and aahed at the various flowers and handmade items.  Eventually we wandered back home to escape the heat.  I helped Joanna make soap with lavender oil they'd collected.  Somewhere between all those things I managed to cook meals, do dishes and laundry, paint some miniatures, 3D print a dice tower for Emma, watch Emma play games, and do a little more D&D prep.  Whew!

I forgot I have tomorrow off work - another quirky Health Catalyst holiday.  Ben starts summer school today.  We're still waiting to hear about Duncan's program - theoretically it starts today but I suspect there's a delay.  It seems crazy that August is right around the corner.

Mocha Friday

July 22, 2022 by Adam in Family

The week has moved along.  I heard dad was back at work after his bout with COVID.  I picked up Emma, Jamie, and Judy at the train station after their California trip, delayed nearly five hours.  Emma was excited to go home to a bed that wasn't randomly moving around.  She's excited to come over today.

Duncan invited a good group of friends over for his birthday and they spent the evening playing Jackbox games and laughing.  I think he's going to start some more intensive therapy sessions next week, which he looks forward to.  Ben has a week of summer school starting Monday.  He was interested in taking some physics.  Hopefully he can pry himself away from his new obsession, Apex Legends, to make it to school.

As for me, I've been running kids around to appointments and slogging through yaml pipelines at work.  I think yaml stands for "yet another markup language," but the eytimology is murky.  Programmers aren't very good at documenting things.  I also took some Motivosity money from work and bought myself more silly D&D things for my players.  Maybe I'm just subconsiously trying to keep Seraph and Robbie in town by making the best D&D campaign ever.

Birthdays!

July 20, 2022 by Adam in Family

It's birthday season around here!  Yesterday I had a lovely day that included dinner with Joanna, delicious chocolate cake, fun presents, and playing games with Duncan and Ben.  I reserved Emma's present for her arrival from California today, just in time for Duncan's birthday festivities.  

I did work a little yesterday too, working through a bunch of incidents that came in since we now share an on call rotation.  That's something I did for decades, so it's a little sad it's coming back again.  Still, I know the drill and we don't usually get that many calls.

I'm somehow still excited for my upcoming D&D games the weekend after next.  I keep planning and printing 3D models.  I ordered a cute little Guide to Herbalism that I plan on letting Emma use in our jungle campaign.  Fun, fun.

Making Things

July 17, 2022 by Adam in Family

We've all been fretting about dad, but it sounds like he's slowly recovering from COVID, even though he feels pretty cruddy.  I've felt mildly under the weather all weekend myself, but nothing that a little mocha and Advil can't handle.

Emma's away in California with Jamie and her mom.  I've been doing assorted D&D prep projects, such as making a nice looking "how to explore the jungle" handbook for the players.  Joanna and I also tackled a couple projects.  First was repairing the sprinkler head I ran over.  Next was putting together a new little free library to replace the current one.  Joanna was also doing some tie dying, so I got to make myself a new tie dye shirt

The library project was surprisingly fun, satisfying to both use up material cluttering up the garage and make something creative and useful.  Who needs therapy when we can use four different power tools in an afternoon?

Elden Ring

July 16, 2022 by Adam in Adam's Games

I'd been playing Elden Ring non-stop for months, a great mix of challenging fights, exploration and character development.  Every sometimes frustrating boss opened up a new area to explore and Steam tells me I've played for 150 hours since I got it.

I'd gotten to the end boss of the game and kept throwing myself at it repeatedly, far more challenging for my character build than anyone else.  Fortunately there's a way to respec your character, so I read a guide, made a character, leveled my health up at farming site, and got through with just a sliver of health left.  I think my mimic dealt the killing blow, but that's good enough for me.

The ending I chose is full of spoilers for those who want to play the game, but it's so mysterious that it's hard to even say what it means.

Mocha Friday

July 15, 2022 by Adam in Family

Ben's friend and her mom didn't make it out of the Eugene airport last night, so we had unexpected guests and Ben had an extra day with his friend.  I was a little sniffly this morning, so I took a COVID test which ended up negative.  Little did I know that I'd enter a stage in my life where I kept stuffing things up my nose again.  Presumably senility will soon follow.

No big plans this weekend.  My D&D projects spiral out of control.  I've got miniatures to paint and I finished up taping together a big map of the jungle.  I don't want to neglect my nautical campaign either and I have a little planning there too.  Otherwise I'm hoping to spend some time with Joanna and maybe tidy up the house a bit.

Emma's on her train trip, texting me this morning "Don't you hate it when you wake up and you're suddenly in California?"  "That hasn't happened since college," I replied.

Midweek Changes

July 14, 2022 by Adam in Family

I've grown to accept that a quiet, boring life probably isn't going to happen.  The best I can do is write code from my little shed and listen to the chickens out my window.

Dad and Ana have COVID.  I haven't talked to him, but it sounds like he has a really sore throat and they're staying in bed.  Danica is having health issues again, so that's another worry added to the mix.  Emma is off to California on a train tonight.  Ben's friend returns to California after visiting a few days.  

I've been whiling away the evenings painting miniatures and watching shows.  We recently finished Stranger Things and have moved on to the Umbrella Academy.

Nerdy Weekend

July 12, 2022 by Adam in Family

I had one of those Saturday and Sunday D&D weekends, first with my well-established nautical campaign and the next our first session with the family group.  The nautical campaign went well, with two big fights - one underwater and the second a boarding action by shark pirates.  The first was harder than expected and the second easier.  That concludes the part of the campaign where I ignore the campaign book and do my own thing.  Next session it's back to the modules mostly as written.

The Sunday group was fun, with Jordan, Frankie, Seraph, Robbie, and Emma.  They worked on their characters and kicked off the adventure.  I got to reuse the ship models as they had to sail to the jungles they were going to explore.  Frankie had to leave early for work, but everyone else hung out to paint miniatures and the cigar boxes to contain all their stuff.  I'm spraying them this morning - they all turned out really well.

And in three more weeks, I have another back-to-back D&D weekend.  Thankfully Joanna still seems to like nerdy ol' me and baked some wonderful treats both days.

As for the rest of our lives, we're mostly doing okay.  Duncan seems to be doing a little better, though it's always hard to tell.  Emma's off on a train adventure with Jamie and her mom for a little over a week.  Ben has a friend visiting from out of town.  Summer has started in earnest and feels hotter every day.

Nerdy Mocha Friday

July 08, 2022 by Adam in Family

I'm rushing about, trying to get things ready for my D&D filled weekend.  I've got the nautical adventure happening Saturday afternoon and a new jungle adventure group on Sunday.  I suspect I'll fail at something or another, but everyone is good-natured and we have a good time anyway.

The week has moved along.  Work things are being accomplished, even though they feel pretty tricky at times.  Joanna and I had a nice date night.  We're both worrying about Duncan, who's been having a rough time lately.  It's hard to know when and how to get him more intensive support.

I've got endless prep for the weekend and need to start on dinner fairly soon.  Busy, busy.

Last Day of Vacation

July 06, 2022 by Adam in Family

I had three days off of work this week.  It's been a lovely, lazy five days of hanging out with kids, doing projects, and occasionally accomplishing something useful.  Emma hung out until today as well, so there was lots of art projects and game playing.

On the actual 4th of July Emma and I took the kayaks out to the mill race - it was bright and warm and full of wildlife along the slow path of the water.  Emma was full of funny commentary along the way and would occasionally rattle off the common name of a bird or dragonfly we came across.

Joanna and I had date night last night, and along with a walk we halfway finished a quirky art project involving plaster on a canvas.  Today we're supposed to get together and paint it.  Always entertaining.

I'm also prepping for my two D&D sessions this weekend.  I think I'm pretty ready to go, with all the miniatures printed, along with the dice box holders and cigar cases I bought at a yard sale from a couple quirky Australians.  I've only finished on of the life point counters, but hopefully I can get those done by the weekend.

Duncan's feeling a bit better this week.  Ben's been working on art, writing, and watching Stranger Things with us at night.  Emma's practicing her ukelele and reading.  Life keeps moving along.

Mocha Friday

July 01, 2022 by Adam in Family

The chickens keep me company in the morning, making their little chicken noises as I drink my Friday mocha.  We're definately all in summertime mode.  Duncan and Ben mostly hang out on their computers.  Joanna makes sure they're fed, taken to appointments, and occasionally Joanna heads out to the farm or sees a friend.  Duncan's had a rough week due to some friendship issues and medication changes, so we're keeping an eye on him.  

It's otherwise been a somewhat unexciting week.  I had a nice tea with mom and chatted about the farm.  Hopefully I can help move things along, even if it's just providing moral support when talking to bankers.  I'm also continuing to prep for my two D&D games which got rescheduled due to one of my players getting COVID.  I've got my usual group Saturday afternoon and my new group the following Sunday.  I feel pretty ready for the first group, with endless props and miniatures ready to go.  The second still needs some preparations, though for a first session we likely won't need to do much.  I'm trying hard to get cool boxes and goodies to hold dice and miniatures, but we'll see how far we get.

Work's coming along nicely.  I'm working on pipelines, which strangely doesn't mean I'm covered in oil at the end of the day.  I'm also weirdly deciding our new architecture - I guess people trust me or something.  It's also looking that our team will grow again with a couple client facing people and a project manager.  That's been a long time coming.

Life continues to be complicated and full of challenges, but I do my best to find the joy and adventure were I can.