Second Birthday, Delta Green, and County Fair

July 28, 2025 by Adam in Family

It was a busy weekend, full of various fun activities and some occasional downtime.  Saturday was the cousin gang with my friend Jason, playing another session of Delta Green.  It was followed by my favorite chocolate potato cake made by Jo, along with some fun presents that should let me finish building my retro PC.  Emma and I rushed off to the library, followed by my usual soup making and pizza for Jo and the kids.

Sunday was a hearty breakfast of crepes, blueberries, whip cream, and mocha.  We've been hearing the music from the fairgrounds all week, so I took Yvonne and Emma down to check out the county fair.  We skirted around the carnival madness to check out the various amateur photos, quilts, jams, cookies, and the rest.  Next up were the bunnies, goats, chickens, and horses.  By the time we were wanding back to the car through cheap plastic swords and cowboy hats for sale we felt pretty much done.  After collapsing for a couple hours Emma and I went down to thrift store central near downtown.  I didn't find anything that spoke to me, but Emma ended up with a shirt and sunglasses.  Eventually we returned home, she packed up her things, and headed out for her adventure.

I'm back to work, catching up on endless little things, and settling into the usual routine.  The most exciting thing happening this week is heading to Salem with dad where he's picking up a new Tesla.  I've somehow become the recipient of his old one, finally getting away from driving a torn up 2008 Sentra that squeaks when I drive.  We should put in an electrical outlet in the driveway, and buy new tires soon, and I've got to choose the right sticker to put on the back, but it'll be nice to drive something more reliable.

Birthday Part Two

July 25, 2025 by Adam in Family

Now that Jo's back in town, we had a second round of birthdays for Duncan last night, completely with lasagna, cake, and presents.  Jo made some impressive stickers as gifts with an ink jet printer and their new Cricut machine.  The big gift was a new computer, which hopefully cuts back on the crashing issues they were having.  It also dawned on Jo and I that we're down to our last teenager - only two more years and we'll be officially teenager free for the first time in over a decade.

Quick life updates:

• Yvonne and her friend Charlie looked at classes at Lane yesterday and she's picked out a solid biology focused classload. 


• The house project at the farm continues - I think the demo permit from the county is the latest blocker, but hopefully that gets resolved soon. 


• I've got my Delta Green game this Saturday, which is exciting, though my Sunday D&D game was postponed as Marty got a new job and has to work. 


• My 3d printed computer case is coming along - there are still seams from gluing parts together and some warped parts from drying in the sun too long, but overall it turned out okay.

And now it's time to finish my mocha.  :)

Sorta Birthday Weekend

July 21, 2025 by Adam in Family

Duncan and I had our birthdays last weekend.  Jo's graduate program wrapped up yesterday, so they're coming back today.  Because of that we opted to shift our standard birthday festivities to next weekend.  Even so, I had a variety of calls and visitors on my actual birthday, including a secret Starbucks card that Yayoe managed to sneak onto my desk somehow.  It was great hearing from all my sisters, and Sadie and I had a long chat in the evening.  As for Duncan, he played online with friends all day and went out for bubble tea with another friend, followed by a tiny cake, card, a couple candles, and single present that I organized for after dinner.  More presents await for next weekend.

Emma and I had a bunch of hangout time otherwise, going to the library and a yard sale where we picked up an old Steve Martin record.  Sunday we went out for coffee and playing a game Magic, then stopped by Smith Family Bookstore where I picked up a couple books that Emma was eyeing.

Now it's back to the work grind, getting my dev boxes back to working order and nudging my various projects a little closer to completion.  It'll be nice to have Jo back later today.  I've got a back-to-back D&D and Delta Green weekend coming up and then Emma, Francis, and mom are off to visit Sadie for a couple weekends.  It does feel like we're at the cusp of another set of changes - they never seem to stop.

Quiet Week

July 18, 2025 by Adam in Family

It's been a fairly quiet week.  I've mostly been doing double duty with Jo away - watering plants, feeding kitties, taking kids to appointments, and the usual cooking and cleaning.  I have managed to do the occasional fun thing here and there, playing video games or watching a show.  Data expects me to at least watch the Colbert Report and give him pets while I drink my evening tea before bed.  I was saddened to hear that his show was cancelled as it's been a staple for many years now.

I had a nice dinner with dad on Tuesday.  Duncan invited me to bro night on Wednesday, though I could only handle a few minutes of Jerma before being driven off.  I ran into my old friend BJ while taking Yvonne to physical therapy - BJ was there with her parents and we had a good time catching up.  I missed tea with mom who was at Bob's surgery in our usual Wednesday slot - apparently all went well.

Duncan and I both have birthdays right around the corner, though we're waiting for Jo before officially celebrating anything.  I may just go thrifting or something fun with Emma on my actual birthday - we'll see what we get up to.

Back to work Monday

July 14, 2025 by Adam in Family

It's already warm in my shed this early in the morning - we'll see if my little air conditioner can survive the week.  Jo took a window A/C unit for their dorm room this week as it only has A/C in the hallway, weirdly enough.

The weekend was generally pleasant.  Emma and I hit up the library and accompanying book sale, then spent the afternoon obsessively playing The Roottrees are Dead.  It's a geneology game about a fictional family, putting in pictures and names to a big family tree while researching names on an imaginary Internet.  Somehow it ended up being really fun.

I worked more on my computer case, spraying with primer and leaving it out to dry.  Unfortunately it got too hot and warped a little - nothing I can't fix, I hope, but it put me back a few steps with extra epoxy putty.  Hopefully I can resand today.

Sunday was Delta Green, wrapping up some loose ends and mostly taking the entire session doing it.  They kept the murder spree to a minimum, which was nice.  The players are slowly losing their sanity, but no one snapped this sesssion.  They made it through the briefing for the next mission and started a new evidence board.  Always a good time.

This week looks to be pretty quiet - Yvonne has some appointments and I've got the usual house chores to take care of.  Work is making good progress and I might actually get to some "nice to have" things that I've been putting off.  I'll probably spent my free time enjoying air conditining, playing video games, and hanging out with kitties.

Mocha Friday

July 11, 2025 by Adam in Family

Jo's off to college, having packed the Subaru with everything they wished they'd brought last year.  Their dorm room now has a microwave, vaccuum cleanear, air conditioner, lamps, and more.  It's relatively quiet at home - I've taken over kitty care and plant watering duties.  Last night I played the new Horizons Forbidden West game I bought at the Steam sale, then settled in for some mindless adventure flick on Apple TV while Data got pets on my lap.

Work's coming along nicely as of late.  I'm excited to get my performance optimizations in, probably saving huge amounts of electricity as we roll things out to millions of users.  It's interesting working at that scale these days.

The kids are all doing well, working at various tasks over the summer.  Sam's making good progress on the farm house.  Emma's been working for mom and others, plus looking into getting her Canadian passport - if anyone knows a Canadian that's known Emma for over two years, let me know.  Duncan's doing paid work for another Minecraft YouTuber, leveraging those Adobe skills he's built up over the years.  Yvonne is hanging out with friends, working on art and writing, and generally doing well.

I've got Delta Green going this Sunday.  I'm excited to hang out with everyone and see how they wrap up some loose ends from the last operation, as well as moving them into the new one.  As usual I've printed out a bunch of photos and maps for their evidence board.  Can't wait to see the pieces fall into place.

As I tiptoe into playing both an Aliens-inspired RPG as well as Delta Green set in the 80's, I've been working on a 3d printed retro computer case.  Theoretically it's for a Raspberry pi, but I've got a tablet I could throw in there if necessary.  I still need to sand and prime and paint, but I'm generally happy with how it's all coming together.

July 4th Come and Gone

July 06, 2025 by Adam in Family

It's been a whirlwind last few days, with lots of family activities and general excitement.  I think today is going to be relatively calm, though I have a to-do list with lots of items on it, plus laundry to fold, a kitchen to clean, and breakfast to make.  

Emma came over the morning of the 4th and we headed down to Seraph and Robbie's to watch the parade.  Traffice was bad, but the company and parade were fun.  Emma hadn't gone before, so the horses, beauty queens, and dirt bikes doing jumps was all wonderfully new to her.  I enjoyed hanging out with everyone and catching up.  We met Francis' sweetie Leo, who we all liked and not just because they worked at Sweet Life.  The parade eventually ended, the town cleared out, and we headed home.

Next up was Jenny's BBQ.  Another big group of people were there, including Jenny's boyfriend Rod and his incredibly good granddaughter who was just turning one.  She was the best baby ever, never crying or getting upset at being handed around to various adults.  It was fun seeing an entire group of 20 year olds hang out at the pool and do young people stuff, while the rest of us talked about retirement homes and the like.

Yesterday I made my usual hearty breakfast, followed by a trip to the library.  After lunch Emma and I headed to see Spinal Tap at The Art House, which she greatly appreciated.  I remember when it was The Bijoux and my friend Devon and I would regularly watch movies there.  Emma and I stopped by House of Records on the way home to complete the nostalgia tour, picking up a CD for Yvonne that she'd been wanting.

As for me, I've got various projects I'm working on.  For some zany reason I'm printing a retro PC case for a Raspberry pi.  The parts are all printed and now it's time to sand, glue, and paint it all together.  Our Delta Green game was postponed due to young people's party plans, but I've got a few finishing touches left to put on that.  

It's also time for a mad scramble to take advantage of energy savings tax breaks, so it's time to review the things we want to do.  We've been wanting a second heat pump for a few rooms that don't cool down very well.  There might be some other things we can do before they expire in a few months.

July!

July 01, 2025 by Adam in Family

Okay, I've completely fallen down when it comes to updating the blog.  There's no crisis or anything - I just keep getting distracted by work or projects or something.

It's been a mostly good last few days.  Saturday started wonderfully chill, with a hearty breakfast and opening the cool packages Guillaume sent us.  He stayed with my mom seven years ago to teach at the French school and our families really connected.  He sent crocheted treasures, a beautifully calligraphied letter, and various goodies from his region of France.  Not to mention a map from a roleplaying game session I still fondly remember from when he was around.

Later Emma and I went to the library and stopped in a thrift store to see if anything caught our attention. 

Unfortunately when we returned the familiar smell of backed up drains wafted into our nostrils and we discovered the usual places had filled with water.  After a lot of trying to clean the blockage I opened up the pump itself and discovered the float was apparently not going up.  Jo cleaned it, found the float had filled with water, and eventually went to get a replacement.  Not my favorite way to spend a Saturday, but we're both becoming expert plumbers at this point.

Sunday was our D&D game, where the players battled it out inside a giant robot, then each tool control of a limb to take it back home.  I based that part on a game called Crash Pandas where a bunch of pandas try to drive a car at once.  I think they had a good time, battling other giant robots and flailing about as they all tried to take actions at the same time.

Sunday evening was a writer's dinner that we hosted on the patio, where I met a bunch of Jo's writer friends and proved that I was a real husband and not a paid actor.  It was fun chatting and the patio was beautiful once it cooled down.

Now it's somehow July, with endless events and things going on.  I've got a fun medical procedure I'm taking the day off for tomorrow, which comes with a weird diet of not eaching all the things I like for a few days.  Thursday I'm having lunch with my manager Megan, who is visiting family with her husband and happens to be in town.  Friday are various Fourth of July events.  I've got Delta Green on Sunday.  Next weekend Emma and I are seeing Spinal Tap in the theaters. Then there's Jo's school for ten days, a couple birthday events, and probably some other things I'm forgetting about.  Ah, summertime.