The End of 2017

December 31, 2017 by Adam in Family

The year is wrapping up.  Joanna hopped on a flight to Rochester and made it there safe and sound.  It's crazy cold and snowy there, in sharp contrast to the warm and sunny weather.

I've mostly been hanging out with Sam and Emma.  I've had a touch of a headache, so I haven't been too enthusiastic today.  I keep fiddling with the Oculus sensors, trying to get tracking working better.  Eventually I'll get it working the way I want.  We did make a trip to House of Records this afternoon.  Nothing was purchased, but we had a good time browsing.  Sam knew the guy at the store, and attempted to get Emma to buy punk and heavy metal records.  I suggested sea chanties and the Miami Vice soundtrack, but we left empty handed.

Happy Boxing Day!

December 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's the day after Christmas, which went pretty well despite the occasional medical crisis.  I think I have a conjunctival cyst, which is basically a bubble on my eyeball.  I'm trying to get to see Dr. Arbow soon.  Emma thinks it's a xenomorph incubating.  I took Emma to the doctor today and the doctor thinks she has walking pneumonia - she's started an antibiotic treatment.

I think people liked their Christmas presents.  Emma got a record player, so she's a good recipient of old records people might have.  She also got a Polaroid camera to complete her retro presents.  I got some good exercise equipment in hopes of setting up a gym in the basement.  Sam got cash and a balaclava, which keeps him warm on his bike rides.  Joanna got a bunch of knitting related things.  Santa also got everyone some new board games and an Oculus Rift.

I didn't get a chance to try virtual reality in the Rift until a couple hours ago.  It was pretty amazing, wandering around imaginary places and giggling like a crazy person.  Sam spent a bunch of time in different games.  He likes Robo Recall quite a bit, which involves shooting and throwing evil robots around.  Emma played with the drawing and sculpting programs.  I've yet to get Joanna in there, but mom and Guillaume had a good time for their short tutorials.

We've been doing various meals with family members and are off to Jenny's in a short while.  I've got three days of work ahead of me.  Joanna leaves this Friday.  Hopefully Sam and Emma can entertain themselves until my short post-New Year vacation.

Quiet Saturday

December 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

Vacation continues, the house quieter than usual.  Thursday we had Sam and Emma - we managed to watch the latest Star Wars movie with Sam's friend Marcos, mom, and Dez.  Yesterday morning Sam rolled out of bed early to work out at the Y and then he and Emma went to Corvallis with Jamie to visit her mom.

Joanna and I enjoyed our day together.  We hiked Ridgeline Trail, stopped at Laughing Planet for lunch, and then gathered food supplies for Christmas dinner.  Our evening was filled with tasty grown-up food, doing a puzzle, and watching The Crown.  As for today, I made some pancakes, bacon, veggie sausage, poached eggs, and a mocha.  Though it was a bit of work for just the two of us, it was well received.  I've got a bit more present wrapping today and the kids arrive tonight.

Happy Solstice

December 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

The rest of the vacation wasn't entirely uneventful, though we generally enjoyed the experience.  Someone drove into a power pole, shutting off power to about 2,000 homes including ours.  Fortunately we were halfway through breakfast, so the coffee was made and we could boil water on the gas stove to give ourselves a pioneer wash.  We headed into Medford and the power returned by the time we came home.  Joanna picked up some yarn while we were around civilization, along with some wood for the fireplace.  The rest of the day was pleasant and uneventful.

Now we're back home, trying to get ready for Christmas with our people scattered about.  Duncan and Benny seem to be having a good time in Rochester.  Sam says he enjoyed his time in a quiet house.  We had his friend Markos over for dinner last night.  Now Sam's off to the gym, then working for my mom.  Emma comes soon - we'll probably watch the latest Runaways and go to the library.  Joanna's working this morning.

I checked in with my mom yesterday and it sounds like things are looking okay for Bob, Yayoe is up and moving around, and we're all hanging in there.  Tonight is the longest night of the year, so it's all sunnier days from here on out.

Cabin in the Woods

December 19, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's the end of our first full day in the cabin in the woods, a little south of Grants Pass.  The people who stayed before us apparently had a little too much fun.  We got a text from the owner that there had been a fire in the chimney and the kerosine heater was running low.  After some frantic back-and-forth, we decided to give Miles a chance and see if it worked out.  Fortunately, we managed to stay warm, the cabin was lovely, and the hot tub under the stars was very pleasant.

We've done virtually nothing today, which has been exactly as pleasant as it sounds.  Joanna made crepes for breakfast.  We took a walk up the road into the misty forest.  People came to fill the kerosene tank and clean the chimney.  We lazed about, worked on a puzzle, and took a fruitless drive to try and get some firewood.  I continued to work on the puzzle while Joanna practiced Christmas songs on the ukelele.  Now I type away while my lovely wife makes mushroom risotto.

Tomorrow there's a winter warning, with the possibility of snow.  With luck, it's not too much trouble and just ends up being a magical experience.  Sam apparently broke out the Lego bricks with Markos yesterday.  Hopefully, that's about as much mischief as he gets up to.  It'll be nice to see the kids for a day before they go off with Jamie to Corvallis, leaving mounds of presents for us to wrap.

The End Is Neigh

December 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

Well, it sometimes feels that way.  I got really sick Friday afternoon, sleeping as much as possible.  Joanna rushed in to tell me the hot water heater was spewing water.  I stumbled about cursing and failing to shut things off, then left it in Sam's hands to deal with.  Between the two of them, Sam shut off power to the hot water heater and Joanna got the plumber to come fix the valve, which they did for free.

I'm on the mend today, though the sinus pain is pretty bad.  I've taken to heating up wash cloths and sticking them on my face.  I turn beet red and amuse my wife and children, but it feels so very nice.

Mom twisted her ankle.  Yayoe fell and has a compression fracture on her spine.  Emma's cough continues to keep her up.  Tomorrow morning Duncan and Benny go to their dad's house.  Joanna and I leave for the cabin.  Hopefully we all survive until spring.

Mocha Friday

December 15, 2017 by Adam in Family

We all somehow made it through the week.  Emma and I got pretty sick, with Emma actually taking a day off of school this week.  I think my cold is finally improving - I slept through the night and mostly feel okay.

We're moving into the eye of the Christmas hurricane momentarily.  I've at least opened the mountain of packages that have been arriving, though I've yet to wrap much of anything.  Duncan and Benny open their big presents today.  Joanna and I take a trip to southern Oregon for a few days starting Sunday.  Sam and Emma go to Corvallis next weekend.  Joanna is hosting Christmas dinner.  When everyone returns we'll do another small Christmas with the little kids.  Then we collapse.

Sam was planning on going to California to visit a friend, but things fell through and I think he's going to be around this weekend.  We might do a Star Wars run sometime, though coordinating everyone's schedules is non-trivial.  I'm going to declare success if everyone ends up well.  Sam seems mostly better and Joanna had a touch of energy yesterday.

Work's going pretty well. I'm creating and fixing complicated problems.  I've been focused full-time on my old team, which has been personally satisfying.  This funky marketplace thing we envisioned a few months back is finally coming together, though the details are always trickier than first imagined.

I hope all is well with the extended family.  I've been fretting about John and Bob and hope their procedures go well.  The general wellbeing of those around me is what I really want for Christmas (though more chocolate covered espresso beans would be swell too).

Sick Weekend

December 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

The cold finally caught up with me.  I'm coughing and sniffling away, taking Advil at a steady pace throughout the day.  Sam and Emma also seem under the weather, with Benny and Joanna finally seeming to start to improve.  Only Duncan seems immune, which he attributes to eating weird things over the years to toughen up his immune system.

Otherwise the weekend has been pretty low-key.  We threw the minimum necessary ornaments on the tree.  Benny's been excited and frustrated making a miniature doll house that Mattie her babysitter got them.  Duncan's friend came over and Joanna dyed his hair rainbow as well.  Sam's friends have mostly left for California, so he's been hanging out and doing things like playing Arma 3 with me.  Emma and I finished Silence, a video game we've been playing.  Mostly she stayed in bed and I chatted away with her.  I attempted to fix Joanna's broken phone, made it even worse, and realized there's a cheap place in town that will do it for me.  Hopefully that gets resolved soon.

One more week of school, then Duncan and Benny head to their dad's house, Joanna and I have a little vacation in the woods, and leave Sam in charge of the household.  Hopefully it all goes smoothly.

Mocha Friday

December 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm somehow cheerful this week, despite the illnesses floating around and feeling woefully unprepared for Christmas.  Maybe it's that the kids made it through the first term of school generally intact.  Emma got 4 A+s and an A.  Sam has his last final today after feeling good about his two final essays.  I helped Duncan practice memorizing a French poem - his friend described his last recital as "Duncan terrible" but this one was just terrible.  We'll take what we can get, I suppose.

Emma chatted about her new classes this term.  She already knows her Ukulele chords, which they're apparently practicing - she looked like a traveling minstrel when she arrived in my office yesterday afternoon.  Emma rattled off the alphabet and a few phrases in French, along with saying she knows how to kiss people on the cheeks the proper French way.  Honors English is keeping her up late with essays.  She did say that two of her classmates in math talked about how smart she was and that Emma is now their friend, so that perked her up.

Joanna is still under the weather, though I occasionally see glimmers of her old self.  Mostly she's been taking it easy as the children allow her to.  We're going out tonight, so dancing the night away is likely off my list.

I did have a weird issue with my new contacts - my near vision suddenly got worse.  After a few days of deciding I had instantly become an old man, I switched back to my old brand and the world seems clearer again.

Hopefully this weekend we can get a little more Christmasy stuff in place.  Sam's busy endlessly - hopefully soon he can help repair some broken screens for Joanna and Gaullaume.  Duncan and Benny are off to their dad's in a week.  Life is never boring.

Finals Week

December 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

The term is wrapping up at a rapid pace.  Sam is finishing his final paper tonight and has a test on Friday.  Emma's been doing presentations.  Benny finished their diorama of Salt Lake City.

Joanna's been having a hard time this weekend.  I attempted to pick up the slack and do more cooking and grocery shopping.  I think she's on the mend a little bit.  Our neighbor fell and fractured her ankle, calling Joanna before her husband.  Joanna ran Victoria to urgent care and got her settled back at home.  I think playing super hero perked Joanna up a bit.

The weekend was pretty full.  I managed to hang out with Emma a fair amount.  I defeated a hard enemy in Fallout 4 for her and we watched another Runaways.  She helped cook a few meals, which I appreciate.

Sam went to a shaving party and is currently sporting a mohawk.  We'll see how long it lasts or if another style will emerge soon.  It's starting to get a little chilly to have short hair, so maybe he'll grow it out.

Under the Weather Mocha Friday

December 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

I've been a little under the weather the last couple days.  I made it through my morning meetings yesterday then went to lay down and didn't really return to work until 3 p.m.  I did manage to finally write some decent code, which made me happy.  I want to finish it up today so I can switch gears and make this marketplace thingie that everyone seems to be looking at me to design and build.

Christmas is looming on the horizon.  The boxes have started to arrive and we put up advent calendars last night.  Duncan and Benny are getting the usual chocolates, while I went high tech with Emma.  I'm making these pieces of paper with QR codes that play a song.  It's been a lot of work to set up and I've only got 5 days done out of the month.  Oh - and I forgot to get my chocolate covered espresso beans from my advent calendar.  Too much to do.

Sam's shaving his head this weekend, though doing a mohawk first.  I think it's in part because a friend of his is leaving school.  He may end up wearing a wool hat until it grows back - it's getting nippy outside.

I hung out with Emma last night and watched another episode of Runaways.  Maybe we can finally go see Thor.

Middle of the Week

November 30, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm beat.  The little kids are in bed.  Joanna is off at an event.  I got a really bad headache and slept on the couch while Duncan and Benny watched YouTube videos and laughed.  I finally awoke and sent them to bed.  Sam returned and chatted while he ate.

I've been pair programming with Donovan the last few days.  It's slow, but generally useful.  I think we're approaching the point where our pretty chart looks okay and we just need to make people the option to configure it.  Next week I'm hanging out more with my old team, so hopefully he'll be good on his own for awhile.

I think all is well with the family.  I constantly fret about everyone, but for this brief moment I think we're all okay.  Looking forward to hanging out with Emma tomorrow.  We've started watching the Runaways, which I made her watch with me last weekend and we really enjoyed.

Last Day of Vacation

November 26, 2017 by Adam in Family

Hopefully I remember how to do the work thing after so many days off work.  I'm making tea by the fireplace as the rain falls outside.  Everyone is still asleep.  I'm going to do my usual computer puttering until it's time to make breakfast, likely work on redesigning this blog or maybe poke at my game collection.

It's been a pretty quiet week.  Duncan has been his usual social self, going to the VR place with a friend yesterday, live streaming an unboxing of Pirate 101 cards, and other things a future kid might do.  Joanna continues to be sick, though she coughed less last night.  Benny started antibiotics for her cough.  Emma's still in Bend.  Sam's been doing homework, though continuing to train as well.  He apparently went to a zine folding party with some friends on Friday night.

Joanna and I had a fine kissaversary Friday night, going to Cafe Soriah to exchange presents.  I'm getting more foot rubs at Footwise in town, which we recently enjoyed.  Joanna got a heated mattress cover in preparation for winter.

The week has generally been successful.  I wrapped all of Sam and Emma's various birthday and half birthday presents.  Sam's birthday is tonight, likely just an informal dinner and cheesecake.  Emma's half birthday is tomorrow, but I have her prezzie wrapped and she requested a lemon poppyseed muffin.  Somewhere over the last few days I managed some Christmas shopping and booked a cabin in the woods for Joanna and I to get away for a few days.

Emma returns this afternoon.  Hopefully we can get some good hang out time together.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week has blazed by.  Vacation days 2 and 3 were mostly filled with me playing video games, though I did a bit of kid watching, garage cleaning, and miscellaneous chores.  Benny had Wednesday off and spent much of it working on her Salt Lake City diorama.  They were especially proud of the state bird which was carved out of clay, painted, and then mounted on a sign.

Yesterday was the big day, though.  I made a hearty breakfast of crepes, strawberries, and whip cream while Sam made vegan pancakes and a scramble.  Everyone seemed pretty happy with the outcome.  Joanna cooked like a crazy woman throughout the day.  I fetched Emma from her mom's house, with some brief excitement where we had to vasoline the battery connectors in the rain to get the car to start.  Sam's friends are mostly in California, but he worked on his essay and hung out with Markos.  Duncan went hiking with Rio, returning to livestream the unboxing of something or another.

Eventually we all made it to Jenny's house.  Emma went over early, so she wore herself out cooking.  Sam took notes and interviews for his cultural anthropology class. Guillaume, Duncan, and Benny watched Home Alone, which was playing in the background - apparently it's big in France too.  The usual suspects arrived and we chatted through the afternoon.  Seraph, Sadie and their families texted their happy thanksgivings.  

As for today, Emma is heading to Bend early this morning.  Joanna and I have our kissaversary dinner tonight.  I'm going to try to get to my backlog of tasks I was hoping to accomplish over my work vacation.  We'll see how it pans out.

Vacation, Day One

November 20, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a decent weekend, generally pretty quiet.  Joanna and I went out to eat sushi Friday night.  Saturday I attempted to take kids for a short hike, finally succeeding after lunch.  Joanna and I ended up hiding from them as I leaned close and whispered "help me."  It was a beautiful day, and I think everyone enjoyed nature a little while.

In the afternoon Sam, Emma, and I went to Euzine.  Upon arriving, I felt the cool quotient in the air raise by several magnitudes.  Extremely cool people were selling zines and drawings.  I picked up one called "No Gods.  No Dungeon Masters." about an anarchist D&D fan.  Sam wants to read it, though I might make him wait for his birthday.  Later we had chai tea across the street and I left Sam with his friend Markos.

Joanna had a uke gig in Creswell that night, so I made pizza for everyone and we watched Adam Ruins Everything.  Making four pizzas was a lot of work, but I do enjoy our quirky family traditions.

Sunday was pretty quiet, with Emma going to her mom's house.  I played a little of my latest adventure game and continued the endless laundry and dishes.

Now I'm on day one of my Thanksgiving vacation.  I wrapped presents, ordered new contacts, and started writing a new version of this blog using the latest technology.  I've a lot of work to do, so I'm not sure it'll be finished in time.  My dance card is already getting pretty full - tomorrow morning I'm having breakfast with mom, followed by lunch and a foot massage with my lovely wife.

Mocha Friday

November 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's Mocha Friday once again.  The days have turned cool and soggy, with leaves almost gone from the trees. 

Sam's keeping busy with school and outside things.  He's got a couple essays to finish by Thanksgiving.  I occasionally see him for a few minutes at the beginning or end of the day.

Emma took a survey to see what job she'd be suited for.  Apparently it's technology, biology, or some organization job.  She was also learning about the cost of college and I told her not to worry about it.  The poor girl was planning on living off scraps and wearing burlap sacks to cut down on costs.

Duncan is slowly turning around a dip in grades.  Joanna has been regularly making sure homework is done and turned in.  He's generally pretty cheerful and bright, so hopefully the organizational skills will come in time.

Benny got really into a math website that their school got for them.  They have apparently been blazing through, collecting imaginary money and buying new music and wallpaper for their educational game.  Whatever works.

Work has been going generally pretty well.  I'm pair programming with a new guy, though he's a long time programmer like myself.  It's a little slow, but educational, trading off turns typing while we talk about the problem at hand.

It's also the last day of work before a week off for Thanksgiving.  My to do list is already growing pretty long, so hopefully I won't be bored.

Bad Blog Poster

November 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

I've been doing a particularly lousy job of posting this last week.  It's not that there was any crisis or issue, just the endless routine of laundry, work, kids, and so on.  I spend so much time at home that the high point is when a bird landed on my laptop bag as I headed to the shed to work.  I said hello and it flew off.

Mocha Friday

November 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a pretty quiet day, all in all.  Sam was the only person who went to school, and I didn't have work.  Emma spent the night, watching the rest of the latest pirates movie with me, then off to her mom's in the morning.  I scribbled down a list of errands and managed to complete them all by the end of the day.  The storm door is up, my hair is cut, a way overdue library book was returned, and I made a short shopping trip.  Benny kept me company for some of it, which was nice.  They've been gorging on Dork Diary books, finishing an entire one this afternoon.  I played some video games and tidied up.

As for tonight, Joanna and I are going to Whirled Pies to listen to music and chat.  The weekend seems fairly low key.

Four Kids, Four Schools

November 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

I realized the other day that I have a kid in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.  It's the last year it'll be true, but it's quite the spread.  Last night I had to get a scared Benny back to bed after a dream about an evil genie.  That same night I took Sam to a "kick back" at a friend's house after he explained how a "kick back" is different than a party.

We're slowly getting ready for the holiday season, trying to figure out Christmas break plans.  I managed to order birthday presents for Sam, who is turning nineteen in just a couple weeks.  

The week is generally moving along.  Joanna went to parent teacher conferences and it looks like Duncan's grades are improving.  Benny has three days of no school.  Everyone but Sam has Friday off.

Rainy Weekend

November 07, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was generally quiet this last weekend.  Lots of hanging out.  I managed to clean up the last of the Halloween decorations, do laundry, and endless dishes, but otherwise didn't do that much.  Emma and I chatted and played some new video games.  We met one of Sam's friends who taught him embrodery.  Benny picked Salt Lake City as the state capital she's doing a report on.  Joanna got more house plants.  Probably the most exciting part was Sunday dinner and hanging out with everyone.  Joanna made some great vegan pumpkin pie, which Sam was grateful for.

Mocha Friday

November 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is winding down.  Benny was sick yesterday, complaining of stomach pains.  I was feeling a little under the weather myself, though not quite as bad.  Both Sam and Emma related stories about getting the highest score on their midterm tests, Emma in Honors English and Sam in his cultural anthropology class.  It is nice to see them doing well academically.  Sam continues to do his school, gym, and hanging out with friends routine.  He told me 80% of what he's learning these days is outside of school.

I think the rest of the crew is doing relatively well.  Joanna and I had a nice date night on Wednesday, walking through the woods at Hendrick's park after visiting Sundial Cafe.  I helped set up Duncan with a new video editor so he can continue his weekly videos.  Benny is on the mend after losing three teeth on Halloween and getting a stomach ache.

Work's been going well.  I think I've reached a lull where I need to meet with others to sort out some big structural things.  There's still plenty of interesting things to do.

Happy Halloween!

November 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's Halloween.  Benny has returned, losing two teeth while eating candy bars.  Duncan returns soon, wandering off with a friend.  Sam is off hanging out with friends and thought he'd be back late.  I took Emma her pumpkin to her mom's house.  It says DISCO and has some flashing lights inside.

 The weekend was generally pretty good.  Emma was at the coast, crabbing with her mom until late Sunday.  Sam and I had a good time seeing the new Blade Runner and then going to Cornbread Cafe for vegan dinner and movie conversation.  He went out later to a Halloween party, returning the next day for breakfast.

Sunday was pretty low-key.  Benny and I put up Halloween decorations in the morning.  Emma and I chatted and made pumpkins once she arrived in the afternoon.  Sam alternated between studying and playing Screen Cheat with me.  Emma got into Biology, which was cool.

My big presentation was today, though I didn't really present anything and the leadership folks mostly chatted amongst themselves the whole time.  I think my little application still has the go-ahead, but things are a little vague still.

Mocha Friday

October 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

Half the household continues to recover from various illnesses, though I think they're on the mend. 

It's an exciting pre-Halloween weekend.  Duncan is taking his date Brittany to activity night at South, chaperoned by Joanna.  Sam is going to a "Whores of Capitalism" Halloween party tonight, having rooted through the house for hippie attire.  Emma is off crabbing with Jamie at the coast.  I figure tonight it'll just be Benny and I hanging out, followed by watching Stranger Things on the couch by myself.  Saturday night Benny and Joanna are going to a Halloween party, shifting pizza and Adam Ruins Everything to Sunday. 

Sam's got loads of midterm homework - I reviewed his essay last night and helped with a few typos.  Emma's working on her online geometry class, which I think she both enjoys and is helping her get into biology as a Freshman.  She's also working on a video game project and hopefully I can assist with that.

Our babysitter was sick, so we had date night at home, banishing the children downstairs to watch movies while we had a quiet dinner of Tasty Thai take-out.  It worked relatively well until the children found us, demanding help with uploading videos and such.

Work is going well.  My big presentation is next Tuesday, though I think I just get to sit back and let people demo my stuff, answering technical questions if anything comes up.

Sick Weekend

October 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna was sick all weekend with her incessant cough, with Emma having a touch of the cold as well.  On the plus side, Joanna can talk with her normal voice so presumably she's on the mend.

Sam went to the first of two Halloween parties, nicely texting me that he was crashing over at a friend's house.  I'm glad he's having those college experiences like eating persian food at two in the morning.  The rest of the weekend was hanging out with Emma and I, playing Screencheat and Broforce, and helping with dishes, Duncan and Benny laundry, and Emma's homework.

Emma felt poorly Saturday, but managed to do a bunch of homework on Sunday.  She continued making progress on her online geometry class - she's hoping to get the bulk of it done by the end of the term in hopes of getting into biology.

Duncan was his usual social self, going mushroom hunting with his friend Rio.  We didn't all die horribly the next day at lunch, so presumably he did a good job.  He did manage to get malware on his pc, which I'm still peeling off.  Benny was generally cheerful, though they somehow lost their glasses.

Robot Wife Friday

October 20, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna has been using her phone to type in messages and then click a button to speak the words.  She found a passable English accent as well.  I miss my speaking wife though, and hope this brief stint as a mime passes quickly.

Sam's been helping with the Lane County Worker's strike, so he's been away lately.  I got Emma after school yesterday and she had her new glasses fitted.  Gaullaume came over for dinner and we chatted about the Apollo missions - Benny impressed me with her general knowledge of the various moon missions.  Joanna met with Duncan's French teacher about his low grades - hopefully that went well.  It's hard when Joanna can't actually speak about it.

I've got a bunch of repair things still in motion - the dryer is about to die, so I need to pick up a new one.  Sam's bike is getting fixed after the gear shift stopped working.  Life is never boring.

Bike Repair Wednesday

October 18, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna is talking in a whisper these days, finally succumbing to the cold that has been going around.  This morning I assisted by being a human megaphone, yelling her words at the kids to get ready for school.  It was fun.

Sam's been busy helping supporting the Lane County worker's strike as part of his school stuff.  His life continues to be far more exciting than the rest of ours.  He's been sore from going to the gym with his friend Markos.  Last night his bike's gear shift broke, so I hauled it in to get fixed by the nice guys at Arriving by Bike.

Emma's getting herself repaired this week.  Her glasses have arrived and she gets fitted tomorrow.  I need to get her into the dentist for her mouth guard.  Hopefully her throat issues have cleared up.

Benny had a challenging moment at school where their PE teacher had all the boys and girls do something and she just stood there as the lone non-binary kid.  After the teacher raised her voice at them, Benny's classmates rallied around them to offer support.

Ducan is his usual goofy self.  I had he and Benny sit down to watch the first giant robot fight - USA versus Japan.  It was highly scripted, but the robots themselves were pretty cool.  Hopefully I'm contributing to the kids' education in important ways.

Sunny Monday

October 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's a beautiful fall day.  I'm only as happy as my most miserable kid, but I think they're all generally doing okay.  Emma's throat has mostly improved from it's gross state.  The bacterial culture came back negative, much to everyone's surprise.  The mouthwash Sam used for his sore throat has apparently helped and most of the stuff has cleared up.

The weekend was generally good, if a little quiet.  I ran Emma over to the doctor's office on Friday to get a strep test.  Later she and Sam went to Jamie's.  I played more of my latest computer RPG and chatted with the remaining family members.  Saturday morning I cleared out blackberries from around the shed, Sam went to an event, and Emma and I hung out.  It was a "get Duncan caught up at school" weekend, mostly getting missing assignments done.  Poor Joanna looked a little worn out at the end.  Benny celebrated a half birthday with their friend Zoe.  

Sunday was the usual running around.  Sam spent some time with his friend Markos, Emma and I went school and art supply shopping.  Joanna was feeling under the weather, so Sam and I made a vegan stew, complete with chocolate mousse made from frothed chickpea brine.  That's still chilling, but we'll try it tonight.

The day wound down with dinner with my mom and some rousing games of Tee K-O.  I always enjoy getting the kids together and laughing.

Emma Repair Friday

October 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

I took the day off, as the non-college kids are out of school.  I thought I'd just hang with Emma, but it's been a week of repair for that girl.  Tuesday she got fitted for a mouth guard.  This morning she had her eyes checked and picked out new frames for her glasses.  In the afternoon I took her to her doctor, sure she had strep throat due to the gross things hanging from her uvula.  The quick test came back negative, so I'm pumping her full of tea, ibuprophen, and rest for now.  It's possible the culture comes back positive, in which case she wins a prize of antibiotics.

The week has generally been moving along okay.  Sam continues to be surprisingly busy - he returned home all worn out yesterday.  Duncan has had friends over a bunch.  We're also trying to get him caught up with homework, as a number of missing assignments came to light around midterms.  Benny has the cold, and has been going to school but sniffling away.

Gallaume came over for dinner last night and we had a fun chat about politics and the 1920's (his favorite era and topic of his studies).  Joanna's been a little tired, but juggling the usual mix of work, kids, and house projects.  I spent yesterday doing big boy programmer stuff.  Life is busy, as always.

Mid-Week Update

October 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along.  Joanna is helping Duncan with his homework.  Benny is trying on some of Emma's old clothes pulled from storage.

Sam had a rare night at home yesterday.  We played chess and computer games in between chatting.  Emma called and wanted some help with her computer class.  She's been focusing on academics lately.

Work is fine - I like my coworkers and keep working on interesting problems.  This Friday I'm taking the day off to take Emma to the eye doctor and generally hang out.

Another Weekend

October 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

Another weekend has come and gone. Joanna and I went out Friday night to the art walk downtown, running into Sam along the way.  Saturday I came down with a touch of a cold, but it was pretty mild.  Duncan was a social butterfly all weekend, hanging out with various friends.  Benny got their hair colored and Joanna ran them around town for art supplies and shoes.  I hung out with Sam and Emma until it was pizza time in the evening.

Sunday morning Emma was whisked away by her mom for a shopping trip.  Sam and I took a long hike up to the top of Pisgah, then returned home to play some of my new Humble Monthly games.  The most amusing was one that involved having to periodically choose a human sacrifice.  Joanna said it led to odd overheard conversations from the kitchen.

Sunday night was family dinner, which was pleasant as always.  I do like all you people.

Mocha Friday

September 29, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's another lovely Friday, a bit cloudy to show that it's slowly turning into fall.  Joanna and I are full-time student wranglers, helping kids with homework and trying to get them what they need to be successful in school.  I'm slowly getting organized at work, making sure my expenses are in and all the admin stuff I put off is taken care of.

Sam's really enjoyed his first week of school, along with the student organizations he's joined.  There was one class he dropped, but as his class load was 17 credits, it ended up putting him into a more normal range.

Emma's transition into high school has its ups and downs.  I'm mostly trying to be there for her to listen as she talks through life's challenges.  On the plus side, she's really enjoying honors English and continues to do very well on the quizzes and assignments.

Berry continues sorting out various identity issues.  These days they prefer the pronoun "them" and the name Benny.  I just want to support them however we can.  I did manage to give Benny some of my old ties - they look pretty cool in the Space Invaders one I got in a Loot Crate a few months back.

Duncan is starting to get into tricky math.  With some focus he does well, though getting him started occasionally takes some effort.

Joanna and I have both seemed a little worn out by all the parenting we've been doing lately.  The start of school is always a transition for everyone and it takes some effort to get into the routine once again.

Time Flies

September 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week and weekend have been zipping along now that school has started.

We've been doing the usual - date nights and pizza Saturdays.  Duncan and Berry have been doing assorted social events on the weekend and getting into the homework routine.  Joanna's soccer started up again, which I think is both exhausting and exhilarating.  Emma's enjoying her computer and English classes and slowly going through her online Geometry class.  I've been getting really into work lately, and having fun making my little video game on the side.

The only real big news is that Sam started at the U of O this week.  He's gone to all his lecture classes at this point and has generally enjoyed them.  Since he signed up for a heavy classload, he's thinking about dropping one of the classes that seems less interesting, but that should keep him pretty busy.  Tonight he's going to a club at school, hopefully to hang out with people that share his interests.  He reports that his 300 person lecture class was the one he was the most social at, strangely enough, but that he's meeting people in all his classes.

The rest of our lives is the usual trials and tribulations.  The dryer isn't drying very well.  Joanna wants a dog and is attempting to win me over.  She's trying to figure out how to fence in the yard.  We're both trying to decide if we like the new Star Trek show or if it's lost some essential quality of the series.  Heavy issues, all.

Mid-Week Update

September 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week has moved along, with the kids slowly settling into school.  Sam's in his last week of working for my mom and getting things ready for the U of O.  We need to get fenders on his bike this weekend and hopefully his rain pants arrive soon.

Emma seems to be getting into South just fine.  She relayed a story about her honors English class, raising her hand and answering two questions in a college bowl sort of quiz thing.  That earned a "You did a good job Emma" afterward from her teacher.

Berry has had a sore throat and missed school yesterday.  We'll see what today brings.  Duncan got in a bit of trouble at school yesterday - it involved being pushed around in a trash can and not stopping in a timely fashion when told by an adult.  He ended up picking up trash and putting it in the offending trash can, so hopefully a valuable lesson was learned in the process.

My dad came over Monday for dinner, which was nice.  Yesterday Sam went off with my mom to see some independent films at the downtown Bijoux.  Work is moving along nicely - my little prototype is being well received so far.

Batty Mid Week Update

September 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

Berry and Joanna are off at Canoe Island for the rest of the week.  I think they're all doing okay, though Joanna's sleeping arrangements aren't quite ideal.  In the meantime, Duncan, Sam and I are holding down the fort.  Yesterday Duncan arrived from school, made himself a snack, did his homework, and managed himself pretty much all the way through bedtime.  Sam and I went food shopping, made burritos, and played some video games before bedtime.

I did discover that this funny scratching noise wasn't a mouse as I suspected, but rather a bat that had ended up inside an empty cardboard box next to Joanna's desk.  No idea if it was the same one as before.  I set the box outside and tipped it so the bat could easily crawl out.  It was gone in the morning.

Monday Again

September 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's a pleasant Monday morning, though the smoke has returned somewhat after a couple wet days.  The kids all went off to school, other than Sam who went to work at my mom's this morning.  I'm stealing him away this afternoon for his first driving lesson in the parking lot of LCC.  It brings back memories of dad using his calm dentist voice with me when I learned to drive, his hand on the emergency brake the whole time.  Later I'm hoping we can go to a place called MultiVRse, which lets you rent VR hardware.  Sam's never really tried, and I'm still on the fence as to whether or not it's worth getting one eventually.

The weekend was generally pleasant.  Sam and Emma spent the night at Jamie's on Friday, leaving Joanna and I to go out to a new Indian food place.  It was the one that replaced Taste of India and had been open for four days.  The wait was pretty bad, but the food was good and the company was pleasant.

Saturday was the usual mix of doing house chores, playing games, and making pizza.  Sunday I helped Emma with homework, getting settled into her Honors English and computer class.  I also signed her up for a Geometry class through BYU, hoping it helps get her into Biology for winter term.  Sam, Emma, and I also headed to Mount Pisgah to walk around for a while.  The evening wrapped up with mom and Guillaume coming for dinner.  We played some Crawl afterward, a semi-coop dungeon crawl where you alternate being the hero and the monsters.

As for this week, Joanna and Berry leave early tomorrow morning for Canoe Island.  Hopefully I can keep Duncan, Sam, and I alive for five days.  Otherwise the week should be pretty quiet, though I need to help coordinate a washing machine replacement tomorrow.  I'll miss those two - hopefully they have a good time on their adventure.

Sick Mocha Friday

September 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

Both Joanna and I have been feeling under the weather lately.  Joanna's theory is that it's related to the fires, I'm leaning towards viral.  Regardless, we've both been dragging and I ended up napping for a couple hours this afternoon.  We finally got some rain which has cleared out most of the smoke.

The rest of the family seem to be doing well.  Sam continues to work away for my mom.  He got his school laptop and he's getting ready for school starting soon.  Emma's getting used to high school.  I rescued her from orientation, as they got out early and she missed the bus.  Sam's been great helping her settle into her classes - I think she's doing okay.  

Duncan and Berry are getting back into the swing of things.  Berry has Guillaume as their class intern.  He reports Berry's accent is very good.  Joanna and Berry are headed to Canoe Island next week - hopefully that's a fun adventure and I manage to hold down the fort while they're gone.

Life continues on.  I'm trying to find a good time to take Sam out to practice driving.  Guillaume has been coming over for dinner and we've played a lot of games afterward.  Joanna and I are going out for a date tonight, which I look forward to.

Weekend Wasteland

September 05, 2017 by Adam in Family

The nearby forest fires have been keeping Eugene full of smoke at hazardous levels.  It has a very post apocalyptic feel, with people wearing respirators when they head outside.  I shut myself indoors for the last couple days as I started getting asthma after the first day.  Sadly it doesn't look like the fires will end any time soon.

The last few days were generally fairly productive.  Friday night Joanna and I went out for dinner.  Saturday morning I fed everyone a hearty breakfast of vegan and non-vegan dutch babies.  Sam, Berry, and I rode down to the U of O campus so that Sam would get a feel as to where his classes are.  It was the first day I really noticed the smoke and started coughing a bit.

We spent the afternoon indoors, playing games and later eating pizza and watching Adam Ruins Everything.  Sam and I played a silly physics simulator called Human Fall Flat and we all played Overcooked at various times, honing our co-op cooking skills.  Sam and I did assemble a garden shed, but the smoke was pretty bad and it's not entirely finished.  Guillaume came over to enjoy our pizza culture in return for his help in Overcooked.

Sunday was more hang out time with the kids, making sure Emma was ready for school.  That evening we had a big family dinner, including Jamie, Jenny, Jordan, Yayoe, John, and my mom.  Afterwards most of us went to an engagement party for Bob's daughter Anna.  For whatever reason the smoke didn't seem so bad, despite the outdoor setting.

Monday had most of the younger kids departing.  Emma left for her mom's house for clothes shopping.  Duncan went to the beach with a friend.  Berry got her hair dyed rainbow colors and headed off into the wasteland for an overnight visit with a friend.  We invited Guillaume over again where the adults of the house chatted and managed to unlock more Overcooked levels.  With age comes responsibility.

Mocha Friday

September 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's Friday and it feels as if we're getting the gang back together again.  Duncan showed me his Minecraft map he worked on.  Emma was showing off her retainer-free mouth.  Berry has been spending quality time with her computer and working on painting her nails.  There's a lot more to clean and many more people to cook for, but it's certainly exciting.

Last night Guillaume came over for dinner.  He and Sam got the chance to talk about video games and after dinner we piled on the couch and played Tee K-O, then later Overcooked when the little kids got ready for bed.  Guillaume had never played, but quickly became a key person in our kitchen, running around delivering hamburger ingredients while our kitchen tilted, cracked, and moved around in unexpected ways.

Joanna and I are going out on a date tonight.  Emma is going to the beach with her mom overnight.  We need to get school supplies for Duncan and Berry, and Sam and I both need haircuts.  Still, I think we're mostly on track for the start of school.

Getting Ready

August 31, 2017 by Adam in Family

It feels like a bunch of things are about to happen.  Emma gets her retainer off today.  4J schools start next week, including Emma starting high school.  Sam got his driver's permit yesterday.  This weekend he's planning on riding down to campus and finding all his classes.  I started my new Slate project and apparently I'm the lead developer, whatever that means.

I'm trying to get Emma into Biology next term, something I didn't quite do with Sam.  I met with the head of the science department and got a likely okay if she's up for taking an online geometry class.  I think that might work out okay - I'm happy to help her and she's strangely enjoyed other online classes in the past (such as learning German).

Poor Joanna looked pretty worn out last night.  Duncan and Berry continue to get bigger and more capable, though they still require quite a bit of work.  I think we're going to go babysitter-free this upcoming date night, especially as Sam and Emma will be around.

Guillaume, the french intern staying with my mom, is coming over for dinner tonight.  We chatted over pizza when Joanna was away earlier this week.  Apparently he's really into video games and philosophy, so he and Sam should have much to talk about.

Life feels busy at the moment, but hopefully we'll settle into the new routine in a month or so.

Solo Monday

August 28, 2017 by Adam in Family

With Joanna off fetching the little kids, it was just Sam, Emma, and I this weekend.  Emma got her classes mostly sorted out on Friday, other than a Biology class she wants to take.  I just need to convince the teacher it's a good fit for her.  Sam's classes are similarly ready - philosophy and history for the most part.

Saturday we ran errands, going to the hardware store, bank, school supply shopping, and grocery shopping.  We returned home to collapse for a couple hours, then broke out Overcooked for some crazy cooking co-op gaming.  I snuck in some painting - the stuff I got generally seemed to match the walls.  The day ended in pizza and Rick and Morty episodes.

Sunday morning we headed to Shotgun Creek.  It was pretty empty, but we puttered around and hiked through the woods.  Emma was having issues with her jaw, not able to open her mouth wide, and was pretty unhappy about it.  Eventually it cleared up, but it's something I'd like to get looked at.  We returned home, ate lunch, and Jamie picked up the kids to take to the coast for a couple days.

I was briefly productive, doing laundry, dishes, and tidying up.  Eventually I wore myself out and just watched Netflix until bed.  I heard from Joanna that she'd made it to Niagra Falls with Duncan and Berry.  I think they're generally having a good time and I'll fetch them from the airport tomorrow night.

Mocha Friday

August 25, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively quiet week, likely the last of the summer.  Joanna left for Rochester yesterday to fetch Berry and Duncan.  Her trip was long, with an iffy hotel stay, but she reports that there's a gluten free crepe place nearby for breakfast.

Sam's been working away at mom's house, converting an old trunk to a planter box.  He's been returning with scrapes and smelling of metal, though strangely happy with his construct.  He and Isa broke up a few weeks ago, so I'm working on getting a box of miscellaneous stuff back to her.  Sam's been okay, I think, and is looking forward to the start of school.

Emma's classes were posted this week, generally looking good other than Freshman science instead of biology.  She's nervous about the start of school, wanting to get ready and try another bus trip before the first day.  I think she'll be okay after she settles in.

I spent this week on a different project - Leading Wisely instead of Mabel.  It took a frustrating day to figure out all the differences, and I made a bunch of structural updates nearly the first thing.  I kinda felt like I was invited over to dinner and immediately started rearranging furniture, but my coworkers are kind and understanding and I'm starting to make good progress.

Sam, Emma, and I made one of those Blue Apron-like meals last night: Jamacian Jerk chili.  We doubled the recipe and it turned it pretty well.  The most fun was getting everyone chopping and mixing along side me.  I think everyone had fun.

Eclipse Weekend

August 22, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a quiet weekend, one of the last of the summer.  Friday night Joanna and I went out on a date night downtown.  They had an Art Without Walls event in an open city block.  Between the painters and sculpters they had some poeple bricking up big cubes of plexiglass and steel that were fascinating.  I'm not sure what it meant exactly, but I kept wanting to watch.

Saturday I picked up Emma and she, Sam, and I finished up our video game we've slowly been playing.  The best part was a glitch where spiders would burst from eggs and instead of attacking us would just follow us around until we fought back.  Emma declared them our "spider babies" and yelled at us if we tried to squish them.  The day wound down with pizza and watching Wil Wheaton play a Star Trek game on Tabletop.

Sunday I took the kids out for a hike.  Sam talked about his classes and possibly joining some clubs, scooping up a stick and whacking things like he was two.  Emma was a little reluctant about the hike, but thanked me for making her go after we returned.  She spent the afternoon cleaning her room.  Eventually I took both of them to their mom's house for an overnight eclipse party.

Joanna and I enjoyed our evening alone, continuing our Poldark binge and getting up early Monday morning.  We picked up mom and took back roads to Bellfountain Park, this little county park just within the totality.  The roads were clear and the drive through the country was lovely.  Mom made us stop for coffee and scones, which ended up working out quite well.  Eventually we made it to the park, which only hand a handful of other eclipse watchers.

The eclipse itself was pretty cool.  The temperature dropped as the sun vanished, and crescents appeared on the ground.  The holes in the tree cover acts like pinhole cameras, so it was a neat effect.  Totality was very brief where we were, but Venus appeared in the sky and we had a brilliant moment of seeing the corona around the black disk.  Joanna in particular was amazed at how cool it was.

We wound our way back home, with occasional bad spots in traffic.  I dropped off mom, got Sam from his mom's house, and went to work.  I've started helping another team, and I'm still getting up to speed.  Hopefully today I can actually do something useful.

Mocha Friday

August 18, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm back from Salt Lake City.  It was a good trip, though I'm glad to be back home.  My lingering cough slowly improved, but I think I got a touch of high altitude sickness along with some of the other travelers from lower altitudes.  It also looks like I'll be shifting my work to another project, potentially a pretty critical one.  I guess that's the price of being useful.

Sam and Joanna managed without me, cooking dinners together.  Sam worked away at my mom's and Joanna pampered herself and hung out with friends.  Thursday had Emma come over and she and Sam made dinner by themselves, much to Joanna's excitement.

Eclipse madness is upon us.  I've got a bunch of viewing glasses ready and I think we're going to try to sneak up north to the full eclipse zone Monday morning.  I've already warned my coworkers that I may not be very available.  Hopefully the traffic isn't too crazy - we plan on sticking to back roads and not going into the full path of the eclipse.

Summer feels like it's winding down.  Joanna leaves next Thursday to Rochester.  I've got some last minute things to get kids ready for school.  The insanely hot weather is finally getting normal again.  All is well.

Cool Weekend

August 14, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was the first weekend in awhile that wasn't insanely hot.  My annoying cough continued, but I still managed to enjoy it as much as I could.  Saturday I played a little more Eon Altar with Sam and Emma.  That afternoon Sam and I went on a bike ride, meeting up with Joanna at Alton Baker Park.  It was Pride weekend, so Sam and I read books while surrounded by hundreds of fabulous people.  The evening wrapped up with pizza and a documentary about the cuban missle crisis.

Sunday morning the kids and I did art projects while watching Rick and Morty.  The extent of my talent is cutting out funny pictures from comics I saved from Free Comic Book Day, then gluing it to Emma's art containers.  Hopefully she cherishes them forever.

While Joanna worked away, I took the kids up to this funny back street behind Moon Mountain, then walked up towards the top.  The unused path was covered in mint and surrounded by unpicked blackberries, ripe and delicious.  It was strangely magical and I told the kids about doing this in the 80's.  Pete Nosler and I made this system of challenges, one of which was to take a pebble from the base to the top of Moon Mountain.  When we got to the top, the kids and I dutifully placed our pebbles at the top.

Mid-Week Update

August 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

I got a funny alert from Microsoft about trouble with PeaceHealth accounts.  I guess I'll never fully escape from my old job.  I'm only tangentially involved with security these days - mostly building security systems rather than monitoring networks.  I had fun making a little application that runs in the cloud yesterday - we'll see if it ends up being officially part of the product I'm working on.

Sam's been working for my mom all week, returning tired and sweaty.  Today I dropped Emma off this afternoon and she got put to work as well.  Joanna continues to work on her books, asking various writers in the industry for endorsements and working on her book proposals.  Lots to do.

The big news yesterday was our ductless heat pump installation.  It took all day but the upper two floors of the house are now nicely cooled and heated in a hopefully more efficient way.  It certainly is cooler and quieter than the air conditioning.

I'm off to Salt Lake City next week.  I'm also debating if I want to try to go further north to see the eclipse.  My latest plan is to try and take back roads to get a little north of Junction City.  Hopefully I can miss most of the insanity and still see the total eclipse.

Quiet Weekend

August 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's been a generally quiet weekend.  Emma is crashed out on the couch, feeling a little under the weather.  Sam is downstairs reading his book for the U of O.  I'm puttering with Unity, pondering making a new game.  I seem to constantly get distracted, though I sometimes miss my development days.

Friday night was just Sam and I.  Sam made stir fry for us while I cleaned the kitchen.  Afterward I watched him play Isaac while eating cereal, one of my favorite activities.  With Emma at her mom's, the little kids at their dad's, and Joanna in Portland for her writer's conference, it made for a quiet evening.

Saturday morning I started staining the balcony before Sam awoke and we made breakfast.  Then we stained the railings while discussing veganism, capitalism, and philosophy.  He expressed an interest in becoming vegan, as long as he didn't cause too much trouble.  Later we went food shopping and picked up assorted vegan food for him to try.

Emma arrived and the three of us played Eon Altar a little more.  Isa arrived and we wrapped up the day with pizza and Adventure Time.

Today has been equally quiet.  I listened to NPR and finished staining the bulk of the deck.  Sam and I made vegan pancakes and tofu scramble, which seemed generally acceptable.  Emma's stomach has been bothering her, so she didn't each much.

Isa left, Sam climbed a ladder to finish staining some weird parts, and the three of us went to Hendrick's park to play frisbee and walk around.  Now we're having a somewhat lazy afternoon.  Joanna should arrive momentarily - it'll be nice to see her and settle back into the routine.

Back from Portland

August 04, 2017 by Adam in Family

Sam, Emma, and I just got back from our whirlwind Portland family reunion.  It was great seeing everyone.  We stayed in this place on trendy Alberta street that Sam described as "the most Portland place I've ever stayed."  Perhaps it was the tricycle chandelier or the hipster artwork.  Half of us were in one house and half in the other - it was a little far apart, but we generally managed okay.  Emma told me upon our return that it was the best family vacation yet, so at least someone had a good time.

Other than having way too much fun playing with Simon, we went to Powell's bookstore, visited the Portland Art Museum, and got ice cream at Salt and Straw.  Mostly we chatted, played games, and ate our way through the week.  It was pretty hot, with temperatures over 100 degrees.

Joanna's off to a writer's conference this weekend.  Sam and I have a deck to stain.  Emma's off to her mom's house tomorrow, leaving us two boys to hold down the fort.  I'm back to work tomorrow, back to writing code from my backyard shed.

Mocha Friday

July 28, 2017 by Adam in Family

We've been settling in after our anniversary trip, with our family reunion just around the corner.  Sam did a good job holding down the fort, though he did miss us and leftover levels were getting low.  Sam and Emma have been working at Jamie's, staining her fence.  Sam's also been teaching Emma programming skills, which I think they both generally enjoy doing.

Joanna misses the kiddos.  Unfortunately the computer we got for Duncan was damaged in transport, which has been frustrating for everyone.  It's gotten pretty quiet around here - I miss their goofy exuberance as well.

I hope the Portland trip goes well - it's the last vacation of summer for me, and I look forward to hanging out with everyone.  I've been stocking up on board games for Greg and Sadie's arrival.

There are a bunch of things we still need to do for school in the fall.  Sam wants to get in a harder computer class.  Emma wants to figure out how to take the bus from her mom's house.  All the kids need clothes and supplies.  The cycle of life continues.

Heading Home

July 25, 2017 by Adam in Family

We're leaving Astoria after breakfast, driving through Portland and then back home. It's been a pleasant trip, with the occasional quirky part. I amazingly managed to read all three books I got for my birthday.

We left Manzinita's up scale tourist shops and drove to Canon Beach. The parking was insane, with people from all over the world coming to visit. Joanna found a yarn shop with comfortable chairs so I could read. We walked down to the busy beach to watch the kite surfers and see Haystack Rock then drove north to Astoria.

It's a quirky town, both run down from recessions as well as having some beautifully refinished old houses. We decided it was like a pre gentrification San Francisco, complete with the steepest hill on the west coast.

My favorite part was the 100 year old trolley ride by the waterfront, manned by two retired guys with witty banter.

Beach Trip

July 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I are in Manzinita, slowly waking up to the day. It's been a wonderful trip so far, with the weather being the best I've ever seen.

Friday afternoon we left Eugene, stopping to watch whales in Depoe Bay. There were a number of them feeding on the kelp, entertaining the tourists.

Yesterday we left my dad's house after helping him install a new tv and headed north. We stopped for a long hike into the mist at Lookout Point. Next was Manzinita where we drank and ate cheese at a whiskey bar, owned by a literary agent Joanna knew.

Berry is having some challenges settling in to Rochester, Duncan wanted to talk about his new keyboard, and Sam is taking prerequisite math tests for his computer class. Hopefully Emma is well in Mexico.

We're off to Astoria today, home of the Goonies. Should be fun.

Mocha Friday

July 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

We celebrated Duncan's actual birthday yesterday.  Joanna has been giving him updates on exactly how pregnant she was feeling 12 years ago.  Kevin came over for dinner and presents, which ended up going really well.  I think kids of divorced parents appreciate when they all get together and are generally polite to each other.  This morning we woke up early, packed their bags, and sent them off on their journey to Rochester.  It's going to be quiet around here for a while.

I heard from Emma, who made it to her resort in Cabo.  She described everyone there as extroverted - I think she's a little nervous and just wanted to hide in her room when she first got there.  After a nap she seemed better.

Sam's in a cheerful mood, sorting through all the U of O things he needs to do for the fall.  He's gotten back into game development and is working on a fun little pixel battle game.  I think he learns a little more each time he makes a little project.

I'm working this morning, fixing more weird bugs that slipped into our little project accidentally.  Software development is challenging.  Gotta get my mocha soon.

This afternoon we'll be headed out on our anniversary trip, ending up at the coast tonight.  Should be fun for all.

Birthday Boy

July 19, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's my birthday today.  I'm enjoying the brief stillness of the morning before I feed kids and start into work.  It's nice to get back into the routine after the last two crazy orientation days at the U of O.  All the massive groups marching around pushed Sam past his "I'm done" point, but he had some great one-on-one advisors that met with him yesterday afternoon and he's signed up for classes in the fall.  Today he plans on biking over by himself to try and sign up for a more challenging computer class.  I'm proud of his resilience.

Duncan and Berry are in their final days before heading off to Rochester.  I just finished folding the last batch of clothes before they return.  They've both been a little sweeter than normal it seems, or I've been noticing it more as I prepare to miss them.  They seem to look forward to their trip, and I hope they have a great time with their east coast family.  Reminds me a little of my childhood trips.

Joanna and I have our trip in a couple days, with Sam holding down the fort.  It'll be nice to get away with my lovely wife.  For today, though, I'm looking forward to assorted people coming to dinner and being served one of my favorite desserts - chocolate potato cake.  It's been modified from the original Russian recipe to add chocolate covered espresso beans on top.  Can't wait.

Mocha Saturday

July 15, 2017 by Adam in Family

We're getting ready for Duncan's birthday party today.  Soon we'll have a horde of pre-teens playing video games at Pixel Battles.  I'm hoping for five minutes in VR to decide how cool it is.

Various summer changes are in the air.  Duncan and Berry head out to Rochester next week.  Joanna and I are headed to the coast, while Emma goes to Cabo with her mom.  Sam was strangely excited to be the lone person in the house for a few days.  Monday Sam and I go to the U of O orientation.  Wednesday is my birthday.

The week has generally been good.  Joanna hosted an event that was well attended.  Between Cory and I at work, we squashed a huge number of bugs and my installer got a brief positive mention at the all team meeting.  Sam's been working hard for my mom, returning sore, scraped, and slightly sunburned each evening.

Life moves on.

Mid-Week Update

July 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along nicely.  Isa wandered over to hang out with Sam yesterday - the two of them went to work for my mom yesterday.  Berry continues going to her camp, which I think is somewhat better after a disappointing magician.  Joanna's been playing soccer the last couple nights, returning home sweaty but satisfied.  Duncan and Emma have been puttering around.  Emma worked on a painting of an Adventure Time scene yesterday and I drove her to her mom's house to water the garden while she's out in Virginia.

As for me, I've got back into the swing of things at work.  I made my installer even prettier yesterday and switched to bug fixing.  We might try some client site updates right around my birthday.

I'm also preparing for the birthday cluster coming up next week, turning Joanna's old desktop computer into one Duncan can take with him to Rochester.  I wouldn't want him to be deprived while he stays with his dad.

Back to Work

July 10, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'll be heading out into the backyard soon, fixing problems and adding features.  I do kinda miss it when I'm away for a while.

Saturday morning I convinced Sam and Emma to help me power wash and paint. The exterior retaining walls look shiny and new now, though the love seat is going to need more work.

Yesterday was generally entertaining.  After a tasty meal of crepes, sausages, and fresh fruit, Sam, Emma, and I played Aeon Altar.  It's a wacky new computer game that uses phones as controllers and gives secret information to each player in this role playing game.  The best part is everyone reading their lines, as well as keeping their individual goals secret from everyone else.

Berry has Camp Rigilio at her old school, cooking and speaking French.  Emma's around all week, and I'm hoping she and Duncan will manage to work together to stay off screens for at least some of the day.

Sunriver

July 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

I've been negligent and haven't posted in a week.  It's been tremendously busy and we only returned from Sunriver this afternoon.  Let me attempt a quick recap.

Last weekend before we left Joanna went on a cleaning and purging frenzy.  My anniversary chairs arrived, looking quite spiffy and matching.  I picked Sam and Isa up at the airport from their Hawaii trip on Sunday.  It was all quite pleasant.

I worked a little on Monday, cleaning up a few things that I'd been wanting to get to.  There's this concept called "technical debt," which is just a fancy way of doing code cleanup.  Anyway, I updated some package versions and declared success.

Tuesday we scooped up Emma and Isa and hit the road, loaded with luggage and two extra bikes.  Sam's favorite part of the trip occured just before we got to Sunriver.  Something punctured a tire and after a few wobbly moments the tire shredded and we pulled over to the side.  Fortunately changing the tire was easy, with Sam and Joanna doing much of the work.  We hit the road and made it to our rental house shortly.

The place was great, with plenty of room for everyone and a garage full of bikes and inflatable watercraft.  The kids played ping pong, ran around outside, and generally entertained themselves.  Joanna grilled us burgers for the Fourth of July, as is the way of our people.

The next day Joanna went into town to go food shopping and replace the back tires.  Duncan got moody, but I was able to entertain him with a dead mouse in a ziplock bag that Sam found dessicated in the garage.  Apparently such things are full of potential mischief, but Berry texted Joanna about it before things went too far.

I walked everyone 30 minutes through the paths to the water park.  It was a little huge and overwhelming.  Sam and Isa peeled off to return home.  Joanna arrived.  I hopped in the pool briefly with Emma.  Duncan and Berry had a great time, loving the water slide.  We all returned home for pasta and fresh bread.

Yesterday we started with a raft trip.  Unfortunately my planning was iffy, as was my estimate of river flow.  Sam and Isa went upstream a fair amount, everyone else tooled around the still part briefly and left for ice cream.  I took the raft looking for Sam and Isa, enjoying our brief float back to shore.

After a good long rest we hit the road again and went to the lava river cave.  That ended up being fun for everyone, though Sam was disappointed that it wasn't more like the time I took him when he was little.  Somehow we got in when no one was around and I led him through the caves with just the light of my hi 8 video recorder.  Still, I thought this time around was pretty cool.

This morning we packed up the house and stopped by the lava flows, walking up the desolate landscape to see the sights.  It was another well received adventure.  We drove into Sunriver one last time to eat at a Mexican food place.  Eventually we made it home and collapsed, with some minor driving Isa and Emma off to their respective mothers.

Pre-Canada Day Friday

June 30, 2017 by Adam in Family

Tomorrow's Canada Day.  Sadly we don't have any flags or pictures of the queen to put up.  I should really take care of that.

The week has been pretty quiet.  No word from Sam - presumably he's doing well.  Emma came over last night - we played Overcooked and later I read Russian fairy tales to her in the hammock.  Berry's soccer camp is over.  She started off pretty unhappy about it, but it worked out well in the end and she's enthusiastic for soccer in the fall.  Duncan's been mostly playing video games, though Joanna made him walk on the treadmill for awhile yesterday.

We keep working on cleaning up the house and getting rid of things we don't need.  All the board games are in the basement now - I'm not sure I realized we had so many versions of Fluxx: original, pirate, zombie, and Adventure Time.  We really need to play board games more.

Work is going well - I spent way too much time yesterday doing cleanup and bug fixing.  Hopefully that gets into the master branch today.  It's date night tonight.  The weekend should be pleasant and low-key.

Tuesday Already

June 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

The weekend was somewhat low-key after an exciting week.  Isa has been sending pretty pictures from Hawaii.  Sam reports that they hiked around a bunch yesterday and wore themselves out.  Joanna and I took the opportunity of their absence to have the downstairs carpets cleaned.  It hasn't quite been a decade since it was done, but the carpet sure looks better now.  On Saturday Emma and I cleaned Sam's room, dusting and washing all the weird places.  I'll reassemble the basement tonight.

Seraph and mom came to dinner Sunday night.  It was great catching up and Seraph and I chatted in my office for a long while.  It'll be nice to see her more this summer, though I hope her life settles down soon.

Work is moving along nicely.  I ended up creating a bug yesterday, but woke up early today with an idea of how to fix it.  I'm rushing to get things more stable and polished before next week when Health Catalyst shuts down for a company week off.

I've also been reading the Martian, which is surprisingly entertaining.  I miss reading books, as long stretches of interrupted time are a rarety these days.  I finally got a new hammock and spent some time reading on it last night.

Berry had a challenging start at soccer camp, calling Joanna in tears.  Some of it sorted itself out, though she ended up with a bad sunburn last night.  Duncan has been hanging out with friends and playing video games - typically pre-teen activities.  Emma and I played The Remains of Edith Finch over the weekend, enjoying its indie charm, plus a little Overcooked which is a wacky and anxiety producing co-op cooking simulation.

Life's okay.

Mocha Friday

June 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's going to be a hot weekend.  We put up the hammock last night, with Berry, Emma, and I trying it out.  Emma went through all the books that Sam took out of his room during the purge, scooping up the ones that looked cool or had some nostalgia attached.  I may have plucked a few as well.  The plan is to finish cleaning his room while he's gone so we can have the carpet cleaners steam clean the basement.

Work goes well.  I took a break from custom fields to make a nifty splash screen for our application.  It'll likely be changed somewhat by our design team, but I like my proof-of-concept.

We're officially in summer mode these days.  Sam presumably is in Hawaii by now, sleeping away with the time difference.  Joanna's going to try to work while I hide from everyone in the back shed.  Hopefully the younger kids won't be on their computers all day.  Summer camps start soon, keeping Berry occupied in particular.  I'm taking off quite a bit of time, hopefully not abusing work's unlimited PTO policy too badly.  My coworkers seem supportive.

No big weekend plans.  I'd like to do some projects and finally see the Wonder Woman movie.  I bet I could convince kids to play some of the old board games Sam had in his room which are now piled by my desk.

Father's Day Weekend

June 19, 2017 by Adam in Family

I had a pleasant weekend, all-in-all.  Friday night Joanna and I went out to our go-to gluten free restaraunt.  Saturday morning Sam and I played a bunch of Apex Protocol cooperatively, fighting mysterious forces on a jungle island.  Eventually we went to his graduation party, returning with Isa for pizza and science.

Father's Day started with a tasty breakfast and lots of loot - from unicorn astronaut pins from Duncan, to a more practical game controller, coffee mug, and coupons for helpful tasks.  The rest of the day involved video games being played, a haircut, and generally hanging out.  Joanna whipped up a tasty dinner, joined by mom, and a pleasant evening all around.

We got news that Sam and Isa could make it to Sunriver, which is cool.  The plane tickets were a little last minute, but it's all working out fine.  Summer is looking busy so far, but busy with fun things.

Endless Diapers

June 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna, Berry, and I went to Family First and our first task was to move endless diapers from one storeroom to another.  We were first quite enthusiastic, but the two flights of stairs and unrelenting boxes of diapers wore us out.  Eventually we declared success and went outside to watch elementary kids for a couple hours.  We brought some activities, which they cheerfully went through, and tried to keep the chaos to a minimum.  We returned home tired and famished.

I hung out with Sam where we played the co-op campaign in Arma 3.  It was loads of fun - basically walking through pretty jungle with moments of chaos and frantic excitement.

Today we're getting ready for Sam and Isa's graduation party.  Tomorrow is Father's Day.  Happy Father's Day in advance to all you dads out there.

Day of Service

June 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

Health Catalyst has these periodic "no work" days.  Today we're supposed to spend our mornings in a Day of Service and take the family to Cars 3 this afternoon.  No one seems interested in the movie, but Joanna, Berry, and I are going to help entertain kids and clean out shoe closets at the Family First center.

The week's moving along at a steady pace.  We did a second client install that went well, after frantically updating the software to fix an untested bug.  The installer continues to get high praise: "this was the easiest Health Catalyst install ever."  Funny how the little things count.  

I picked up Sam's Outstanding Japanese Student certificate yesterday and chatted with his teacher.  Last night I helped Emma with her student film, doing some editing and adding music and sound effects.  It ended up pretty well, especially with Sam's digital effects.

Moving Into Summer

June 14, 2017 by Adam in Family

High school graduation was yesterday.  Sam spent the day working for my mom, returning tired, hungry, and with blisters on his hands.  I think he enjoyed himself.  Later we watched the latest John Wick movie and fetched Isa after her graduation was over.  Tonight we're inviting Isa's dad and stepmom over for dinner.  The plan is that Sam and Isa visit them in Hawaii later this month.

We had a minor kerfuffle at work where our beautiful program had a bug.  Cory and I frantically worked on the problem, with Wade making some further changes.  It's not quite ready, but hopefully we can get it done soon.  We've got another client install today.

Emma had her science test yesterday.  If she does well, she skips 9th grade physical science and moves into biology.  Hope it goes well.  She's also making a movie with her group and Sam made some naval ship battle scenes for her over the weekend.  Hopefully it was well received.

Joanna's been working at a million things, as usual.  She's got a second book halfway finished and is reworking covers for her various books.  Busy, busy.

Wet Weekend

June 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a pleasant, rainy weekend.  Joanna took the little kids up to Portland for a writer's conference and visit with friends.  Sam, Emma, and I went downtown for pizza at Sizzle Pie and then hit up the Red Barn Creamery for ice cream and a game of Adventure Time Fluxx.

Saturday morning we mostly puttered around.  My mom came for breakfast.  The kids and I played Bro Force for some silly co-op action.  Sam had us play the Duck Game where he cleaned our clocks.  Sam and I also played Streets of Rogue, which is a free-form city rogue like that's hard to describe but kinda fun.  I did make everyone go out to Hendrik's Park for some exercise and nature.  We got hailed on which was strangely pleasant after so many warm days this spring.  Eventually Joanna and the kids returned for a typical pizza and science evening.

Sunday was equally low-key.  Joanna went to church and took the little kids to the Captain Underpants movie.  I mowed the lawn and played some Stellaris, my galactic empire slowly expanding.  Yayoe came over to deliver graduation presents to Sam.  Isa came over.  My mom came for dinner.  It's always a whirlwind of activity here.

Mocha Friday

June 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

Summer is on the horizon, with Sam out of school and the other kids having less than two weeks to go.  Emma has a science test next week to determine if she can get into biology next year.  Soon we'll be on the summer schedule, with kids lounging about the house punctuated by the occasional trip.

Joanna is taking Duncan and Berry to Portland tonight for a writer's conference, with the little kids seeing some friends who moved away.  I'll have the rest of the crew - maybe I can make Sam cook us up something interesting.

Work continues to go well.  I'm leaping into a somewhat familiar problem of custom fields, my years working on PeaceHealth's form tool hopefully guiding me.  I'm going to get eggs from Pam today, saying hello to the old crowd.  My old boss Tom called - he's apparently left PeaceHealth and is going into business for himself.  I hope it's a good move for him.

Looking forward to the weekend and spending time with everyone.  Maybe we can make it to Wonder Woman this time around.

Solo Parenting Weekend

June 05, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a pretty good solo parenting weekend, all-in-all.  Berry had a small crisis where she had a sleepover in 30 minutes and all her underwear was dirty.  Nothing a quick wash in the sink and 5 minutes of microwaving underpants couldn't fix.  Joanna was staying at a retreat with poor reception, so she got my messages out of order.  The text that came through had no explaination, just that I was microwaving underpants.

Friday night was just Sam, the little kids, and I.  Sam did most of the stir fry cooking, as I took a call from my old boss Tom from my security days.  He's leaving PeaceHealth and going off to work for the local doctors in Bellingham, which hopefully makes his life better.  Sam and I played a little Salt and Sanctuary until it was time to put kids to bed.  I read Surely You're Joking Mister Feynman about his atomic bomb days until pretty late, watched some Foyle's War on Netflix, and went to bed.

Saturday morning I attempted to make dutch babies, forgot to actually cook it, and transformed the batter to pancakes at the last minute.  It all turned out fine, and then I went to get Emma from her mom's.  We spent the day mostly puttering around.  I took the kids down to cheese park where the water park had been activated.  I let them take off shoes and roll up pants.  Duncan went all in, cutting a deal where he'd make a normal face if he was allowed to pretend to be peeing while positioned carefully over the spray.  It seemed like a good trade.

Berry went to Zoe's for a sleepover.  Pizza was made.  Science shows were watched.  

Sunday was a successful dutch baby breakfast.  Berry returned, then Joanna before lunch.  Emma and Berry burned an old squished gnome candle gleefully in the back yard.  I managed some gardening and endless laundry.  Later that afternoon I tried to take the girls to see Wonder Woman, but they were sadly worn out.  I played Stellaris to assuage my loss.

It's Sam's last week of high school.  Still not sure he's going to graduation, though he will actually graduate.  He's been pretty cheerful lately.  I think we're doing our first client install at work, so I've got some last minute polish and bug fixing to do.

Life's okay.

Solo Parenting Mocha Friday

June 02, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna's off to a retreat this afternoon, leaving me in charge of the kids.  I'm hoping we can arrange a Wonder Woman movie watching, a trip to the outdoors, and plenty of video games.  Should be fun.

Work continues to be interesting as we approach our first client release.  I continue to work away at making an installer, which is more tricky than it seems.  Yesterday I spent the afternoon setting up a simple network on virtual machines to mimic our first client's environment.  Hopefully I'll get the kinks worked out today.

The kids all seem to be doing okay.  Sam, Emma, and I played the Duck Game a bunch last night, which was ridiculous but fun.  Sam has a week of school left.  Berry continues to encourage Joanna to ride her to school each day on their bikes.  Emma has had a week of state testing and finished playing Fallout 3.  Duncan's hair is rainbow, which pretty much describes him completely.

Mocha Friday

May 26, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week has come to an end, my mocha happening soon.  It's Sam's half birthday today and Emma's 14th birthday tomorrow.  We've also got a three day weekend and school wrapping up for the summer shortly.

I went to Emma's last band concert last night.  They're actually pretty darn good - we'll see if Emma continues in high school.  I sat next to one of my ex coworkers.  It's nice to be able to express how cheerful I am with my new job.

I've been working on an installer this week.  It's interesting being in the software development business and have to do these sort of things.  I find it fascinating, if technically challenging.

Grades are trickling in for the bigger kids.  Sam's doing well in his last remaining class.  Emma's sad about her one A-.  Duncan's doing pretty well, though he's following up on his science class with Joanna's prompting.  I was reminded of Sam at that time, and how just doing the work is key to scholastic success.

Looking forward to the weekend and hanging out with everyone.

Middle of the Week

May 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's gotten hot already this year.  I broke out the air conditioners, including putting one in the shed so I don't melt while working away out there.  We're looking into a heat pump solution if EWEB ever calls us.  I look forward to not lugging air conditioners up and down the stairs.

Both Berry and Emma had field trips this week, both delayed by flat tires on a bus.  I think they enjoyed the capital and Shakespeare in Ashland, respectively.

Work is coming along nicely.  I'm teaching myself about installers - we'll see if the solution I come up with pans out.

Sam and I continue to play Salt and Sanctuary, defeating bosses and having a good time.  I try not to slow him down too much, as his video game playing skills far surpass mine.

Belated Spring Cleaning

May 22, 2017 by Adam in Family

Between Joanna, Emma, and I we managed to clean a tremendous amount of the house this weekend.  Joanna cleaned out the garage full of things to donate.  I went through all my old clothes, getting rid of most of my dress shirts and pants.  I guess I need to keep working for Health Catalyst now, as shorts and t-shirts are my typical attire.  We cleaned out Emma's desk and the surrounding area.  Now Emma is working on Berry's desk, which terrifies even me.

As for the rest of the weekend, it's been pleasantly low-key.  Joanna and I walked to Friendly Street Market to listen to music and eat, enjoying the beauty of the warm spring night.  Saturday Joanna was busy taking Berry to a haircut and then going off to a writer's conference.  I played Salt and Sanctuary with Sam in the morning and then walked a good distance to pick up eggs from one of Joanna's egg connections.  The evening wrapped up with a night of Drawful and TKO, requested by Isa.

Other than cleaning, I took the girls to the park for Frisbee and played a bit more of Dishonored 2.  I made some bread for dinner, which I enjoyed - I used to do it all the time and should get back in the habit.  Soon we'll have Berry's French intern for dinner, wrapping up another good weekend.

Mocha Friday

May 19, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm all settled into my back shed, complete with the sit/stand desk.  It's actually pretty cool and I find I can stand for an hour or so every day.  I was admittedly a little sore the first day, but it's probably good for me to move around and fidget instead of being stuck in a chair all day.

I'm slowly becoming more competent in my job and we're slowly approaching the time when our application is tested by a real client.  Should be interesting.

We're in that funny part of the year as we approach the end of school.  For Sam and Emma, they're making bigger transitions to newer schools.  Emma frets about how she'll get to South in the morning.  Sam's somewhat more terse about the U of O, but I think he's willing to give it a try.

Berry's been making Joanna ride to school regularly.  Berry loves it, and Joanna seems to appreciate the beauty of nature despite the challenge.  Soccer season is over, so our weekends should be somewhat more free.

Joanna and I are off to date night tonight, which should be fun.  This weekend I need to extract gift ideas from Emma as her birthday is in a week.  I hope to continue playing a new game with Sam - a sort of 2D Dark Souls called Salt and Sanctuary.  Emma's been playing Fallout 3 and collecting bottle caps for Sam in real life.

Rainy Springtime

May 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's been a wet spring week in lovely Oregon.  At least our garden appreciates it, bursting into green and flowers.  Life is moving along relatively well, though I continue to fret about everyone.

Sunday afternoon was quite pleasant.  We took the family to Hendrick's Park for frisbee and strolling around.  The evening wound down with pizza and a show about the International Space Station, as we've decided the new Bill Nye show is deeply disappointing.

Joanna's been playing various soccer games, first with her over-30 league and then against Berry's team (the little people won).  I've been hanging out with Sam or playing Dishonored 2.  My fancy sit/stand desk arrived and I put it together one night, getting a great workout as I screwed things together.  I just need to order one every week for a full caridio program.  Hopefully I can enlist Sam to help me move it out to the shed this afternoon.

Happy Mother's Day

May 14, 2017 by Adam in Family

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there.  I got Sam's flu yesterday and ended up completely incapacitated, writhing about the floor in pain.  Fortunately today I felt much better and managed to put together a breakfast for Joanna, mom, and Yayoe that came off pretty well.  Joanna helped make quiches, Berry arranged the flowers, and I wore a mask due to my recent illness.  The croissants were great, along with the huge amounts of other assorted goodies.

Friday night Joanna and I had our date night under the Sportbrella, watching Berry's soccer game.  This morning I watched Sam play Dark Souls.  Emma arrived from her visit to Corvallis with her mom.  Now we're heading to Hendrick's Park to wind down the day.

Mocha Friday

May 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

I already finished my mocha, its sweet elixir long gone.  We're slowly moving towards summer, with a little over a month of school remaining.  Summer plans are slowly falling into place - hopefully they'll go relatively smoothly.

It's been a generally good week.  I visited my old work again, to both collect eggs and catch up on the old crew.  Sam got pretty sick for a couple days, but managed to go to school for a physics test yesterday.  This morning he ate food for the first time in a while.  Poor kid.

It's Berry's last week of soccer and I'm joining Joanna for a date night while Berry plays.  Emma's off with her mom in Corvallis until Sunday.  Duncan is spending a no-school day hanging out with friends.  I've got to get things ready for Mother's Day - preparation is required for my schemes to come to fruition.

Mid-Week Update

May 11, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along.  Joanna is hosting an event tonight.  Sam got his graduation requirements settled, as well as missing school today for being sick.  That hasn't happened in a long while.  Duncan and Berry got new glasses, with Berry being very excited she could see well again.

I'm slowly preparing for Mother's Day and hopefully starting to get summer plans sorted out.  We really need to book a place for our 4th of July vacation week.

I continue to have too much fun at work, narrowly focused on adding features to our little program.  I wrote a fairly complicated upload script and kept adding bells and whistles.  Maybe I really am a big boy programmer now.

Sunday Dinner

May 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

Jenny, Jordan, and my mom just headed home after another successful family dinner.  I really appreciate Joanna's cooking and organization that makes it happen - it's always a treat to see everyone and catch up.

The nerd weekend was generally successful, with the occasional bump in the road.  Sam got a little overwhelmed after signing up for the U of O orientation and missed Guardians of the Galaxy.  The rest of us enjoyed it and the five after-credit scenes.  Sam did manage to finish his senior project, so hopefully he'll actually graduate from South.

Emma and I hung out quite a bit, saving the universe with a final epic battle in Divinity.  Now we're looking for another co-op game to play.  I managed to mow the lawn and do the usual dishes/laundry, as well as making pizza.  I think everyone was a little disappointed with the new Bill Nye show, so we'll have to make due with other science shows until Adam Ruins Everything returns this summer.

I've been playing various new Humble Bundle games - Inside was great.  I'm slowly working through the Turning Test.  There are some quirky ones in there - we'll see which ones stick with me.

Emma and I walked around the block, strolled around Hendrick's Park, and later we took the little kids to return Berry's cupcake drawing at the little art gallery a few blocks away.  She picked up another tiny blank canvas, so we'll see what new piece will be created soon.

I'm strangely looking forward to work tomorrow.  I have an interesting Excel import feature to implement over the next few days.

Nerd Weekend

May 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a short work day, with the Salt Lake City office watching the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie after an all team meeting. Since I'm taking the kids tomorrow, Joanna and I opted for a rare afternoon date.

We went to lunch where I had coffee pancakes and then we walked through campus to a yarn store. Good times.

Tonight we watched Rogue One. Tomorrow is Guardians of the Galaxy, and it's free comic day as well. It's a good time to be a nerd.

Moving Right Along

May 04, 2017 by Adam in Family

Life seems to be moving right along.

Berry lost another tooth.  Joanna played soccer last night.  I had a very boring doctor checkup today - I'm apparently just fine, though getting some bloodwork done.  Sam has officially put down money for the U of O, so I think that's on track.  

Emma had her concert tonight, which was fun to watch.  They're actually all getting pretty good and sound like a real band.

 Work is doing well - today I worked on a seemingly simple "add an item to a drop-down list" feature.  Next was adding telemetry, which ended up being simpler than it sounds.

Sunny Weekend

May 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

The weekend is wrapping up.  It's been sunny today, in spite of the record number of rainy days since last October.  Sam, Emma, Duncan, and I went up to Hendrick's park to play frisbee and run around, along with a bunch of other people.  The flowers were very pretty, but we gravitated to a fallen tree, which made for a good leaping spot.

Friday night was quiet, with Emma making dinner at her mom's house.  I watched Sam work on his terrain generation system some more - progress was made, though not completed.  The next couple days he worked on inventing a new language, which was somewhat entertaining.  I keep wondering if all these experiments eventually turn into a full, marketable game.

Emma appeared at breakfast Saturday morning, sniffling from a cold.  Berry was sick as well, though she managed to play the second half of her soccer game and return with the team ball.  I had mild headaches, but it wasn't too bad.  Joanna ran around most of the day, but Sam and I made pizza for the last of the Planet Earth 2 series.

This morning I made crepes with strawberries and whip cream for Joanna, just to ensure that her undying love continues from the last time I did that for her.  I tend to play it safe with such things.  Emma and I played more Divinity, nearly reaching the end.  Sam and I played some of the new games in my Humble Monthly Bundle.

I've got to sort out Sam's U of O admission stuff tomorrow, as it's theoretically a deadline and we still haven't received proper instructions in the mail.  It's back to work for me tomorrow, which I'm strangely excited for.  Friday afternoon I accomplished some tricky stuff and it turned out looking really nice.

Back from Salt Lake City

April 28, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm back in town, feeling much more chipper this morning compared to my tired self of last night.  The altitude and difficulty sleeping made it a somewhat more challenging trip than last time it seems.

The trip out went pretty well - I took a direct flight with my boss Dorian who happens to be an old friend from my PeaceHealth days.  We Ubered to our hotel and met up with another old friend Jayson who happened to be in town.  We were joined with Andy and Jonathan and caught up over dinner.

Tuesday was morning meetings and team building exercises out at a park.  I won second place for moving ping-pong balls from one bowl to another using a spoon held in my mouth.  Mostly I learned that Andy is a scoundrel, interpreting the games' rules in creative ways.

Wednesday was more meetings, doing things like looking at Spotify's team structure.  Leadership and other teams came and chatted with us, in a semi-casual sort of Health Catalyst way.  That night we all went out to dinner at a fancy restaraunt - good food, if a little pretentious.

Yesterday I came in a worked, with Wade and Cory working from home that day.  Jonathan showed me how to do some things and I felt pretty productive.  It's cool when a process I've worked on for over a week finally shows up on the web page looking like a real thing.  That afternoon we headed to the airport for the long flight back.  There was a short delay, I got bumped to Premium and a little extra leg room, and I stumbled home around seven.

It was great seeing everyone again, though I was really wiped out.  Duncan showed me the video he was working on in class.  Emma showed me her story ideas for a school project.  Berry gave me a big squeeze.  Sam and Isa chatted away about coding with me.  Joanna looked glad to have another parent around the house again.

I was told to work half a day today, though I think I've got some sprint planning to do.  I might take the girls to school and stop by for a mocha on the way home.  Sam has to give some money to the U of O by the end of the day, and I think he's going to finish his long delayed senior project which is required for graduation.  Tonight Joanna is off for a speaking panel at Unity.  I'll probably get kids to bed and settle in.  Hopefully this weekend I can get settled in and help with house projects.

It's nice to be home.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

April 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm mostly packed and ready to go to Salt Lake City today.  Hopefully things go smoothly - it'll be nice to chat with everyone, though I'm admittedly getting to the point where I want to do the work and part of me sees this as an interruption.  Plus I'll miss the kids.  Glad I'm coming home at a reasonable hour on Thursday.

Friday night Joanna and I went to a fundraiser for Charlemagne.  Joanna was showing off her cider and hand-knitted stocking for bidding.  The music was a bit lound and they packed us in pretty tightly.  It was nice to sit out in the lobby and chat with Joanna, especially during the part where the marching band showed up.

Joanna, Duncan, and Emma were all off on Saturday.  It was relatively quiet.  I managed a mix of house work and fiddling with computer projects.  The lawns were mowed.  Eventually I told Berry to put clothes on and get off Netflix and the three of us fetched Isa.  Later we went on a walk to get Sam's hair cut, stopping by a little art gallery along the way (like a little free library but with art).  Berry painted a cupcake on the provided tiny canvas.

Joanna and Duncan returned for pizza and science.  She had a good time at her writers' conference and her back is slowly improving.  It's glad to see her mostly back to normal.

Sunday had a Berry soccer game and Duncan had a play date, so it was mostly Sam, Emma, Isa and I.  We played DnD, which Sam had been excited to DM all week.  The day wrapped up with a big Sunday dinner with my mom.  It was nice to see her and chat.

Mocha Friday

April 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's been a somewhat challenging week.  Joanna visited the chiropractor on Tuesday and ended up hurting her back.  I've been running kids to school, enlisting Sam to help cook meals, and generally helping out.  Kudos to mom for helping take people places as well.

Otherwise life keeps moving forward.  Work is challenging and interesting.  I'm headed to Salt Lake City next week, though I have my usual angsty feeling that it'll interrupt getting the work done.

Joanna and Duncan theoretically go to Portland tomorrow and Emma is off to Corvallis.  We'll see if Berry, Sam, and Isa want to go hiking or bike riding or something.

Easter Come and Gone

April 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

We had a pleasant three day weekend.  We celebrated Berry's birthday on Friday as I ran around on my day off to various places.  Berry's birthday parties went well - she liked her presents and everyone was worn out by lazer tag.  I got really tired at the end of the day, though fortunately my mom was around to pick up Isa.

Saturday was dad's surgery, which went well.  Jenny reports that he's in good spirits, but tired of jello already.  Sam ran a D&D campaign for Emma, Isa, and I with Lego characters, which was fun.  I think Sam's been accepted at the U of O - they keep sending post cards.  More things to sort out.

Duncan was a social butterfly this weekend, with a sleepover and friends coming to visit.  I think he was the only kid who got a reasonable amount of sleep as he seemed coherent when I picked him up.

Easter Sunday involved a lot of egg hiding after a hearty breakfast of french toast, sausages, bacon, and mocha.  Emma and I played a little Divinity.  I worked on my little Unity game, getting a computer bootup sequence just right.  Joanna whipped up a big Easter dinner.

Mocha Friday & Berry Birthday

April 14, 2017 by Adam in Family

We wished Berry a happy birthday, though the festivities will continue throughout the day.  Health Catalyst is giving me the day off, which makes for a pleasant day.  I helped take Berry and Emma to school, went shopping with Joanna at Target, and picked up eggs from Pam at PeaceHealth.

Dad's in surgery at the moment, which makes us all a little nervous.  Hopefully he'll be done soon and then Jenny and I can go visit.  We might be keeping an eye on him tomorrow when he recovers and Jenny is out at a concert.

Other than Berry's birthday, things are relatively quiet this weekend.  I'm puttering on my computer today, working on a game project.  Joanna is reading on the coach.  Life's good.

Tuesday Already

April 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

The weekend has come and gone.  It was pleasant and fun and generally lazy.  We had some breaks in the weather and went for a walk through the neighborhood to fetch chicken eggs.  Spring is sneaking up on us - I'm really enjoying working from home and being close to the rain and growing things.

Joanna and the kids generally seem to be doing well.  Work continues to be fun, if very technical and specific at times.  Lots of things to learn still.

Mocha Friday

April 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

My mocha is long gone - I fixed it for myself this morning and headed out to the shed to code away.  I continue to enjoy what I do, which seems to be arcane and technical things - logging, Telemetry, and error notification today.  Hopefully next week I get to work on some more application-specific things.

We mostly survived the windstorm from last night, despite it waking people up with banging and roaring.  It's been occasionally nice, in between the torrent of rain.

No exciting weekend plans.  We're all being pretty lazy tonight.  I picked up Emma from school, which I think will be an every-other Friday afternoon thing. It's nice to be in this part of town.

Wednesday Already

April 05, 2017 by Adam in Family

School has started up again, with Sam in his final term before graduation.  I'm crossing my fingers, hoping he makes it to the finish line.  The other kids seem to have settled back into the routine relatively well.  Duncan has a couple new electives - a class where he just reads and another where he makes movies.  He likes them both, so it should be fun for him.

I've been writing tests the last few days at work.  It's vaguely interesting, and sometimes challenging.  I think I'll switch to logging and telemetry today.

Easter

April 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was great seeing everyone the last few days.  We continued to wander over to my mom's house to cook, chat, and hang out.  Eventually a horde of people arrived latest Saturday and we ate good food and chatted until it was time to head home.

Yesterday was very much a hang out and relax day.  There was a brief trip to my mom's house with Emma and Berry to see Isa while the older crowd talked about inheritance stuff.  Sam spent most of the day playing video games - his muscles were still sore from helping (his) Isa and her mom move.  We did manage a short trip to Down to Earth.  Joanna and I played in the garden, setting up cloches to keep tomatoes warm and planting peas.

I finished Wolfenstein: Old Blood somewhere in there and got pretty far in the new Torment game.  Emma and I continue to play Divinity, slowly working our way to the end.

I'm back to work momentarily, which I'm strangely looking forward to.  We're starting a new sprint, and I'm curious as to what work has been assigned to me.

Friday Preparations

March 31, 2017 by Adam in Family

We're getting ready for Russian Orthodox Easter tomorrow, scheduled slightly differently than the official date.  Sam and I headed over to my mom's, meeting up with Emma to help clean up her patio.  It was a fun, cheerful experience, and it was nice to see the kids be helpful and entertaining.  Sam and I came back home to take it easy for a little while.  The plan is to later set up a repository for his code and get his quirky game working properly again. Right now his little simulated people build a house and then sit in it until they starve to death.

I took yesterday off work as well, spending some time with Seraph, Robbie, and Izzie.  I also managed to do various errands, such as filling up on 20 gallons of kerosine in case power fails again, and replacing my ancient car battery.

I strangely miss work a little bit.  My code made it to the master branch and I have some ideas for the security system I want to try out.  Fun, fun.

Visitors

March 29, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's been a somewhat eventful last few days.  Monday night Honoka came to dinner - she's visiting the US and staying with her friend Megan.  Honoka got pretty teary-eyed seeing us all again and visiting her old bedroom that I've since turned into an office.  She seems to be well, going to junior college and learning about nutrition, while teaching English to middle school kids on the side.  It was nice to see her, and Berry was especially sad to have her go.

Yesterday I had breakfast with mom and dinner with dad, which was a nice treat. I think they're all generally doing okay, though dad has surgery in a couple weeks.  Theoretically he should recover in a week or so.  They both seem excited to see Seraph and her crew, who landed in Eugene last night.

Work has gotten a little busy, which is a good thing I suppose.  Jonathan is asking me to put my security hat on and build a security-related application as a demo project.  I'm also trying hard to get my source code reviewed and checked into the master branch.  It's one of those milestones that means I'm actually contributing.

I have the next couple days off.  Hopefully I can hang out with the kids and Seraph, Robbie, and Isa as much as possible.

Rainy Weekend

March 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a good weekend, hanging out with kids excited for spring break.  The weather was pretty rainy, though we managed to take the whole family down to Alton Baker Park to walk around and play with a couple Frisbees.  Other than that, it was the usual pizza, big breakfasts, and playing around.  Berry and Joanna aren't feeling great for whatever reason, with Berry having a nasty cold.  Hopefully they improve soon.

I'm working three days this week while the kids are out of school.  Thursday and Friday I'm hanging out with Seraph and crew.

Sam's working on a new game that involves little creatures finding food, mating, and fighting.  I had him restructure his code and we spent a few frustrating hours getting it working again.  It's surprisingly funny - with the little creatures standing around until they die because their needs are fulfilled, or various morally questionable mating practices.

Emma and I played more Divinity.  Joanna worked.  Duncan and Berry played on their computers.  I set up a new security camera and got them all working the way I wanted.  Life moves on.

Mocha Friday

March 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

My mocha is long gone.  It's weird making it myself these days, though admittedly Wednesday afternoon I stopped by Full City to use up the last of my gift certificate.  

I managed to screw up this web site when setting up my work office.  Good ol' IP address conflicts with the router.  Silly me.  Should be fixed now.

Work is going along really well.  I got two big monitors shipped to me which make life a lot easier.  I'm also getting the hang of our code base and feeling like I'm making valid contributions.  There's a lot to learn still, but at least I'm getting into the code base and doing useful stuff.

The family is generally doing okay, though I'm regularly reminded that being a teenager is hard.  Hopefully everyone makes it through to adulthood in one piece.  Joanna's been working really hard lately - while we sometimes work at home at the same time, we only briefly cross paths.

I'm looking forward to the weekend and hanging out with kids.  Next week should be pretty fun.  Honoka comes for dinner Monday night.  Seraph, Robbie, and Isa arrive Tuesday sometime.  I'm taking Thursday and Friday off.

Wednesday

March 22, 2017 by Adam in Family

My current goal in my job is to feel slightly less incompetent with every day that passes.  I've been flailing around in the code, slowly starting to understand how it works.  I think I'm making progress though, and it is only my first week after training.

I heard from Kate about her sister.  Kai and her family are in Turkey helping the Syrian refugees.  I know mom and Seraph always fret about her, as they often find themselves in far-flung places.

Emma finished her presentation on her mentorship with Joanna - supposedly it went mostly okay.  Sam was more critical of his presentation in his scifi class.  Berry's foot injury continues to heal.  The crutches are gone and she's limping around with a brace.  Duncan is Duncan, sometimes mature and charming, sometimes goofy and crazy.  Ah, the joys of tweens.

I'm generally enjoying working from home, especially with the extra 40 minutes from my commute.  Yesterday I mowed the lawn.  Other times of started pruning or hung out with Sam.  It makes my schedule seem far less crazy.

Sunny Sunday

March 19, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's late Sunday and the weather is pretty amazing.  I've tried hard to spend a lot of time outside today, riding bikes and puttering about in the garden.  It raises the spirits considerably.

It's been a generally good weekend.  Friday night Joanna and I had a hot date at the gluten free place, stopping by Sundance to pick up tea for Joanna's jun.  We also made peanut butter through a crushing device so Sam wouldn't be peanut butter free for a few days.

Saturday morning I played the "figure out a technical problem to make my new coworker happy" game before breakfast.  Cory will hopefully be happy and I'll be accepted as one of their own.

We managed a library run in the afternoon.  Isa came over and we watched a throwback Mythbusters with our pizza.  I'm slowly working through the new Torment game, which continues to be quirky and fascinating.

Today I took Sam and Emma on a bike ride.  Emma crashed into a parked car on her way down 19th.  She wasn't particularly happy, but she biked a little more, Sam and I did a quick ride as she rested, and we ended up at Humble Bagel for lunch.  Hopefully it was one of those character building moments.

Mocha Friday

March 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm still figuring out how to work from home these days.  I made myself a mocha, did my last session with the Bootcamp at Health Catalyst, and generally felt pretty good about my onboarding process.  I have a ton to learn still, and haven't got all my software configured.  I did manage to get the application I'll be working on to run on my laptop, which was a good first step.

They're doing this funky thing at work whey they have a pine derby and this afternoon rent out a theater to watch Beauty and the Beast.  It's a little different for us remote workers - I was trying to find a time to go to the movie, but life is a challenging series of scheduling problems.  Not sure when we'll make it.

I managed to screw up the network and take this web site offline.  I moved it to a more reliable network connection, but I need to think through this stuff a little more carefully.  I think I'm up to 4-5 hubs and switches in the house at this point.  I should probably make a wiring diagram or at least label all these wires.

Berry hurt her leg falling off her bike a few days ago.  There doesn't seem to be any serious bruising or swelling, but she seems reticent to put any weight on it.  She's been using crutches for a couple days and scooting around on the floor, which is vaguely comical and sad.  Joanna's planning on taking her to urgent care this afternoon.

I think we're all generally okay.  Emma read her presentation on her work study with Joanna to me this morning and I think she'll do fine.  Duncan's having problems with one of his French classes.  Sam's got finals and then one more term of high school - still not quite sure what his plan is.  Joanna seems to be liking her new office - she occasionally wanders home and we chat briefly at lunch.

Date night tonight.  I need to make a library run tomorrow.  Really enjoying the somewhat nicer weather - did a little gardening the other day and it felt great.

Happy (Day After) Pi Day

March 15, 2017 by Adam in Family

Joanna made us tasty pies to celebrate Pi day yesterday - pumpkin and apple.  They were pretty amazing, both in presentation and taste.  Apparently they were celebrating Pi day at work yesterday, as people took a break from our training to go get pie.  I didn't envy them too much, as I knew what was coming.

The week has been relatively uneventful.  I got my office space in back sorted out and have been doing training sessions in the quiet of the back shed.  Onboarding is going well - I'm enjoying the training and slowly sorting out all the other little pieces.  I'm itching at the prospect for writing code soon.

Settling In

March 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm slowly settling into my new job.  After some grumbling I managed to get my network connection in the shed working well enough.  It's actually pretty cozy out here - I was watching training videos on the couch, sprawled out and learning about analytics adoption roadmaps.  Fun stuff.

I still have a lot to do in order to get my computer setup, I have four days of bootcamp coming up, and lots of looking over the shoulder of coworkers before I can start being really productive.  Still, I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm excited to start being useful.

The weekend was generally pretty good.  There was a fair amount of technical support that had built up while I was away.  I installed Joanna's new hard drive and helped her transfer data over to her laptop so she'll be more mobile.  Duncan had a green screen sitting under his bed since Christmas - I helped getting the software together and Joanna helped string it up as a background.  Soon enough he was making goofy test videos.  Sam posted his climbing game and has moved on to a dialog-heavy adventure game.  It looks pretty nice, and he managed to set up a Twine import into Unity which works well.

In between tech support and the usual activities like pizza and science, Emma and I played a lot of Divinity.  Somehow I missed a bunch of things on my first play through, so it's been fun going through again to see what I missed.

Last night we went over to Jenny's to celebrate my dad's 74th birthday with most of the usual crowd.  It was nice to see everyone, as always.

Friday at Home

March 10, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm back home, having had a pretty good flight though the wait at the airport was a little long.  The week was good - lots of nice, smart people.  The work is interesting.  I have a lot to learn.

I'm going through online training today, hoping to get through it all.  I've also got to do expense reports and some other odds and ends.  In general, though, I'm feel pretty good about the move and excited to start doing actual work.

It was great seeing everyone this morning.  I do miss everyone when I'm away.

Health Catalyst Employee

March 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

I finished my second day of onboarding - all is going well and I'm meeting a lot of great people.  There were a couple meetings that were fascinating, talking about some of the cool things Health Catalyst is doing.  I also got a chance to look at the code I'll be working on and breathed a sigh of relief.  It all looks familiar and I think I'll actually be useful.  Lots to learn, from their time tracking software to connecting to the local network.  I have a ton of software to install on my new laptop.

I miss all the Eugene folks, video chatting and texting helps some.  It's been nice having familiar people to hang out with - Jonathan and Andy have been keeping me company.  I'm off to dinner soon.

I'll be nice to be home tomorrow.

Salt Lake City

March 07, 2017 by Adam in Family

I landed about an hour ago, waiting for Jonathan and Andy to arrive. The flight was fine and the only hitch being Glen's absence as his father-in-law died recently and he had to cancel. 

It was a generally good weekend otherwise. Sam continued polishing his game. Emma worked on homework and caught up from her two sick days. Duncan discovered a nearby friend and hung out with him. Berry and I caught the cold that's going around, her far worse than I.

We did our usual pizza and science. Emma helped setting up the shed.  I started playing and immensely enjoying the new Torment game. 

I strangely have little anxiety about my new job. Mostly I want to hit the ground running and get settled in my new life.

Farewell PeaceHealth

March 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's my last day at PeaceHealth, my mocha slowly disappearing beside me.  Dave Mehl, my old friend and coworker, is retiring today too.  There should be a pretty good crowd at the party we're throwing ourselves.

Summer came over for dinner last night and charmed all the girls.  She was gushing over Emma's artwork and bought signed copies of Joanna's books.  Now Berry has decided she wants to go stay with her in Seattle this summer.  It was nice to chat - hopefully we can stay in touch and I can get some working-from-home pointers.

I picked up cake this morning and have spent my day so far chatting with people and answering last minute questions that only I know the answer to.  Hopefully this place doesn't collapse after I leave.

Joanna and I are off on our date night today.  This weekend I want to get my new office ready, especially when it comes to the plants being okay.  I've also got a few things to get ready for my Salt Lake City trip, though I generally feel pretty prepared.

Exciting times ahead!

Three More Days

March 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along, with only occasional bumps here and there.  The party planning is done and now Dave and I are just waiting for the big bash this Friday.  It may end up being a pretty big "to do" as people are coming in from out of town and ex-PeaceHealth people are showing up.  It may end up being an informal reunion of sorts.

The police showed up and we dutifully handed over the phone we found in our driveway.  Hopefully we hear the explaination as to why they were wandering around our house at 2 a.m.  I think the general consensus was that they weren't trying to break in, but we're all very curious as to what was going on.

I helped sort out some last minute issues with Sam's application to the U of O.  I think he's on track and should hear by the end of the month whether or not he got accepted.  Now we just need to sort out his senior project and we should be ready for whatever he decides to do next.

Joanna's sorting through all the new office stuff, from insurance to signing paperwork.  Hopefully the new place works well for her.  As I move back home, she moves out.  I'm trying hard not to take it personally.

Duncan's worries over his new haircut and dye job seem to have dissipated once his friends declared it cool.  Other than a mixup where I took her to the wrong school for basketball practice, I think Berry's doing fine.

Joanna made crepes for dinner last night, as is the way of her people for Fat Tuesday.  The little kids were super excited, especially as there were leftovers for breakfast this morning.  It's amazing how much whip cream and Nutella they can cram into a single crepe.

Last Work Week

February 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's my last week at PeaceHealth.  I'm mostly looking for trouble, finding infected servers and other quirky things.  I'll miss the detective work, though not necessarily dealing with grumpy people.

The weekend was generally good.  Sam finished his pong clone and moved on to a climbing game with a fun grappling hook mechanic.  Emma and I played Little Inferno, which mostly involved setting things on fire.  Duncan got his hair cut and died to look like a Minecraft creeper, though he was a little disappointed with how it turned out.

My move to Health Catalyst is coming along.  I worked on getting the shed set up a little better.  I put in a wall plate for the network connection.  Emma and I assembled some shelves to hold my plants.  I finished the onboarding paperwork (now digital), so I should be good to go when I arrive next Monday in Salt Lake City.

Joanna texted me this morning saying she found a phone in the driveway and asking me to check the camera footage.  Sure enough, someone was wandering around our house at 2 a.m.  I gathered up the best images and sent it her way.  In the meantime she's been documenting who's been calling and texting the phone and filing a police report.  While initially we thought it might be someone trying to break in, we're leaning towards the drunk young person explaination.

Second to the Last PeaceHealth Mocha Friday

February 24, 2017 by Adam in Family

Work is slowly wrapping up, though I'm surprisingly busy still.  I'm working security incidents, training Patterson, and updating thousands of AD accounts.  It's like they'll miss me or something.

The week is moving along.  Emma's got a lisp with her retainer, which we try to laugh with her about (and not at her).  Joanna and I got new glasses and ordered some first aid supplies - trying to spend all our FSA cash before I leave.  I'm still working on getting setup with Health Catalyst.  I'm doing some onboarding stuff and ordered my laptop today.  

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I have some house project work, but I'm holding off on moving into my new office until after Joanna moves out.  I suspect Emma and I will continue our video game playing.  Hopefully we can hit the library and do an orientation at the YMCA.

Work posted a very nice farewell for Dave and I.  Looking forward to next week's party.  Hopefully I ordered enough cake.

David Mehl, Digital Strategies web operations/solutions lead analyst, is retiring March 3 after 27 years with PeaceHealth.

A retirement celebration will be held on Friday, March 3, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the cafeteria at the RiverBend Annex. As it so happens, another key member of the Information Services team–Adam Miller, security engineer for Security and Compliance, is marking his last day as well, so the party will recognize both. Adam is taking a job with Health Catalyst.

Any caregiver who has ever logged on with a “3 x 3,” used the Crossroads directory, filled out an electronic survey form or bought and sold on the Swap Shop site has benefited from the innovation and creativity of both Dave and Adam. The two have worked side by side for nearly 20 years.

“We experience amazing benefits from overhearing each other, finding out work often dovetailing,” Dave said.

Here’s what Dave’s supervisor, Digital Strategies Director Scott Alperin, said about Dave:

When I started at PeaceHealth, David was hugely helpful in understanding the wide range of responsibilities of Digital Strategy. However, where I learned from him most was the example he set in pursuing the PeaceHealth Mission as a caregiver, a leader and a team-mate. Every day, everything he has done here has been handled with compassion and personal commitment. Fortunately for all of us, that commitment to the mission will live on for years in the systems he has helped build, and all of the people he has trained, consulted with and touched.”

Party Planning

February 23, 2017 by Adam in Family

I ordered cake for the farewell party for Dave and I, getting a chocolate and carrot cake from sweet life.  It took forever to explain how I wanted the decorations to be <cake>chocolate</cake> and <cake>carrot</cake>, so I ended up emailing the woman taking my order.  I think it's sorted out.

I chatted a little with the new security engineer, who recommended I take my current security job.  I'm still glad I did, though it didn't quite work out the way I wanted.  I suspect development will be better for my stress levels.

Sam continues to get praise for his work at the U of O.  Unity was new to Bill, so Sam's help was invaluable.  I'm glad that worked out so well. 

Emma's got her retainer now, practicing saying her S's.  Joanna settled on an office at 10th and Lawrence.  Duncan and Berry seem to be doing well - Berry continues to be in a very sweet phase, which we all appreciate.  Life's okay.

Three Day Weekend

February 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

President's Day is wrapping up, the end to a generally pleasant weekend.

There was quite a bit of hanging out, from Friday's date night with Joanna, to playing video games with Emma, and doing the usual pizza and science shows Saturday night.  I also managed to wrap up some projects, including running network cable to the back shed.  Berry assisted in digging a trench, with the side effect of getting tremendously muddy.

Emma saw the dentist today.  Her lower teeth are coming in quickly, so she only got a retainer for her upper teeth.  The whole thing was really inexpensive, especially compared to the thousands of dollars the orthodontist wanted to spend.

Sam had a good time at his work study today.  I hear he's actually pretty useful and knows more about Unity than the person he's working with.  Sam also made a pong-like game the he's been expanding into weird and crazy game modes.  He, Isa, and I played a three-player game where time occasionally froze and it was insane fun.

Joanna has settled on a new office and is getting that organized.  She's off playing soccer tonight, retunring shortly.  Berry has been helpful and sweet this weekend.  Duncan has been full of mischief.

Tomorrow I return to work, onboarding the old security engineer, doing some analysis, and writing up thoughts and documentation.  Dave and Glen are party planning - fortunately I just have to order cake.  Two more weeks.

Mocha Friday

February 17, 2017 by Adam in Family

I continue to wrap things up at work.  Most things are in boxes that I'm slowly hauling away a couple per day.  My plants are cheerful in the warm, bright space - hopefully they survive in the back shed.  Yesterday Joanna coordinated the addition of a new electrical outlet, only grumbling slightly that it wasn't done for the year she used the space.  

The other big thing is hauling away a broken treadmill from work.  I've been given the green light to take it away - it's my old ancient favorite one that was too expensive to repair.  I think I can fix it, though - I can't let old Bessie be sold for scrap.  The plan is to rent a U-Haul this weekend and take it away.

My flights are booked to Salt Lake City.  I'm starting to get excited about the new job.  I keep tinkering with new web technologies in my free time.  I don't quite feel competent, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Front end web development is changing at a rapid pace.

Dave Mehl and I need to do some party planning.  I want to order a couple cakes and send out invitations.  People keep stopping by my office to say hello and farewell.  I'm going to miss a lot of people.

Tonight is date night with my lovely wife.  I'm taking Monday off to take Sam to the U of O and play with VR goggles.  Emma's demanding more co-op game playing, which I'm happy to assist with.  Life is well.

Slowly Getting There

February 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

My office is slowly being packed and I'm arranging the last little things at work.  I've been surprisingly busy - cleaning up 5,000+ AD accounts among other things - I'm not quite sure how they'll manage without me.  Wednesday they announced the sale of PeaceHealth Labs to Quest Diagnostics.  Lots of glum, worried faces.  Some things I won't miss.

Andy, Glen, Jonathan, and I are planning our reunion at Salt Lake City.  It'll be nice to see those guys again.  I continue to work on my web development skills - lots of cutting edge stuff seems to have come out in the last few years.

After some excitement I think I've got Sam set up for his Senior Project.  He's going to be working for the U of O psychology department, making Unity projects with the Oculus Rift.  He knows Unity really well, so it's a great fit.

Dad was over yesterday, having me sign his will.  We jabbered away through dinner, catching up.  It's always a treat to hear what crazy project he's up to these days.

Joanna is looking at another office.  I'm surprised at how many little areas are available around town, though some are fairly quirky.  Hopefully this is the one as it's just a few blocks away.

Change is in the Air

February 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was a generally pleasant weekend, with Joanna picking up Emma and meeting me at the eye doctor's.  We have some flexible spending account cash to spend before I leave, so I'm updating my ancient glasses with slightly less fuzzy ones.  Emma and Berry gave us pointers on which frames looked the coolest.

Sam and Isa hung out for most of the weekend, playing through all my old video games.  He asked if I had downplayed how good some of them were as he really liked them - Firewatch and Life Is Strange were both story-heavy games with good aesthetics.  Emma and I kept playing Divinity: Original Sin, as she's pretty hooked on it.  It's a fun RPG that plays well on a big screen with controllers.

I took Emma and Berry outside when the sun poked out and I spent some time planting peas and beans.  The girls hunted for worms in the mud, having way too much fun.  I'm feeling the urge to spend some time on making the back yard prettier, as that'll be my view when I work from home.

I spent the afternoon mentoring Daniel.  We added a UI for his little Unity game - adding a score and hearts.  My favorite part was making the laser fully automatic.  Saturday night was pizza and White Rabbit Project, continuing our tradition.

Sunday Emma lost her glasses and we spent hours cleaning her entire room.  Eventually I found it on the lowest shelf of the shelf she put it on.  It had just fallen down in the middle of the night.  My mom came for dinner, which was nice.

I'm coordinating my Salt Lake City trip with Andy, Jonathan, and Glen.  Hopefully we can hang out together a bit while I go through my orientation.  I've also got some party planning with Dave.  People keep coming into my office to say farewell.  Change is coming soon.

Mocha Friday

February 10, 2017 by Adam in Family

I had a good day yesterday, driving up to Vancouver with Glen.  We chatted about life, old times, and Health Catalyst.  Yesterday was spent dropping off security equipment, crashing Dave Mehl's farewell lunch, doing my exit interview with HR, and saying a number of farewells.  My anxiety is generally lower now that I've made my decision and am moving on, though it occasionally hits me that a big change is looming.

Finished my mocha.  Still somewhat busy at work, though I can tell things will start taipering off.  Doing some informal penetration testing of some new remote access servers this morning, which is kinda fun.  Dave and I have to plan a party for early March.  I think I'll just get some Sweet Life goodies as a gift to my coworkers.

There are some strange transition things to plan over the next month.  We've got to spend all our FSA cash.  I want to get the back shed a little nicer to work in full-time.  Joanna continues to look for her own office space.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Emma and I have been on a video game co-op run, which I hope to continue.  I'm still honing my web development skills while I can, trying to brush up on machine learning.  Interesting times.

Roadtrip!

February 09, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm heading up to Vancouver with my old manager Glen Campbell today.  The plan is to drop off some security equipment, have a farewell lunch for Dave Mehl, and then do my exit interview with HR.  It'll be nice to catch up with Glen and get the scoop on my new job.

I'm strangely enjoying my job even more now that I'm leaving.  People are stopping by and congratulating me.  It's like I'm appreciated or something.  I also had an interesting security detection yesterday which I researched and decided our tools had blocked it, though the user clicked a few links and buttons they shouldn't have.  I was also asked to write an emergency script to get a thousand doctors working properly again.  I do like writing useful code.

The rest of the family is generally doing okay.  Duncan and Berry had quite the row at breakfast yesterday, but they've apologized to each other and are back to normal.  Sam's been playing games, enjoying his science fiction class, and hanging out with Isa.  Emma comes home tonight, which will be a treat.

Joanna's worrying about her business and renting an office space to work out of.  I feel vaguely guilty for taking over the back shed, though it's a little small for her.  Sometime this month I need to run network cable out to the back and wire it up properly.

Sick Weekend

February 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

We had a bit of a wet, sick weekend.  Friday night Joanna and I went out on our date night, which was very pleasant.  Saturday morning I scooped up Emma and took her and the little kids to the library.  Unfortunately I got some sort of head cold by the afternoon and was pretty useless for the rest of the day, sleeping and letting others make pizza.

Joanna was sick on Sunday afternoon with a migrane, and Emma had a stomach ache.  I tried to get Duncan modding Minecraft - the process is pretty complex.  Sam showed off his latest game changes.  Emma played through a video game while I watched.  I continued practicing my Angular web development skills.

I gave notice at work this morning.  I keep finding new people to tell.  My next step will be to get the shed ready for continuous work, mostly by getting network connectivity out there.

Sleepy Mocha Friday

February 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

We had a 1:30 a.m. downtime this morning, updating a certificate on a series of servers.  I think we had six people on the call, plus a Microsoft rep.  While it didn't quite go as planned, we managed to wrangle the cryptic commands to do our bidding and everything was restored.  

Only Sam had school today, but I sleepily jumped out of bed and made breakfast for the kids without thinking about it.  Everyone was being pretty lazy, but I eventually got ready for work and headed in about an hour late.  I have a critical meeting coming up momentarily, but then the afternoon is pretty free.

We're all doing relatively well these days.  Emma and I played more of the co-op Laura Croft game last night after she and Joanna went to a writer's thing.  Emma's job shadowing Joanna to learn what writers do.  Sam continues to work on his horror puzzle game, implementing knot tying last I heard.  I also turned on sharing through Steam, so he's playing through all these games that I have in my library.

Joanna and I have a hot date tonight.  It'll be nice to take it easy a little for a couple days.  Security has been a little exciting lately.

Mid-Week Update

February 01, 2017 by Adam in Family

Things just keep moving along.  Work has gotten a little crazy and it looks like I get to do a Friday at 1:30 a.m. certificate upgrade.  Hopefully I can do that, get a little sleep, and then get to work for a 10 a.m. meeting.

The family is doing well.  Joanna had a good soccer game earlier this week and has managed to recruit some more teammates.  Sam finally got in touch with a job shadow person and hopefully will spend some time with him today.  It's with the psych department at the U of O and they're doing some cool VR stuff - hopefully he has a good time.  Berry got wonked in the face with a basketball.  Her face is fine, but her glasses may need some tweaking.  Duncan keeps growing and finding clothes that fit him continues to be a challenge.  I saw Emma last night - she's her usual sweet and cheerful self.

All is well.

Monday

January 30, 2017 by Adam in Family

Well, I've made my big decision and moving things along.  Talked to a ton of people over the last few days - the help from everyone was great.  I'm strangely calm.  The process getting here was stressful and challenging, but now it's just time to move forward.

The weekend was generally pretty good.  I managed to accomplish some of the pre-spring cleaning I was wanting to do - putting things away, cleaning the sand off the front walkway, and so on.  Sam showed me his latest game development progress, which is fairly impressive.  I mentored Daniel on Unity programming while Emma hung out with Kate.  Berry went with me to get a haircut and was her usual sweet self.  Duncan and Flynn hung out most of the weekend.  Emma and I finished our first co-op game and moved to another.

Emma and I also took a walk up to Hendrick's park.  Lots of trees were down, including the one the held the swings there.  I think every kid had a turn on those swings.  Sad to see them go.

Mocha Friday

January 27, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm downing the last drops of my mocha, pondering what I want to be when I grow up.

The kids are all doing well, the weather is improving, and the dark days of winter seem to be fading fast. 

Emma's been really into hanging out with me lately when she's around.  She showed me her new art last night, we worked on homework together, and managed to play our latest cooperative video game.  Lots of high-fives were had.

I have some errands to run this weekend - getting car issues fixed and a hair cut.  I'm also itching to do some yardwork and prepare for spring.

Wednesday Already

January 25, 2017 by Adam in Family

Things are moving along at a fast clip.  Doing a quick post before rushing off to work.

Joanna had a good birthday bash on Sunday.  Lots of people arrived for cake, tea, and conversation.  Emma and I hung out and played video games.  Sam's working on a new game himself, and I helped him work on cool monster effects last night.  Berry has been generally enjoying basketball.  Duncan is all about video games and hanging out with friends, mostly Flynn.  Apparently we're a pretty game-based household.

I continue to settle into my office, though I've yet to hang up all my wall stuff.  My car's electrical system is being flaky - I think I need to replace the battery.  There's always some weird maintenance task to do somewhere.

Belated Mocha Friday

January 21, 2017 by Adam in Family

I'm slowly getting used to my office.  It's a little warm, but generally spacious and I like being able to close my door.  People kept coming by to say hello, which was nice.  I was a little worried I'd be lonely there.

It's Duncan's half birthday today, so Joanna is making him his favorite meal and he'll get a little treat to go with it.

Middle of the Week

January 18, 2017 by Adam in Family

Life is moving along, getting into the post-Christmas swing of things.  Sam applied for the U of O, which was a relief for me.  Emma's teeth continue to recover.  I'm getting ready to move into an office at work, keeping my secret conversations slightly more secret.

Joanna and Berry's weekend illnesses cleared up.  Sam and Isa have been working on some text parsing game, with Sam practicing his object oriented programming skills.  I've actually played a few video games lately, which has been rare for me.  I'm slowly working on my next security certificate - plenty to study for.

Putting Away Christmas

January 16, 2017 by Adam in Family

The last of the Christmas decorations went away, the lights all packed away in boxes.  Joanna and Berry were both pretty sick, with Berry throwing up a bunch.  Emma's been taking pain pills regularly and generally doing well.  She still can't eat anything hard.

I had my first mentor session with Daniel - we spent a couple hours writing code and making a game in Unity.  It turned out pretty well and I think he was excited to continue.  Kate hung out with Emma at the same time, which I think they both enjoyed.

Sam's working on a new game, feeling better about the quality of his code.  He and Isa were working on a seperate project that involved typing in sentences and breaking down the gramattical structure of the words.  Cool and esoteric - not sure where it's going exactly.

Otherwise it was a pretty quiet weekend.  I got one help desk call.  We stayed at home and the sick people took it easy.  We ate pizza and watched The White Rabbit Project, which has a bit of the Mythbusters feel.  Hopefully everyone recovers before school starts up on Tuesday.

Chilly Mocha Friday

January 13, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's slightly nippy outside today, but the roads were mostly clear and I shuffled off to work.  I was handed the key to an office yesterday.  Apparently they want me in there so I can keep my sensitive conversations more private.  I'll need to start the ball rolling on getting it set up and everything moved.  It's kinda weird, as I've been in this cubicle for approaching a decade.

Emma seems to be on the mend after her teeth extraction yesterday.  She's been eating mashed potatoes and taking Advil.  I think she'll be okay.

It feels like we're still cleaning up after the snows and ice.  Hopefully this weekend I can take down the Christmas lights and put away assorted camping gear we surveyed.  Joanna's birthday is coming up and I need to prep for it a little more.  Duncan wants help setting up a Minecraft server with his mod.  I'm being a mentor with Emma's friend Kate's brother Daniel, and need to figure out the best way to teach him game development.  Should be entertaining.

Isa's Birthday

January 12, 2017 by Adam in Family

We all went out for sushi to celebrate Isa's belated 18th birthday.  It was a good time and the kids were mostly well behaved, though we had a few wasabi related accidents.

Snowy Weekend

January 08, 2017 by Adam in Family

We're generally sticking at home through this most recent snow and ice storm.  Friday night we put Sam in charge and Joanna and I walked through the cold for a date night dinner.  Saturday Joanna braved the weather in the chained up minivan to bring chains and a friend to Jamie's house, and return with Emma while Jamie flies out to Arizonia.  Mostly we hung out at home, ate pizza, and watched Adam Ruins Everything.  Emma and I played a lot of Trine 3.  Duncan had his friend Flynn come over and they alternated between computer time and the basement.

Today Sam and I walked through the ice and rain to get to the store and pick up supplies.  We've started taking down Christmas ornaments - the tree is currently bare and awaiting delivery to the curb.  I suppose it means spring is on its way.

Snowy Mocha Friday

January 06, 2017 by Adam in Family

It's late in the day, my mocha long gone.  The snow madness has hit everyone, I think.  Everyone had school today, with Joanna driving the kids to school in our chained-up minivan.  I braved the streets to come into work as well.  The hill was slick, but the main roads were good.  Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty bad.

We spent the last two days mostly at home.  I barely made it up Willamette street to fetch Emma yesterday afternoon.  We were sidetracked when Isa's mom got stuck on Charnelton.  I had to talk her through carefully reversing and going back down.  It all worked out in the end.

Work has been the usual mix of fascinating and terrifying.  Plenty to do.  I still enjoy it, despite and because of the challenges.

Winter Wonderland

January 04, 2017 by Adam in Family

It was theoretically going to be the first day of school, but I just heard that schools were closed.  Snow covers the ground and it's still slowly coming down.  Not sure if I'll make it into work - maybe a little later this morning.

Happy Belated New Year

January 03, 2017 by Adam in Family

It somehow became 2017 over the last few days.  We celebrated New Year's Eve by watching Japanese boy bands and drinking piña coladas as the ball dropped in New York City.  It was a fairly uneventful weekend otherwise - I accomplished a few house projects like replacing the warped door of the little free library.  The Christmas decorations are still up, though I need to take those down soon.  

I went into work yesterday, which was incredibly quiet.  I spent some time looking for trouble and only came up with the run-of-the-mill kind.  Today should be a little more exciting I suspect.

It's the last day of vacation before school starts up again, assuming it doesn't snow tomorrow.  I'm not sure anyone is ready for it, except maybe Joanna who's looking to get some work done again.