Adam Miller and Family

Icy snow on the ground this morning

December 30, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Icy snow on the ground this morning. I trudged to work, avoiding any issues with bikes or cars that may have resulted in an accident. Still, the sidewalks were quite slippery.

I've been having headaches since last night, though I seem to have them at bay at the moment. A combination of Advil and cafe mochas seem to take care of just about anything. Of course, now I'm feeling jittery and tired at the same time, never a good sign.

Work is strangely busy, even during this holiday break. Lots of things going on, big and small.

Ah, Friday

December 12, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Ah, Friday. The mocha this morning was quite tasty and has managed to get me mostly through the day. Life with kids does seem to be an endless blur, though there are some bright moments of joy hidden amongst the chaos.

I finished watching the new Battlestar Galactica last night. I've decided it's pretty cool - much more "adult" than the version of my childhood. Great special effects and more dark and interesting characters. Hope it turns into a series.

The weekend approaches. We're having various family members over for dinner the next few days. I've got to get my Christmas presents together. There's also a bunch of last-minute remodel things to take care of. No rest for the weary.

Wacky day at work

December 04, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Wacky day at work. Typically, the holidays start quieting down, but it seems the opposite this year. At the moment, I'm waiting for another team to grant me security to do something, even though I can technically do it myself (though it would require doing things that would probably get me fired). Sigh.

I can't wait to move into the office this weekend. Hopefully my dad and I can get the computer setup started more seriously. He'll probably cart off the control panel for assembly. With luck, we can also get some holes cut in the wall. I think Jamie will be quite appreciative of having everyone out of her hair in the evenings.

I've been working away at fixing the problems...

November 18, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I've been working away at fixing the problems with this site. I think the problem was with a security patch that Microsoft issued over the weekend. Like a dutiful administrator, I patched it up, only to start running into problems with this website. It turns out that it wouldn't let go of certain connections, which eventually ate up the 10 user limit and caused it to become unavailable. I rolled back to the last set of changes and it seems okay again. Here's crossing my fingers.

I think I'm turning into a Hardcore cyclist

October 31, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I think I'm turning into a Hardcore cyclist. I put on my layers of clothes, coats, and rain gear this morning, donned my gloves and helmet, and rode off to work. It was icy cold but my morning mocha made up for it all.

Life seems to be settling down, at least a bit

October 29, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Life seems to be settling down, at least a bit. My jury duty was dismissed, the initial demolition project went smoothly, and I just rolled out our company's new Internet site today. Now it's just a couple months of remodeling to go . . .

I'm mentally preparing for a rough couple mon...

October 14, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I'm mentally preparing for a rough couple months ahead of us. Next week the remodel begins in ernest, tearing out carpets and walls. Plus I've got work things one night and possible jury duty, which doesn't excite me much at all. Then there's the run of the mill stressors such as having a four-year-old, a baby, and a tired wife in the house. Finally, we'll be moved about in weird places and I'll have to troop through a construction area to get dressed and take a shower each morning.

Whew.

Time is something so rare and precious these days

October 01, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Time is something so rare and precious these days. I sometimes want to trick my body and stay up late. Last night I watched Star Trek until 10 pm, but I woke up at 6:15 to make up for it. I had to rush in the morning and I was still late to work.

It's amazing how the small things simply don't get done around our house anymore. I have a slow leak for my tire and should probably replace it. Not sure when.

Still, life with kids is pretty amazing. Weekend breakfasts bring it all together for me. I love looking around the table and seeing all my family together. Makes it worthwhile.

Ar, matey! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day tod...

September 19, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Ar, matey!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day today, the same as Jamie's birthday. Concidence? I think not.

I think Jamie and I are slowly getting over the sticker shock of the remodel. As a theraputic activity, we get to demolish large portions of our basement. Yippie!

As for other exciting Adam news, I'm in the process of buying new computer parts. It's amazing how much power you can get for so little these days. I also got Jedi Academy in the mail yesterday, though I'll talk more about that in the gaming section.

I had nearly 200 unread e-mails at work this ...

August 25, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I had nearly 200 unread e-mails at work this morning, 90% being return receipts from virus e-mails I didn't send. This latest worm sends e-mail forged from someone else, so it appears my name has been making the rounds. Yippie.

Massive headache today

August 20, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Massive headache today. My "Cafe Madvil" trick isn't working (that's a mocha and Advil). It's probably time to up the Advil dosage.

I'm slaving away at some JavaScript issues at work, banging my head repeatedly against the monitor. I can get things to work separately, but not all together. Sigh.

Well, the Blaster worm brought down our netwo...

August 12, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Well, the Blaster worm brought down our network today. Only minutes ago did our Internet connection get restored. Our desktop folks have been patching like maniacs all day.

It's been an odd day - a mix of twiddling my thumbs and rushing about trying to fix things.

Interesting work day

August 11, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Interesting work day. There's a new worm making the rounds and we've been seeing it sneak onto our network this afternoon. Ah, the strange new world of the Internet.

Sam and I had a bit of a miscommunication last night, leading to great frustration. Evidently Jamie had "cut a deal" with Sam involving flossing only half his teeth at one setting. Sam seems to think that Jamie and I think as a single entity and are always in perfect agreement. Sigh.

After weeks of feeling swamped, I'm actually ...

August 08, 2003 by Adam in Adam

After weeks of feeling swamped, I'm actually starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I haven't taken any days off for a couple weeks now, which probably helps. Plus I hunkered down for a couple days earlier this week and tore through a bunch of projects.

Free time in general is still a rare thing for me these days, especially at home. My longest stretch of free time is weekend mornings, where I sometimes get two whole hours to myself. The only catch is that I can't make much noise, as waking up sleeping babies or moms is frowned upon.

Not to be a big whiner, but work continues to...

August 01, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Not to be a big whiner, but work continues to be crazy busy. The pace of work used to be fairly relaxed, and I'd have the ability to turn around requests fairly quickly. Now I'm warning customers that it could be weeks or months until I get to things, which I end up feeling bad about.

It's been interesting having another critter in the household. It used to be that I'd have more leisurely evenings, getting some time to myself as Sam played with Jamie. Now it's nonstop kid responsibilities, which I don't think is going to end any time soon. They had some studies recently about the work of genius petering out after they have kids. Duh.

My hobbies have been narrowly focused to just the Neverwinter Nights games. Not much time for anything else. I'm trying hard to get our house refinanced while rates are so low. We'll see if I can get that all organized. Too many things going on.

Man is work busy

July 07, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Man is work busy. It's so unbelievably busy that it's almost overwhelming. I had a moment of insanity last Thursday when it turns out that every color we've used for our Internet redesign project was "wrong". Fortunately I ignored the voices in my head, urging me to indulge in unspeakable acts.

I've been trying to spend more time with family and do a little reading when I can. Finding moments of peace is a rare thing these days.

Today is my last day of solid paternity leave...

June 08, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Today is my last day of solid paternity leave and tomorrow I return back to work. For some reason, I thought I'd be eager to return, becoming tired of sleepless nights and changing diapers. Stragely, it's the opposite and I've found that these last couple weeks have been like a very long weekend.

At times, playing with Sam gets tiring. I can only use my exciting voice for so long, or think up new games to play. Still, it's also been fun to spend a lot of time with him. Yesterday, I found some old shark teeth fossils and we played archiologist and dug them up out of his sand box. Good times.

Work has quited down immensely, mostly becaus...

May 22, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Work has quited down immensely, mostly because I'm afraid to start anything when I could be called away at the drop of a hat. Poor Jamie is looking immensely pregnant these days, which I feel quite bad for. It makes the trade-off of a reduced lifespan in men not look so bad. I've been in a holding pattern waiting for Emma to arrive. Soon life will get exciting.

Work is still crazy busy

April 24, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Work is still crazy busy. I'm getting most of the upgrade-related issues taken care of, but unfortunately no one got the memo that I was busy, and work keeps pouring in. I'm hoping that I'll at least get caught up today. I have a mini-emergency downtime this morning to fix a search problem.

Sam asked me at dinner what problems I was having and I replied in a long sentence using complicated words. He paused for a little and started saying, "But what does . . ." Jamie cut in and replied, "Dad fixed broken computers today."

Work is sadly piling up these days

April 23, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Work is sadly piling up these days. After my weekend server upgrade, my coworkers demanded that I take a break. I mostly stayed away, only going in for a couple hours. I just have a hard time sitting idly by when there is work to do and things breaking.

It was nice puttering around at home and getting to visit with Jamie a bit. I came home from work around two and played with him until nearly his bedtime. Lots of time playing pretend, fiddling on the computer, and running about in the park. Now I'm beat. I need a vacation for my vacation.

I've been listening to a song at work, Bohemi...

April 10, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I've been listening to a song at work, Bohemian Like You. For some reason, it brings back nostalgic feelings from my college years, though I wasn't quite as carefree as the singer in that song. Jamie and I ran into a woman at a toystore over the weekend. She had been one of the regulars in a little group that would get together to play Hearts and listen to Marc Allen. Now we both have kids and have moved on.

The past is a funny thing when looked at across the distance of years. I sometimes miss the freedom to basically do anything and go anywhere. Yet it's easy to forget that I really didn't have any place to go or things to do that were terribly important.

Having Sam and soon Emma is bringing up memories of those times, thinking of how they'll face the same challenges as I did and hoping I can help ease the passage through the decades.

I had massive amounts of things to do at work...

April 08, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I had massive amounts of things to do at work today, so I snuck in a mid-week Mocha. I've been slowly getting things done, writing endless code. I no longer have to really think much as I program - I just think of what I need to do and my fingers type the words I need. Odd.

The weather is slowly coming around to Spring, which I greatly appreciate. While walking to work this morning, I stopped for a moment, listening to the birds and watching the clouds go by. It's a rare thing for me to simply appreciate the world around me. To many projects and responsibilities.

It's a Mocha Friday here at work

March 28, 2003 by Adam in Adam

It's a Mocha Friday here at work. For some reason, work has gotten awfully busy - it seems to happen around springtime for some strange reason. Perhaps it's the winter lethargy that's faded and people are trying to get things done in the final months before the next fiscal year. Gotta spend all that money if you want the same amount next year.

No exciting plans for the weekend, though I'm hoping to get outside if this nice weather holds. Jamie can't really move around much, so I was hoping to go see Spirited Away in the theaters. Unfortunately it's not showing in Eugene anymore, so I'm stuck waiting for the DVD which comes out next month.

I'm stuffed up and tired, typing a short litt...

March 23, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I'm stuffed up and tired, typing a short little thing this morning. Devon e-mailed me the other day, trying to get in touch in person. Life's a little crazy at the moment, but it would be nice to see him. I might try to see if I can get him to come down some weekend and see the family, though that may be awhile.

After Sam went to bed, I spent the time unable to pry my eyes away from war coverage. It's like watching a train wreck - I'd cringe inside but I can't look away. In fact, I was just watching now and they had Oliver North reporting from Iraq. There's got to be some bizarre irony in there some where.

War started last night

March 20, 2003 by Adam in Adam

War started last night. It seems very surreal and inevitable. I think the whole thing makes me feel sad, though I've heard so many arguments, viewpoints, and opinions that it's hard for me to say whether or not any good will come out of this. Strange times we live in.

I'm fretting about Dick and my mom these days, hoping their trip is going well and that Dick is comfortable enough.

In strange contrast, life at home has been great. Jamie's very pregnant and cute, waddling about the house as best she can. Her world has narrowed to a thin band at counter level, as she can no longer reach up or bend over particularly well. Sam has gotten quite good at fetching things for her. It's been great playing with Sam these days. We seem to find more and more things in common. Lately we've been playing Neverwinter Nights together, to our mutual pleasure.

There was a storm last night, blowing the tre...

March 13, 2003 by Adam in Adam

There was a storm last night, blowing the trees all about and covering the ground with broken branches. I lay in bed at five in the morning, watching the lightning flash against gray clouds and listening to the gate slowly creak open and shut.

My throat is much better, and occasional cough that surprises me. Antibiotics really are wonder drugs for these sorts of things. If I was in medieval times, it probably would have killed me or hobbled me for life. Weird.

I think about Dick often, hoping this last vacation is a pleasant one for him. The sunny beaches of Belize sound peaceful, so perhaps it is the best place for him to be. He will continue to be in my thoughts, for the next few weeks and beyond.

Sick today, yet again

February 27, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Sick today, yet again. My throat is sore and I sound like I should be a sultry blues singer.

Nothing too exciting has been happening the last few days. Jamie's heading off to the coast late Saturday, taking Sam along. If I get up the energy, I'll work on taxes Sunday.

It promises to be an interesting day at work ...

February 12, 2003 by Adam in Adam

It promises to be an interesting day at work today. Glen just called, apparently having thrown his back out. Since I'm the only one here, I'm trying to get everything organized. In a few minutes, my coworkers will be arriving, including the Bellingham contingent. Then we're supposed to meet all day, including a hike and dinner. I guess we'll just play it by ear.

I suddenly took a turn for the better yesterday

January 31, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I suddenly took a turn for the better yesterday. Though I'm a tad sniffly, I'm feeling much better.

I had breakfast with my mom this morning. I must be getting older, as I wasn't able to finish my meal. Plus all the heavy foods are a bit much for me - I'm snacking on carrots now.

It promises to be a pleasant Friday today. Things seem fairly low-key and I've sent off most of my work to customers to comment on. Hopefully a good weekend will follow.

I'm sick, sick, sick

January 30, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I'm sick, sick, sick. Fortunately my runny nose has been quenched through the power of medication. Now I'm just a little tired as I work away this morning. Jamie and Sam seem unaffected, which is a very good thing.

I think I got about four hours of sleep last ...

January 26, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I think I got about four hours of sleep last night. Around two in the morning, something woke me up and my brain immediately started thinking. Thinking bad. I got up, went back to bed, then got up again. I ended up fiddling on my computer for a long time, making new things for Neverwinter Nights. In the game, you normally can't jump, so I added a "jump" animation for PC's. It's fairly entertaining leaping over crevases. Yippie!

Server upgrade last night

January 22, 2003 by Adam in Adam

Server upgrade last night. It started at 7:30 pm and was scheduled to go until 9 am if necessary. The good news is that we finished up by 10 pm, though it took me an hour to wind down and get to bed. I still woke up at 6 am this morning, my biological alarm clock ringing away.

I was interviewed for my Neverwinter Nights modules. Evidently people really like the latest one. Speaking of which, I'm going to go work on my fire breathing dragon a bit more . . .

I woke up around 2 am with a headache

January 14, 2003 by Adam in Adam

I woke up around 2 am with a headache. No fun. I did have a dream that I was holding Emma and kissing her toes, her giggle bringing a wide smile to my face. It's things like that that make it all worthwhile.

I'm doing my mocha and Advil routine again, which seems to help. At least I feel exceptionally perky and can type really fast. Not sure if that makes up for the massive typos I make while typing. At least I hit the Backspace button quickly too.

Work chugs along, with gray dreary weather out my window. Everyone seems to be hibernating most nights, with our family cuddled together in the livingroom around the t.v., a fire going nearby. Can't wait for spring.

It seems like we've had a weird lull in every...

January 07, 2003 by Adam in Adam

It seems like we've had a weird lull in everything this last week. Work is still in that holiday slow stretch, though I expect things to change any time. Jamie's still pregnant, smack-dab in the middle when she's not too immobile yet doesn't feel horrible any more. Sam's just Sam - wanting to play Star Wars with me endlessly.

I've recently gotten into watching Cowboy Bebop, a Japanese anime about bounty hunters of the future. Very well done, just oozing with style. They're pretty short, so I find myself watching one each day.

I also continue to work on my Neverwinter Nights modules. So far, I have 14,412 downloads of the first one. All five of them are up for the Hall of Fame, though I'm secretly hoping they doesn't win. Modules that stay near the top of the "top modules" list tend to get the most downloads. Once they're moved into the "Hall of Fame" area, fewer people see it. Right now, it's a close call for third place.

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