Adam Miller and Family

Work today was fairly blah, sniffling my way ...

December 21, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Work today was fairly blah, sniffling my way through the day as I filled up my garbage can with tissue. Fortunately the tissue paper and tea are free, as I needed a lot of it today. One more day of work and then five blissful days of vacation.

Sam and I were rough-housing last night and I managed to get Sam's elbow stuck in my eye. It knocked out my contact and felt pretty lousy, but fortunately nothing popped.

I've got another cold, sadly enough

December 16, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I've got another cold, sadly enough. Winter seems to be the season for all the viruses that get passed around. Fortunately this one seems quite mild in comparison, though Jamie's been apparently hit hardest by it.

It's icy cold outside, making me want to bundle up and eat lots of gooey Christmas food. I successfully avoided the cinnamon rolls in the break room this morning. When I went home for lunch, Emma fed me a huge salad. It was fun but very messy.

I'm looking forward to taking some time off for Christmas. It looks like we're visiting Jamie's parents some of next week which hopefully means a little relaxation as the grandparents play with the kids. Maybe I can coax a dinner out on the town with Jamie, which would indeed be a treat.

I think my cold is pretty much over, though J...

November 30, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I think my cold is pretty much over, though Jamie's still got the tail end of it. These days I'm mostly adjusting to the cold of riding to work these winter mornings. Work has actually been fairly relaxing as of late, with most of my major projects wrapped up. I've even had a chance to do some research on some future team projects.

In terms of life in general, things are going fairly well. Though the kids are a lot of work, it's been fun watching Emma learn to talk and Sam learn to read. My various computer game hobbies go fairly well. I've started planning a new adventure for a game that isn't coming out for a couple years, which is about how long the planning should take. We've also got the holidays to plan. Hopefully I can take a week or so off just to hang out with the family.

I give up

November 17, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I give up. I've had my cough for nearly three weeks now and I've decided it's time to see a doctor (with some prodding from Jamie). Hopefully I'll get some antibotics and get sent on my way.

My work computer is still dead. It's slowly being worked on while I try to accomplish things on this borrowed laptop. It's just not the same, though.

My work computer died today

November 16, 2004 by Adam in Adam

My work computer died today. I'm typing this on a borrowed laptop, but it's not the same. All the nifty utilities and files that I've accumulated over the years are gone and I'm stuck with only vanilla software. Sigh.

Hopefully I'll get it back later this day. I miss ol' Bessie.

My annoying cough continues

November 10, 2004 by Adam in Adam

My annoying cough continues. It's become tedious at this point, no longer exciting in any way. It's also earned me a spot in the guest bed for a week now, as my coughing keeps Jamie from sleeping.

Jamie sweetly got me a new shirt the other day. It reminds me of the ones from the original Star Trek. Fortunately it's blue and not red. The red shirt guys were always the first to die horribly after they beamed down to the planet.

Sweet blissful sleep

November 04, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Sweet blissful sleep. I finally got seven or so hours of sleep last night, though I kept waking myself up coughing. I gave in and drank the last of the cough syrup though there wasn't much left. Now I'm groggy but coughing less, slowly moving towards work.

It's 2:10 am

November 03, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It's 2:10 am. My cough woke me up, annoyingly enough. I just read the latest election results. Blah.

Election day, finally

November 02, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Election day, finally. Hopefully today will mark the end of my obsessive analysis of polls and commentary. I'm really hoping the election isn't close at all as waiting for things to be decided in court would only prolong the agony.

I'm getting over a cold, now at the "scratchy throat/coughing" stage. I took some cough medicine last night and still feel somewhat spacy. Hopefully I can avoid the pink elephants and swirling colors on my bike ride to work this morning.

There was some excitement at work yesterday. Our smallish web services team suddenly doubled in size. A bunch of developers who reported to another manager now report to mine. Needless to say there was some concern about how it would all work out. Ah, the joys of reorganization.

I've moved into my new cubicle here at work

October 07, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I've moved into my new cubicle here at work. No longer do I get a window seat and I'm instead deep in cubicle territory. It's not all bad, though. I think I have a setup where all my plants can survive. My cubicle neighbor has agreed to put in a half-height panel so that I can see through his cubicle opening to the outside world. All my pictures of family and various Dilbert cartoons have been reapplied to the walls. My various computers are stashed away in whatever free space I could find. Now I'm just waiting for my phone to move over, which should be tomorrow sometime.

I think it'll work out.

I pulled a neck muscle during my sleep a coup...

September 28, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I pulled a neck muscle during my sleep a couple nights ago. It's been annoying me ever since, making it hard to sleep and generally move around. What I should do is take it easy and have some long hot baths. What I'm really doing is taking Advil and drinking Cafe Mochas.

Last weekend's computer upgrade has had some bumps along the way. I had three pages about it over the weekend, and spent much of yesterday dealing with fallout as well. Fortunately I think things are doing better and it's been fairly quiet this morning.

I also ran across a new television show that's quickly become a favorite: Lost. It first seems like a standard "plane crashes on deserted island" story, but quickly turns frightening and strange. Just my sort of thing.

I actually felt like I made some progress at ...

September 24, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I actually felt like I made some progress at work today. It's really helped to have another developer on our team again after the first one moved on. The morning coffee seems to help too.

I'm hoping this weekend is nice and quiet. There's a few projects I'd like to fiddle with, such as continuing to work on arranging the garage. Mostly I want to play with my family and just enjoy each other's company.

Yesterday seemed incredibly busy and today se...

September 16, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Yesterday seemed incredibly busy and today seemed much of the same. I made some progress, but it was constant interruptions and new projects pouring in.

Jamie surprised me with the kids today, giving presents of chocolate, dried nuts, and a book of Sam's drawings. For some reason, Sam's drawing book stood out as the coolest. I had no idea he'd been spending so much time working on it. There were mountains, lakes, and lots of stick people holding swords. Great stuff.

I was eating my cereal and surfing the web th...

August 27, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I was eating my cereal and surfing the web this morning, as I so often do. My eye came across a movie for an upcoming game. When I went to download, I thought "Ooh, 50 MB? I hope it'll finish by the time I leave for work." I watched it download for a second, realizing that the download speed read 145 Kb/s. I thought "That can't be right," then realized that I'd ordered my DSL upgraded.

So, my personal web surfing should be about three times faster. I think that means this web site should be faster too, though I'm not sure by how much. Still, it seems noticeably snappier so far.

I kept remarking throughout the weekend how i...

August 16, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I kept remarking throughout the weekend how incredibly nice it was. We didn't do anything amazing, but everyone seemed in pretty good spirits, enjoying the sun and getting a few things done in the process. The time playing with the kids was generally entertaining and not too long. Sam wanted so much to play with me that it made our sessions reinacting computer games not so bad. Emma wanted to read, draw, and explore the outside, not to mention make lots of funny faces.

It's all good.

I'm feeling exhausted today

August 02, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I'm feeling exhausted today. I'm not sure it's aftermath of the party, lack of sleep (Emma was up a lot last night), or answering e-mails about my NWN module.

I'd love to be able to go home and relax a bit, though I suspect I'll be kid wrangling until bedtime, then testing bug fixes for my game until I go to sleep. Such is the life of a father/game designer/superhero. Well, maybe just those first two.

I haven't dropped a note in my personal area ...

July 20, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I haven't dropped a note in my personal area for awhile. My birthday was yesterday, a mostly low-key event. Sam made me a book mark, which was really sweet. Yayoe dropped off a birthday card. Jamie's present was the beach trip of the previous weekend. Rumor has it there will be a larger gathering this upcoming weekend.

Thirty-five seems fairly old these days, though mostly because of kids, work, and various responsibilities. Life is jammy-packed from sunrise to sunset. It'll be nice when Emma can take care of herself a bit more, though I'll miss her these very cute days. I'm also looking forward to Jamie being less exhausted - lack of sleep is no fun.

It's the end of the work week, the morning's ...

May 28, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It's the end of the work week, the morning's coffee slowly fading. I'm looking forward to the weekend, as Sam's having an adventure to Portland with Jamie's parents. I'll miss him, of course. I'm also looking forward to having a more quiet household, at least for a couple days.

This was an odd week, with several long work days coming and going to Florence. It was fortunately quiet today, which I needed. I think I'm mostly caught up with things.

I installed a new spam filter here at work an...

May 04, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I installed a new spam filter here at work and it's bliss. For the last six months or so, I've spent the first 15 minutes of work going through sometimes hundreds of spam e-mails. I went for SpamBayes, which is a free anti-spam tool that works with Microsoft Outlook. So far, so good. This morning I had one that it wasn't sure about, but all those Viagra and mortgage e-mails were moved away so I didn't have to deal with them at all.

I'm sick today, as is Jamie and the rest of t...

April 22, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I'm sick today, as is Jamie and the rest of the kids. It certainly makes life more difficult than normal. Plus tomorrow morning I'm doing a 1 am firewall move at work. Hopefully I'll get enough sleep before and after the big event (our second try too).

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend at the coast. The weather is supposed to be nice and there'll be plenty of babysitters to entertain children. Maybe I can read a book and vege out. Such luxury.

Amazingly enough, work seems to have eased up...

April 01, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Amazingly enough, work seems to have eased up a bit. I've got a bunch of things to do yet, but that's called "having a job". It's a nice change from having multiple rush projects happen all at once.

I haven't talked much about my various non-work and non-family entertainments. I suppose that's because there's not much of it compared to the rest.

I occasionally watch tv, and have been collecting this season's 24 in hopes of doing a big marathon once the season ends. In the meantime, I find myself watching things like Smallville, Enterprise, and Angel, which I've been watching for some years now. It's what I call my "bowl of cereal" shows, as I typically eat my evening cereal while I watch them. I've also been enjoying Tripping the Rift, which is fairly funny and quite risque. The L Word is sometimes good as well.

I've got my computer games, of course, and I'm slowly working my way through those. My Neverwinter Nights projects seem never ending. I'd love to do some more gardening as well. I perked right up when Jamie let me know that she was buying some vegitables for our little garden. I miss weeding and planting.

It was another insane day at work

March 29, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It was another insane day at work. It's nearly time to head home and I'm feeling bleary-eyed from staring at the screen for so long. Lots of projects and things going on, with very little time to do them. Endless interruptions as well.

Of course, Jamie will expect me to jump in with lots of energy and entertain the kids. It's a little hard at times, though playing with them is usually way better than dealing with annoying computers. Plus they're cuter.

It's four in the freakin' morning and I've be...

March 19, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It's four in the freakin' morning and I've been at work for three hours already. I'm helping the network team configure a new firewall, basically acting as a tester as the need arises. I'd just like to say that I'm getting too old for this sort of middle of the night shenanigans.

Hopefully we'll finish up in an hour and I can go home and try to sleep a little more.

I woke up tired this morning

March 10, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I woke up tired this morning. It was my own damn fault, of course. I stayed up late fiddling with my computer and watching shows, then staggered upstairs around eleven o'clock. I'm still getting used to sleeping with Jamie and Emma after my lengthy nighttime solitude. Emma was quite wiggly, trying to climb onto the nearest parent to use their body as a pillow. At one point, she'd managed to get her noggin on my chest, leaving her head at nearly 90 degrees to her body. Jamie pulled her back to her side, saving her from a sore neck in the morning but waking her up at the same time.

I had a mocha this morning to shake off the fatigue a bit. Now I've got a perky/wonky sensation that leaves me working hard but making a bunch of mistakes. My justification is that I'll be away this Friday, my usual coffee time, with meetings at the Vet's club of all places.

It's rare that I pop into my little section o...

March 03, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It's rare that I pop into my little section of the web site and mention that work is actually going well for a change. My major projects have quieted down a bit and I'm able to breathe a little. Of course, I just found out that HR wants a rush change to our Jobs Online application, the most used of everything I've written. Oh well, I'll enjoy my morning tea until then.

Mocha Friday

February 27, 2004 by Adam in Adam

Mocha Friday. Mmm.

I'm taking a brief step away from the piles of work to mention the fact that I've got huge piles of work to do. I was out for awhile in the middle of the week and so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Home has been hard as well, with the kids sick and Jamie frazzled. Hopefully we can all shoot for a quiet weekend. I'd love to get out hiking with Sam and Emma, though we'll see if I'm really able.

I'm going to have to start talking to the net...

February 04, 2004 by Adam in Adam

I'm going to have to start talking to the network folks to see if they can start footing the bill for the various rescues I've been performing on their behalf. Today someone came to visit and announce that security had been screwed up on every user in the domain. They had somehow been given the rights to impersonate anyone when sending e-mails. Needless to say, this quickly became a priority to fix.

Fortunately, I was able to work up some code that did the work. Fiddling with the security of every user in the domain was a bit nerve wracking, but it all turned out in the end.

The last couple days at work have been fully ...

January 16, 2004 by Adam in Adam

The last couple days at work have been fully wacky. Thursday, one of the Exchange admins (working with a Microsoft rep) managed to rename 2,000 e-mail addresses. It took me most of the day using some fairly creative methods to restore them to normal. Today, the latest SQL patch managed to screw up one of the key servers, so I've spent most of the day trying to fix it. Still broken.

Fortunately, I have no problems walking away and having a wonderful weekend. It's not directly my area of responsibility, so others have to take the brunt of the work.

I've been biking into work the last couple days. I had to fix a spare tire, twice, as it blew up when putting it on the first time. I also replaced my bike light with an LED one. Finally, the brakes were in horrible need of replacing as they were down to bare metal. All seems good now.

It looks like the worst of the winter storm i...

January 07, 2004 by Adam in Adam

It looks like the worst of the winter storm is over, the snow and ice being replace by typical rain. It was fun for a day or two, but now I'm quite grateful that it's warming up. Of course, now they're talking about flooding, but at least we're on a hill.

I still try to fit my various hobbies and projects in amongst work and family, though it gets increasingly tricky. I had the Fossil computer opened up, guts exposed, because the CD-ROM drive was failing. Of course, the new one isn't quite lined up right, so I've got some more tweaking to do.

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