Solo Mocha Friday

December 31, 2021 by Adam in Family

I checked in with work this morning and it seems like everyone decided to take the day off.  Why I continue to slog through building forms, I'm not quite sure.  We'll see how long I last today before throwing in the towel.

The big family get together last night was the most eventful thing this week.  It was great seeing everyone briefly in the same room, though our combined volume level was remarkable as well.  It was sad saying farewell to Greg, Simon, and Sadie who head out today.  Hopefully their flights are uneventful.  Kevin's were delayed and now it looks like he'll only have a couple days to visit with Ben and Duncan this weekend.

Tonight is our traditional Japanese boy band New Year's Eve, watching the ball drop with  Piña Coladas in our hands.  According to our Japanese exchange student, we should also be eating KFC, but we'll probably end up with something for the vegetarians.

Emma returns today as well, hoping to help me spend some gift certificate money at bookstores and perhaps visit the library.  She also assembled and painted her 3D printed box, which I'm hoping to see.

I've printed out a couple things and hope to do more soon.  I made a little tool used to make soil cubes for seed starts and need to finish up a AA battery holder.  I'm itching to organize the garage a little more, and someone made some great holders for our brand of tools.  We'll see if I can muster the enthusiasm despite the garage being so cold.

Post Christmas Playing

December 28, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm kinda sorta working today, but the last few days have been spent hanging out with family, playing with our new toys, and dealing with the huge volumes of snow that have piled up.

Sunday was a mix of cleaning things up and starting to get our new things organized.  Emma and I put together my new 3D printer, which fortunately came with gummy bears to eat as a reward after particularly complicated steps.  It was strangely entertaining and we ended up with a 3D sheep that Emma picked and promptly painted to go in her room.  Ben's friends ended up with VR goggles, so he hung out with them quite a bit in VR Chat.

Joanna made an amazing Boxing Day dinner, full of all the usual English Christmas treats like Yorkshire pudding and a Christmas pudding that's been soaking for days.  For the occasion Joanna roasted a chicken, though it was only Joanna and Emma eating it as the non-vegetarians.

Yesterday was Lego Day, though Greg, Sadie, and Simon were delayed a few hours due to the snow.  Simon's Lego set was assembled and he discovered the giant exercise ball piled in the pillows that he played with endlessly.  Eventually they returned to the farm just as dad arrived.  He brought new filament for the 3D printer, passed along some stl files, and gave Emma a quick tutorial on how the slicer software works.  Soon enough we were printing a Tutor rose puzzle box, half of which finished printing this morning.

Snow!

December 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

We had a hearty breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and mochas, all the while snow was billowing from the sky. Data had eviscerated the stuffing from his new toy and looked proud of himself. Emma immediately put on her snow suit and went outside to play.

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was an occasionally overwhelming Christmas, full of dealing with broken monitors, sorting through hdmi cables, dishes, recycling boxes and the rest, but there were also high points of opening presents, visiting with family, and hanging out at home.  I haven't really had time to play with my new presents, but hopefully tomorrow I can play a board game or two out of the tremendous pile that accumulated.  Ben's got a murder mystery game he wants to solve with us.  Duncan and Joanna need to return a new monitor to Costco which developed a red line down the side.  Dad promised he'd offer advice setting up my new 3D printer.

Dinner at mom's went well, and it was a treat to see Greg, Simon, and Sadie.  We eventually left and fed Duncan and Ben, though the rest of us were jammy packed with food and tasty dessert.  I plopped down on the couch and we all watched The Nightmare Before Christmas to wind down the day.

Solstice

December 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I celebrated winter solstice yesterday morning, watching the gray sky grow slightly brighter at 7:58 in the morning.  One of our many traditions is to light a candle through the longest night, so we picked up some beehive candles from our neighborhood honey-and-candle box the day before.  I look forward to the brightening days towards spring.

Ben got his wisdom teeth taken out this morning, with Joanna picking up lots of soft foods in preparation.  Hopefully he's feeling relatively normal by Christmas.

Emma comes over today, hopefully helping with last minute Christmas tasks.  Packages arrived in Texas as expected.  I've got a few digital things to somehow wrap.  I've got some food to cook for Christmas dinner. 

We'll see how far I get with work today.  I've got a really hard problem I keep changing my mind how to do.  It's effectively the last day of our project manager before he goes to another team.  Hopefully next year is a little less bumpy.

Joanna's been doing a great job for our date nights lately, trying out a ton of date night subscription boxes.  We had three to choose from last night, so we picked the one where we make macaroons and solve puzzles for an escape room.  We did great, though the website to enter codes in was confusing.

Plumbing Hubris

December 20, 2021 by Adam in Family

Apparently our recent success with the sewage ejector pump offended the plumbing gods and the sump pump in our basement failed.  The garage water alarm went off and we went through the usual suspects of problems.  I cracked open the always-dry basement hatch, only to find it completely full of water.

Joanna and I bonded over our mutual suffering, heading to True Value to pick up a sump pump and connectors, returning home to realize the sump pump wanted 1 1/2" diameter hoses and everything we had was 1 1/4" diameter.  We treated ourselves to lunch and a trip to the Lego store to get a Simon present, off to Home Depot, and then back again to put it all together.  There was some harsh cursing due to the tight spaces, but soon the water was pumped away and disaster averted again.

Kitty Birthday

December 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

Lt. Commander Data had his birthday yesterday, well into his kitty teen years.  He got some bacon sprinkles on yoghurt, along with a new kitty toy present followed by sitting on laps and getting pets.  I think it was a good day for him.

We've all been exceptionally lazy so far this weekend.  I played way too much Guardians of the Galaxy, stopping to take back the slide scanner to the library.  Ben scanned in some of them himself, I think to get 70's Poland pictures for his SCP story somehow.  He was excited to see his story featured on the main SCP page, which was cool as he worked so hard on it these last months.

I've got a bit of a sinus thing, which always makes me nervous in this pandemic era.  I try and remind myself that COVID rates in Oregon are the second lowest in the country. Still, I've been going around smelling everything.  So far so good.

Mocha Friday

December 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's a funny work day - theoretically the afternoon is our all team meeting followed by everyone going to see the latest Spiderman movie.  We're doing the pandemic math on the last one.  I remember when I'd check the weather report before heading out of the house and now I look at the current COVID rates.

It's been a relatively uneventful week.  Emma's hanging out with her mom at the coast this weekend.  We've got some last-minute Christmas presents to wrap.  I need to return the slide scanner I borrowed from the library.  It would be nice to have a little game playing in between all the chores.

Sewage Ejector Pump Fixed!

December 16, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a busy day yesterday, visiting Emma in the morning, mom for tea, and dinner with dad.  Even more importantly, Joanna and I got the new sewage ejector pump and installed it without too much trouble.  If we were really dilligent we'd find a way to pump out water that came down the back stairs, but that may be a little more exciting than we're up for at the moment.

All is generally well.  I made the mistake at work of joking that we should add achievements to our visualization application while we were waiting for a new project manager.  Now we're somehow talking about actually doing it.  Achievement Unlocked: Joke Feature Made Real!

Inscryption

December 13, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Games

I picked up a bunch of games during the last Steam sale and one of them - Inscryption - got to me.  It started as a creepy deck builder with escape room additions, and turned into a 4th wall breaking hard-to-describe thing.  It wasn't always great, but it was usually entertaining and at times they kept throwing new things at the player every couple minutes.

One of my favorite things in the first part is when you died you could make a card and name it.  This was my ultimate card, named after Sam, which made a copy of itself every time it was played.  I won every time I brought it out.

Revenge of the Sewage Ejector Pump

December 13, 2021 by Adam in Family

I awoke this morning to the sound of the water alarm in the basement.  Once again we had flooding issues - this time with the sewage ejector pump.  The float switch seems fine and the motor hums, but it doesn't actually move water around.  I think the fix is to take it out and clean it well, then replace it if that fails.  Joanna fortunately offered to help, so the plan is to carve out time this afternoon to do so.  My coworkers were amused and empathetic when I told them at standup, perhaps with a touch of schadenfreude.

As for the weekend, it was pretty low-key and pleasant.  Emma had lunch with Yayoe.  Ben, Joanna, and I went to the Holiday Market and picked up a few locally made things for Christmas.  We put together a package of presents for our Texan people and wrapped more things to go under the tree.  So far the cats haven't eaten them.

Otherwise there was lots of hang out time, along with dishes, laundry, and cooking.  I worked a little more on my hexed-based browser game.  More grades came in - Ben got great grades of mostly A+ and Duncan did better than expected.  Ben stole the computer to play around in VR.  I think he's got some friends getting VR goggles from Oculus/Meta this Christmas and he wants to hang out with them.  Emma and Ben put together our gingerbread houses, one being a gluten-free ranch style home.

Winter Break

December 11, 2021 by Adam in Emma

Emma finished her first term at the U of O and is off for a few weeks.  She managed to pull off the highest score on her Honors Biology final, which we were all very proud of.  It was a hard class and she was the first to finish, bringing her grade up to an A.  She did well in her other classes, a B+ in chem lab and an A in calculus.  No word on art yet, but it's a likely A.

Mocha Friday

December 10, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna was up in Portland for an appointment overnight, so I got the cats and kids fed and cared for.  I ended up watching Scott Manley talk about space telescopes and folded laundry, followed by working on a browser-based game to get my little hexes to show up properly.  I forget sometimes how making games is real work.

Emma's done with all her finals, finishing up her bio final before anyone else.  Hopefully that's a good sign.  Sadly Ben and Duncan have school practically until Christmas and seem a little skeptical about their new classes.  Hopefully everyone settles in.

I'm hoping to get Christmas a little more finalized, picking up a last few presents and getting things shipped that have to get out the door.  I'm halfway through wrapping the giant pile of boxes, though I'm afraid to put them out under the tree.  Our kitty Data has been a little naughty lately, though fortunately he's also very cute.

Date Night

December 08, 2021 by Adam in Family

The week is half over and generally pretty eventful. Emma had her first final Monday night, feeling like she did well on her calculus exam. Today is the big bio test.  Duncan and Ben had the first two days off. Ben and I drove to Portland for a doctor appointment and sushi for lunch.

Last night Joanna and I had our date night, which included a mystery art box. It had metal stamps and some test blanks. Getting it right was tricky but entertaining. Eventually we declared success and played coop video games.

Christmas Activated

December 06, 2021 by Adam in Family

We tromped out into the woods to cut down some trees on a property owned by some friends of Joanna.  It was 30 miles away, so a bit of a drive, but it was a nice day and it felt good to be out in nature for a time.  We ended up with a somewhat sparse, natural-looking tree which we brought home and decorated.  Joanna had assembled a kitty tower out of two kitty towers we had around, so we tucked the tree next to that.

The advent calendars have begun again, which means I occasionally eat too many chocolate covered espresso beans.  I indulged a little too much this weekend, mostly making myself grumpy in the process.  I did manage to wrap some of the presents for Christmas, and Joanna put up the lights outside, including the seasonal favorite drunk Santa.  Plus Ben found the Christmas hats for the kitties, which Data begrudgingly allowed.

Mocha Friday

December 03, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been a quiet week at work with Jonathan on vacation.  I've been putting together a fun little "create dashboard from measure" feature that should speed things up.  I love getting in the flow and turning something from idea to a functioning feature in a day or two.

It's the start of December, which means it's advent calendar time.  I've been getting chocolate covered espresso beans and the occasional sweet Joanna note.  Between the two of them it should get me through the dark days ahead.

Life is otherwise generally uneventful.  Kids and kitties are doing okay.  I have a corner of the bedroom overflowing with packages that need to be opened and wrapped.  There's a week or so of school before winter break, which should make the kitties happy as there will be more people around to pet them.

Boosted

December 01, 2021 by Adam in Adam

I didn't take a picture of myself this time, but I drove out to a Springfield Wallgreens, waited forever, and got my Pfizer booster shot.  So far I feel fine, though I may try and go a little slow today.  Glad I got it taken care of.

Suck it, Omicron variant!

The Omicron Variant

November 30, 2021 by Adam in Family

Life seems a little too much like the old sci-fi books I read as a kid, complete with goofy-sounding names for everything.  In any case, I'm getting my booster shot tomorrow and it sounds like vaccines still work against this latest covid variant.

It was a nice four-day weekend, with lots of hanging out with kids and slowly getting ready for Christmas.  Emma's gotten really good at Atomicrops, beating year 7 amidst shrieks and high-fives from me.  It's the week before finals, so she's wrapping up projects and getting ready for her math and biology tests.  Ben's doing similar things in his biology class too - it's fun listening to the two of them talk about cell structures and DNA.

I've mostly recovered from my annoying cold.  I've been playing with some of the new games I picked up, including a new card battler called Inscription, which is really well done.  Continuing the good news, it's date night tonight - maybe we'll break open the new art supplies and try and draw something.

Post-Thanksgiving Virus

November 27, 2021 by Adam in Family

Thanksgiving night I suddenly got some weird sinus pain which was really bad, but cleared up by the morning.  I'm always nervous about such things in this pandemic era, but it cleared up to a mild sensation which I don't really notice much.  Hopefully it's just the various strains of colds being passed around.

As for the last couple days, they've been really lovely.  Joanna and I had a great kissaversary, exchanging presents and hanging out.  Joanna got me a canvas of pictures of us.  I got them fancy art supplies and a two-player game called Mandala which was fun to play.

I've also finally sorted out the children and made sure they picked a gift for each person.  There are a few more things I need to sort out in terms of buying gifts, but I'm feeling pretty good getting most of it early.  Suck it, supply chain issues.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I are back home, playing video games and chilling with the cats as we digest our delicious Thanksgiving meal. Seraph made the main dishes and got mom's house ready while the rest of us brought side dishes. The food was great and we chatted away the afternoon. Sadie called as well and talked to everyone, despite Simon's attacks with a slap bracelet.

It's also our kissaversary, so Joanna and I have a bunch of presents to exchange this evening. The amazing sweater Joanna's Ben knitting for me finally finished today as well, so I've been showing it off to everyone.  It's been a good day.

Wandering the Farm

November 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was another quiet weekend, like so many these days.  Saturday morning Emma and I did our usual library run, picking up a nautical book for her at the used bookstore there.  She worked on homework off and on and we both played too much Atomicrops.  Ben played a bunch of Terraria, though I've yet to set up the new computer as a permanent Terraria server.

Sunday Joanna and I managed some yardwork, mulching leaves and throwing them in the compost.  We also went out to the farm to visit the chickens and look for mushrooms.  I though the writer's shack was coming along nicely, though there's always lots to do.

Head cold mocha Friday

November 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

I've got a touch of something or another, probably the same thing Joanna had this last week.  It's not too bad, just some annoying sinus pain that I'm keeping at bay with the power of Advil and mocha.  We have some tricky work problems to sort out today, but hopefully I'm still up to the task.

Life's generally been good, if busy.  I had tea with mom.  We had a good meeting with Duncan's IEP team and he's feeling a little less overwhelmed.  I picked up Emma from school yesterday after her last chem lab and second to last bio lab.  Joanna's been working on insulating the cabin in the woods, getting about half the walls done.  Ben's been playing a lot of Terraria lately and I keep trying to setup a server to run it all the time for he and his friends to play on.

I decided that I was playing too much Atomicrops and needed to play something story-focused, so I picked up True Colors.  I really enjoyed Life is Strange with all the teenage angst and this has a similar feel.  Joanna crashes out on the couch with the cats and a Switch, playing Stardew Valley and we game in the same room together.  Ah, the joys of marriage.

Quiet Weekend

November 15, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a fairly quiet weekend, full of laundry, dishes, and raking the yard.  I got a little organized and sent off a package for the upcoming birthday boy.  I also helped Joanna put up a new light fixture in Ben's room.  Old houses make for weird issues when attaching to new things.

Emma signed up for her new classes which are basically the same other than an honors class focused on the ocean and unusual events.  I'm hoping she can somehow leverage her nautical skills to wow the professor.

Work's moving along.  I nervously put out a copy-and-paste thingie that I came up with on my own.  It's one of those basic things that you can't live without once you discover it exists.  Next up is one of those "Adam - figure it out" tasks involving security.  Hopefully I'm somewhat competent.

We did all take a moment to look at Ancestry's latest ethnicity breakdown.  Emma's calling it "the Scottish update" as we all became much more Scottish.

Data Driven Mocha Friday

November 12, 2021 by Adam in Family

We've been in meetings all week, so I took some time while people were talking to go out to healthdata.gov and download various data sets and load them up in the application I spend my days working on.  I graphed COVID-19 cases, deaths, and vaccinations along with anxiety and other causes of death.  It was depressing at times, but really told a story.  As COVID-19 deaths went up, so did reported anxiety, and as vaccinations and deaths went down, anxiety rates did too.  There were also surges in other causes of death like Alzheimers and heart disease, either due to undetected COVID or due to lack of care.  Interesting stuff, though clearly pretty bleak.  It's always useful to use our application like a customer would as I ended up logging a bunch of bugs along the way.

As for the rest of the week, all has generally been well.  Emma's final went well.  We had a little basement flooding due to heavy rains, causing Joanna to clean out the leaves in the back stairwell really well.  Ben and Duncan are out of school for a couple days.  Data welcomes me each morning with head bonks and hopes of belly rubs.  It's not a bad life.

Date Night Activity

November 10, 2021 by Adam in Family

We've been trying to do an activity of one sort or another with our date nights - last week was lock picking and making ice cream.  Last night was learning how to draw.  We broke out the pastels and a YouTube video of someone drawing an apple, following along as we went.  The end result isn't abhorrent, though perhaps I have a ways to go.

Earlier in the day we went for a hike in the woods up Ridgeline Trail.  The trees were lovely and we were only briefly rained on.  It was nice to get out in nature.

A Whole Week!

November 08, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's apparently been an entire week since I've posted anything.  I don't have much excuse besides "I was busy" and "Nothing much has been happening."  Last week we bid farewell to Danica after a very nice visit.  Joanna took off to Milwaukee to take a test.  I was briefly a single parent, with the most challenging part being getting the cat to take her pills.  My thumb still hurts after that one.

The weekend was pleasant and low-key.  Emma and I played way too much Atomicrops.  I managed to get my new phone setup for the most part, turning off the fancy new gesture stuff in favor of good ol' buttons.  I put away all the Halloween decorations except for a bat which started Emma on her way up the stairs.  Laundry and dishes were done.  Cats were played with.  All is well.

Day of the Dead

November 01, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's Día de los Muertos today - the older I get, the more people are added to my remembrance.  I've been feeling under the weather since Saturday morning, taking a nap in the middle of the day and generally feeling tired.  Ben had something a week ago, so it's likely that.  As he's tested weekly for COVID, it's probably just one of those typical colds that's spreading around now that school's back in session.  Duncan's staying home today.  I'm slowly working away, keeping the coffee flowing as needed.

It was a generally good weekend.  Emma and I went to the library Saturday after breakfast and I helped her with calculus, at least in the sense that I talked through problems with her.  Between calculus and biochem, she's getting beyond me in knowledge.  I helped Duncan get his firewall rules tweaked so his friends could connect to his Minecraft server.  We all piled into the living room for pizza and anime Saturday evening, as is our way.

Halloween was thrown together at the last minute by Joanna, buying pumpkins and putting up decorations, along with making the route to our door hazard-free.  A couple of the pumpkins were incredibly tough, requiring power tools to carve adequately.  We didn't quite get to the saws-all, but it was tempting.

I kept getting more tired as the day went on, taking a long nap, sadly skipping the family gathering, and watching the Truman Show while trick-or-treaters came up to our house.  Hopefully today I start perking up again.

Last Days of October

October 29, 2021 by Adam in Family

I've been listening to a lot of SCP podcasts, so I can only describe the speed of days going by as a "temporal anomaly."  My week has been full of redesigning security screens, taking kids to and from appointments, and the usual housework.  My should keeps improving and I continue my physical therapy - I can almost sleep on my right side without waking up again.  

The kids all seem to be doing well.  Emma's getting the hang of her science lab.  In biochem they apparently play either 80's music or country.  Ben's enjoying biology and learning how cells work.  Duncan's IEP meeting went well and he has some great teachers rooting for him.

As for this weekend, it'll be nice to see Danica.  Emma's having second thoughts about the Magic in Medieval Europe exhibit, so maybe we'll end up going after all.

Ice Cream and Lock Picking

October 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I had a lovely date night - they had burgers, I had sushi, followed by breaking out the practice lockpick kit I got them for Christmas.  It seemed a little random, but we were able to open up all the practice locks and Joanna managed a real lock we had around.  To balance our new life of crime, we also made some coffee flavored ice cream which was exceptionally tasty.

As for everything else, work has been going along nicely.  Emma's still happy about her biochem test results.  Joanna and I moved the bookcase into the hallway nook.  Duncan and Ben had bro night.  Life goes on.

Sad Monday

October 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

About 25 years ago I was teaching Microsoft Office at Omnitek to a bunch of PeaceHealth employees, one of which was Michael McCuistion.  After I moved to PeaceHealth we worked together on various projects and became friends.  Later he moved to Health Catalyst and we ran into each other a couple times.  Sadly we got news today that he died from surgery complications from what seemed like a routine surgery.  I've been thinking about him since, thinking about the time we drove to some other hospital together and chatted about parenting.  I will miss him.

The rest of my life is doing well.  Joanna and I had a productive weekend full of painting.  Ben got to extract DNA from strawberries.  Emma was excited that she did well on her incredibly difficult Biochem midterm.  I had my second physical therapy session which I hope is helping.  Work was full of interruptions, but I think progress is still being made.

Rainy Mocha Friday

October 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's certainly the rainy season in Eugene.  The prediction is for a winter that's colder and wetter than usual.  On the plus side, it likely means our drought will end and hopefully the wildfires with it.  Maybe next summer will be entirely mask-free.

The week has been going relatively well, accomplishing things at work and home.  Joanna wired up 12 volt outlets in the cabin, along with taking down and sanding our bedroom door so it wasn't so sticky.  Emma survived her first biochem midterm, though I think it was pretty rough.  She missed the bus a couple days this week and I took pity on her and gave her a ride.  Hopefully future terms are a little less grueling.  I pulled some unused network cable and patched up the weird nook in the hallway.  I think we'll paint it this weekend and move a bookshelf over.

Now it's off to work to look for bugs to squash and features to add.

Eternal One

October 21, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Games

I've been playing Slay the Spire for a couple years now - one of the best deck building games I've ever played.  I spent a long while trying to beat the game at the most difficult level, ascention level 20 where everything is impossibly hard.  I finally did it tonight after an excellent run with plenty of luck along the way.  I guess I'm done playing games forever now as clearly nothing will compare.

Productive Weekend

October 18, 2021 by Adam in Family

It seemed like we managed to accomplish quite a bit this weekend.  Joanna and I prepped and painted the upstairs more, getting trim and doors painted shiny white.  I enlisted Duncan and Emma to move the old orange couch upstairs into our bedroom and Joanna put on a couch cover and improved cushions.  I rearranged the basement in hopes of making it somewhat more organized.  We also managed some gardening, yardwork, and helping kids with homework.  Emma and I snuck away to the library in there too.

As for entertainment, there was the endless playing with cats, Emma and I played more of our Norwegian adventure game, Ben continued his SCP writing project, Duncan recorded Minecraft videos, and we all ate pizza and watched anime Saturday night.  I played a little more Lone Echo 2, though I can only handle an hour or so of VR before I get queasy.

Life's generally pretty cheerful.  Looking forward to seeing my physical therapist this afternoon and checking on my shoulder's recovery.

Mocha Friday

October 15, 2021 by Adam in Family

We all made it to the end of the week and I'm listening to coffee house music via Spotify after finishing up my Friday mocha.  I survived my struggles with fiscal quarters at work today.  It was an unusual enough problem that I couldn't just copy code from somewhere, so I was forced to do the math and logic myself.  I survived, but it was certainly a slog.

Ben and Duncan have the day off of school, today for grading and Monday as the vaccine mandate deadline for school staff.  Hopefully the good teachers all return.  It was also Ben's half birthday yesterday and I got him the sequel to Lone Echo, a VR game where you play as a robot around the orbit of Saturn.  The first game was beautiful - there's something stunning about staring out at the rings and feeling like you're really there.

Emma continues on at school, doing well generally, though I think she'd hoped college classes would somehow be more inspiring.  The sad reality is that most classes are a continuation of high school, just more in-depth.  Hopefully Anthropology of Pirates in spring makes up for all the biochemistry this term.  At least she got to dissolve zinc nails in her chem lab yesterday.

Joanna worked more on the shed wiring, putting in a battery monitor and shutoff switch.  Next up are outlets for 12 volt accessories.

Off to a New Week

October 12, 2021 by Adam in Family

The weekend seemed to vanish in a mix of projects, hangouts, and housework.  I finished turning both my tablets into picture frames.  Ben continues working on his Trauma Team helmet.  Duncan played Minecraft with friends.  Joanna, Emma, and I all went out to the farm to hang out with the family and enjoy the amazing potluck meal.  I helped Emma with homework over the weekend, but was otherwise fairly worn out and took it easy on Sunday.

Work was full of obstacles yesterday, but I hope I can make some progress today.  I weirdly enjoy waking up and mulling over a technical problem until the solution comes to me.

Mocha Friday

October 08, 2021 by Adam in Family

We've got half-finished projects scattered around the house.  I've got a couple old tablets I'm turning into picture frames, along with the old wood computer that needs some final touches.  I'm hoping to make a static version of the web site to put on a new tablet.  Various painting supplies are still piled around various corners in hopes of getting things finished up.  Maybe I'll retire one day so I can finally get some work done.

We're all muddling through the week, slowly getting the hang of school.  I helped Ben with some health class and biology homework.  Emma had her big lab day yesterday, which generally went well.  A couple of her lab mates ended up with negative densities for a copper cube.  I guess it was the tesseract and disobeyed the laws of physics or something.  She ended up excluding the impossible data points and I suggested she add to the list of possible error sources simply "Trevor."

As for work, I'm getting really sick of stacked bar charts.  I chased down a weird bug involving adding average that made no logical sense.  Sometimes software lets you do some really dumb things.  I also ended up politely expressing to a large group of people that we're not getting the support we need for our complicated new thing.  Fortunately everyone was nice and I think I was heard.  Lots of work to do down the road.

Despite life's ups and downs, we have a couple cute and mischevious kitties that keep us entertained.  I might have enjoyed chasing Data through the house after he jumped on the counter a little too much.  Not sure he learned any lesson in particular other than maybe chase is a fun game.

Busy Wednesday

October 06, 2021 by Adam in Family

Lots of running around today, but I had a few moments to give an update.  Joanna's cabin project continues, with the wiring progressing to the point where light turns on when you flip a switch.  It was a cool milestone.

Everyone continues school.  I think Emma's to the point where she's okay with her chem lab.  Other than transportation to and from school, she's generally figured out her classes and getting homework done.  It's been fun having her around this week.

Joanna and I continue our painting and rearranging.  It's a journey and a somewhat messy one at that.  We'll eventually get things settled and organized a little more.

Endless Painting

October 04, 2021 by Adam in Family

The Friday trip with Ben went well.  I listened to four hours of zombie podcast, so it went relatively quickly.  Emma survived her first full week of school and is starting to get the hang of things.

The weekend was filled with a mix of typical housework, helping Emma with homework, and continuing the great painting projects.  Joanna and I got more walls, two coats on the entire ceiling, as well as the little secret door into the crawlspace.  We've got more rearranging to think through, but the bulk of the bedroom painting is done.  Next up is the hall on the main floor.

Work is going along well, slowly working through some complicated issues.  Hopefully I'll be done tomorrow and then on to something hopefully simpler.

Roadtrip Friday

October 01, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm taking Ben up to Portland today, so I'll be on the road for most of the day.  Fortunately I've started a zombie-themed podcast, so I'll be adequately entertained.

It's been Emma's first week of school, which I think has felt like quite a bit between chemistry, biochemistry and calculus.  Fortunately her honor's college art class ended up being easy and fun.  We managed to get all the textbooks she needed over the Internet and they all arrived in excellent condition.  She's keeping up with homework, though it's a big change from the last couple years.

Works going along nicely, working on tricky little problems instead of finding bugs again.  I suggested we number our latest release the "2.0" version, which somehow feels like a milestone, however imaginary.

We moved our bed across our bedroom, so I slept in a new place for the first time in ages.  There's more to paint and everything is pushed around in funny places, but at least the bed's where it's supposed to be.

Fall Starts in Earnest

September 27, 2021 by Adam in Family

Fall technically started almost a week ago, but today feels like the true start of fall.  We've got a day of serious rain, continuing on tomorrow.  The temperature is cooling down and I decided I should probably switch from shorts to pants.  Emma starts her first day of school at the U of O and has found a way to cover herself, her backpack, and everything else in waterproof attire.  

As for the weekend, it was generally good.  It was nice having Emma around after missing her last weekend.  She and Ben got some good hangout time together, in between Hotshot Racing and more Deep Space 9.  Joanna continues to move their office downstairs and clean up the old office area in preparation to move the bed.  We took out shelves, the desk I made, and various odds and ends so we could spackle in preparation for painting.  I think the painting happens today.

Duncan recorded videos with friends.  Ben played Jackbox with friends.  Emma and I picked up school supplies and searched around the Internet for decent prices on used textbooks.  It's wild how $100+ textbooks can be found for a tenth of that used.  Hopefully the previous owners were good at highlighting the right things.

I'll be taking Emma to school shortly.  She's nervous/excited, but I think after all her preparation she'll do just fine.

Mocha Friday

September 24, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm slowly finishing my Friday mocha, trying to get the most of what's left.  We're mostly doing okay today, though we keep working through transitions.  Joanna's in the hospital for one of those fun procedures I had last year - mostly annoying more than anything else.  I dropped them off an hour ago and will pick them up around noon.  Duncan had a hard night last night and is resting in bed this morning.  School has felt a little overwhelming, so we're taking it easy.  Ben's doing really well academically so far, proudly showing off 100% in all his classes.  Today is Emma's last day of summer before classes start on Monday.

As for me, I spent my work week in online conferences.  It was okay, with the occasional industry speaker that was really good.  Learning about teaching robots how to detect emotions in facial expressions was interesting.  I welcome our future empathetic robot overlords.

Joanna's been moving their office into the basement.  Leia has been meowing way too much lately.  I continue the road to recovery with nightly physical therapy and was excited to discover I can put both my hands on my hips now.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

Ahoy, me hearties!  It be one of the best days o' the year, where landlubbers and salty sea dogs alike are allowed to talk like a pirate.  I hoisted the pirate flag on our house, earning the praise and admiration of our neighbors.  Some pirate games were played.  It was all good fun.

The rains came last night, overflowing our back stairwell and making me wish for a bilge pump.  I soaked my boots and got out as much water as I could, then used a toilet plunger on the drain until it flowed freely.  The rain is most welcome, and the air smells wonderful, though I need to remember how to deal with it properly.

Today has been surprisingly productive.  I reassembled the old brass and wood computer with the guts from Ben's computer.  I've got a bit of hardware tweaking to make it look pretty, then I've got to figure out what to do with the thing.  I loaded Windows, which was shockingly simple, and I'm thinking of turning it into a backup server of some kind or another.

Joanna's also been thinking of moving their office to the basement, so we did some cleanup and getting rid of books and games that are collecting dust.  The little free libraries in the neighborhood will be well stocked for the months ahead.

Griftlands

September 18, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Games

I continue to be enamored of deck builder games.  I beat the final difficulty level of Monster Train a couple weeks ago.  I picked up Griftlands, which is a mix of deck building and story, with three different characters to play.  I beat them all on the easiest difficulty just today, though the game is crying out for replays.

I must have a knack for these kind of games.  My first run ended with an untimely death, but I finished the next three to completion.

Mocha Friday

September 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively quiet week and I think the kids are both settling into school.  Ben's more enthusiastic than Duncan, but I think the latter has reached the right level of resigned to get him through the term.  Emma's off crabbing today, hanging out with Jamie and her parents for a few days.  I'm nearly done with the computer switcharoo, giving the bulk of Duncan's old computer to Ben which should make it snappier.

Joanna continues the cabin projects, getting a functional sink with a foot pump.  Lights are next on the agenda.  Work's been a little frustrating of late - I've got a weird, poorly-defined project and I'm not getting the help I need to accomplish it.  The plan is to whine harder today and see if that does the trick.

As for this weekend, I might try and resurrect the Fossil computer.  There's also a book sale at the library tomorrow that sounds fun.  Finally, the rains are coming again, so I may just read a book by the window and listen to the gentle patter of raindrops.

Spacesuits

September 15, 2021 by Adam in Family

The week moves along.  We met with Duncan's school support team and are working on getting him an EAP.  Ben seems to be generally enthusiastic about school.  Emma's heading to the coast today for a crabbing trip.  The rains are supposed to return later this week, which are most welcome.

NASA was testing some of their new spacesuit designs around Oregon, as apparently it's a good analogy for the moon.  They wanted to try them out in caves and picked Skylight Cave where we went a few years ago.  We all decided that was very cool.

Birthdays, Campus Tours and Wasps

September 13, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a generally good weekend, with the occasional excitement sprinkled here and there.  Saturday was our usual library trip for Emma and I.  Later Ben and I went to Home Depot for spacesuit cosplay gear.  After a short break it was off to Bob's for birthday festivities, then running back home to throw pizza in the oven and watch Sword Art Online.

Sunday after a hearty breakfast Emma and I went off to campus to walk between the buildings where she had classes.  There were roaming packs of older adults on a scavenger hunt of some sort.  A couple groups asked me things like "where's the fountain?" and "what's the name of that sculpture?"  I could answer the first question, which was rewarded with a follow-up request to take a group picture in front of it.  Sadly I didn't know the name of the wind sculpture behind the business building.

After lunch we went to the farm with Ben and Joanna.  We visited with chickens, dogs, Seraph and Robbie.  Unfortunately wasps came to visit us as well, stinging Joanna and Ben and cutting our trip short.  The rest of the afternoon was spent taking it easy, followed by dad coming over for dinner.

Now it's back to work.  We're trying hard to ease the transition to school for Duncan and Ben.  Emma's off crabbing with Jamie next weekend.  Joanna has assorted cabin projects.  Never a dull moment.

First Day of School

September 10, 2021 by Adam in Family

Duncan and Ben went off to school this morning.  Ben's orientation yesterday went well.  He found a skateboard in his locker, which he dutifully took to the office.  I also get the impression that all the kids are having problems recognizing each other, between the masks, fashion changes, and a year away during puberty times.  Ben mentioned one kid wasn't recognizable because they'd gone "full goth" in the last year.  Interesting times.

Work is doing presentations to customers today.  I was briefly roped in to talk about what I'm working on, though it was a very small group.  Still doing mostly bug fixes.

I suspect we'll have a relativley low-key weekend.  Emma wants to show me her four-year plan.  I was excited to hear that Anthropology of Pirates was on Emma's tentative schedule for third term.  I need to finish getting the kids' computers ready.  Duncan seems pretty happy with the performance of his new one, and the adapter for his second monitor should arrive tomorrow.

Mostly I'm crossing my fingers that the first day of school goes well for everyone.  I suspect it'll be interesting at a minimum.

Last Days of Summer

September 09, 2021 by Adam in Family

Ben starts high school today, going to ninth grade orientation.  Duncan starts tomorrow - after visiting with his counselor yesterday things feel pretty sorted out.  I get the impression that everyone is holding their breath, wanting kids back in school and hoping for the best.  There was an elaborate check-in system at the office for contact tracing, so I think they're at least doing their best.

As an aside, I don't have COVID, as expected.  The test I took last week came back negative.  Hopefully that's the last time I'll be doing that.  I've also been feeling better - maybe it was the fires and lousy air quality.

Yesterday was pretty busy, between Duncan and Ben appointments, tea with mom, date night with Joanna, and getting Duncan's new computer ready.  I need to merge Duncan's old computer with Ben's current computer next - hopefully that goes smoothly as well.

Listening to coffee house music, finishing a bear claw, and hunkering down to get some work done.  Looking forward to it.

Labor Day Weekend

September 07, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a generally good weekend, perhaps with a little too much laboring for my taste.  As soon as the kids arrived on Friday from Portland, Duncan announced his computer didn't turn on.  That started a chain of events that included discovering water damage in his PC, failed attempts at saving the video card, ordering a new computer, and re-caulking the upstairs tub that had dripped down through the ceiling.  We've been slowly working the problem, but it ended up occupying more of my time than I'd like.

Other than the increased workload from cooking, dishes, and the like, it was nice having Duncan and Ben back.  Ben was cheerful and funny, playing boardgames with Emma and I and teaching Emma how to play Among Us to be cool like the other kids.  Duncan limped by with an old video card until a replacement could be found.  Emma and Ben made dinner for us, which helped lift the load.

Emma and I went to Valley River to exchange some pants ordered online.  It was a strange throwback as apparently it's still a cool hangout place for many people, not to mention a place for young parents to go to escape the heat and smoke.  Emma remembered going there long ago to have Jamie run them around the big spaces in winter.  As a treat, we escaped to the bookstore across the road and picked up a book about pirates.

Ben was itching to go out to the farm, so the two of us jumped in the car, chatting about SCP along the way.  Seraph, Robbie, dogs, and chickens were there to greet us.  Ben helped pick blackberries, turning them over to Seraph to eventually turn into jam.  We nibbled on grapes for sustenence, then tromped up to the old hay barn.  I sat and took a rest while Ben tromped through the woods like Sam used to do long ago.  Eventually we looped up and around to check out the writing shack, then back home, our zeal for the outdoors satisfied for the moment.

Now I'm back at work and we're trying to get the kids to try a dry run for the school schedule, which seems overly early for their tastes.  I miss summer already.

Mocha Friday

September 03, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was quiet last night, just the cats and I as Joanna drove to Portland to get the kids.  Because of the flooding in New York, a last minute decision was made to instead drive to Pittsburg and go through Seattle.  All went well and they should be heading home soon.

I've had some mild respiratory symptoms the last couple weeks with the occasional headache.  Nothing particularly bad, but I started getting an annoying cough and decided to get a covid test.  This one was my fourth, I think, though the first self-service one where I stick it up my own nose.  It seems more likely it's allergies, the smoke in the air, or a cold, but it'll be nice to sort it out.

It was nice to chat with mom and catch up.  It sounds like the farm remodel project is coming along nicely and they somehow lined up an architect and contractor.  Joanna's building a composting toilet and having way too much fun with a borrowed jigsaw.  I'm running out of jokes about finding a crappy new hobby, but I'm sure I can think of a few more.

It's wild that high school starts next week and the U of O a few weeks later.  The sun surprised me with how early it set last night, a sure sign that fall is right around the corner.

Kinda Sorta Making Games

September 01, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

I sometimes miss making games and telling stories.  For about a year now I'll occasionally break out a little web-based game project and tinker with it.  I had a little time over my beach vacation to play around with it.  I got to the point where I could make a grid of walls and floors and put a little robot on it that would jump from square to square, pathfinding as expected.  I'm never sure if it'll turn into a functioning final product, but it's been fun to play around with things.

Beach Trip!

August 31, 2021 by Adam in Family

Emma and I are back from our beach trip, settling back into work and the summer routine.  Joanna had a good time at the writer's retreat, staying in a tipi and working on plotting.  Presumably it's writing-related and not a murder or heist sort of thing.

Emma and I were extremely efficient in our journey - Emma had planned it all out in the days before.  We started with lunch at Old Town in Florence, watching the crowds of people escaping from the sunny valley.  I wanted to break a $20 for the $5 day-use park fees, so we went next door to the bookstore.  It was full of fascinating treasures, including an old book on pirates with Emma's favorite ship inside.  After a long while we left and then headed to South Jetty to visit the beach.

It was incredibly windy, to the point where it felt like we were being sand blasted the entire time.  Occasionally people would walk up the steep dune, take a look, and turn back to their cars.  We wandered around a little, then returned back.  I led Emma slightly astray, passing a couple bird corpses into the tall beach grasses.  Eventually we sorted ourselves out and safely returned to the car.

The afternoon was spent playing board games, eating pizza, and watching The Bravest Warriors on my phone.  I had Spotify play rain noises all night and we conked out in our no-frills hotel.

Emma was up early and we feasted on single-size Rasin Bran and leftover pizza to fortify us for the day.  Packing up went quickly and we got to the Darlingtonia nature preserve, admiring the beautiful carnivorous plants.  Next stop was the Hobbit trail, which led to Hobbit beach.  It was a bit of a journey, full of hedge tunnels, mushrooms, and a weird passage through the sandstone with the walls lined with crab shells.  The beach itself was quiet and misty and nearly deserted.  We wandered through the fog to some tide pools, then returned past the sandstone cliffs where generations of teens carved names and symbols to mark their existence.

As were were done with our agenda and Emma was worn out, we listened to sea shanties and returned home.  The rest of the day was relatively quiet - Emma played I Expect You To Die 2 in VR.  Joanna returned from their writing retreat.  The last of my beach vacations were sadly over, though the memories continue to be lovely.

Mocha Friday

August 27, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm getting back into the swing of things at home.  Joanna went off to a writer's retreat, sending pretty pictures from their tipi by the river out in Marcola.  Emma's hanging out with me - she cooked me dinner and we watched Legally Blonde together.  She's also been planning our beach trip, coming up with an itinerary that includes visits to botanical gardens and board games.

I'm a little whistful that my vacation is over, replaced by work and the responsibilities of home.  It was so nice to get away for a little while.

Last Day in Paradise

August 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

We awoke this morning to our final day at the coast, watching kids play in the sand as we ate breakfast from our condo.  Soon we'll be packing and heading back home.  Joanna's improvising a potato salad for us to eat along the way.

Monday we spent our first full day in Rockaway heading down the road to a hiking trail through the woods to see a giant cedar tree.  The trail itself was fun, with one highlight being an extremely noisy baby eagle that we watched beleagured parents swoop in and feed every few minutes.  The cedar at the end of the trail was impressive enough, followed by a cheerful tromp back to the car.

Unfortunately every vacation seems to have a story of being thwarted and a touch of unexpected suffering.  We'd planned on driving down to a yarn store in Tillamook.  Unfortunately it was closed, as was the first place we looked for lunch.  Eventually we waited a long while for a sandwich at a little kiosk, then headed to a city park to eat it.  As fate would have it, we discovered it was next to a sewage treatment plant, so we ate in the car and headed to Fred Meyers for supplies.  We fled town, deciding to pass on the tour of the Tillamook Creamery, which even in COVID times had a horde of tourists lined up.

Yesterday was much more pleasant.  We decided to go on another hike in the woods, this time to Neahkahnie Mountain.  There were some questions as to the trail and distance, and it ended up being much longer than expected.  The trees were lovely, roots spread over the trail to form steps up the switchbacks.  Birds and other hikers kept us company along the way.  We got briefly lost towards the end, sitting down on the narrow trail and eating lunch, perched on the steep green mountainside.  We turned back, discovered our mistake, and scrambled up the rough, rocky peak to be greeted by an older couple and shirtless guy with a drone.  The view was amazing and after taking in the sights we returned back to our condo once again.

We puttered a little in the afternoon. We finished the animal puzzle.  I worked a little on a game, making a little robot run around a tiny maze in preparation for greater things.  Eventually we left for dinner, suffering a long wait so that Joanna could get some sea food to make their belly happy.  We returned to watch a funny movie and turn in.

Such a wonderful trip it's been.

Rockaway Beach

August 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

We bid our farewells to Kendra this morning and the little room that kept us warm the last few nights.  Yesterday we hung out in our room until after lunch, returning to Manzanita to rent "fun cycles," these recumbent three wheelers, and roam about the beach.  It ended up being more fun than expected, very much a workout for our legs.  Eventually we got to a stretch of sand where we sunk too far into the sand and could go no further.

We staggered back, poking our heads into the little shops along the way.  Joanna found the same brand of candies they had in England.  Dinner was some chicken enchiladas for Joanna and tomato soup and salad for me, followed by binge watching Shadow and Bone and blissful sleep.

Today we rented kayaks at Wheeler, paddling up towards Nehalem and the dock we waited for our pizza a few nights earlier.  The wind was brisk and the sky gray, but it was warm enough and there were plenty of seals and birds to keep us company on the way upriver.  We stopped for lunch on this little island, then summoned our strength to paddle back to the marina.

We still had a couple hours to kill until our condo was ready, so we popped into a coffee shop and read a little.  I've already finished two books and made a good dent in the Ursula Le Guin essays.  The condo ended up being surprisingly nice, we a great view of the ocean.  My only complaint was hauling all our things from the car up the stairs and down the hallway.

The Twin Rocks are visible nearby, where one can apparently be buried beneath the waves.  We started our first puzzle of the trip.  Joanna is cooking dinner.  It's all very lovely after our afternoon exertions.

Hiking to Smuggler Cove

August 20, 2021 by Adam in Family

We had a hearty breakfast of baked eggs and potatoes, followed with a visit with our chatty B&B owner.  After getting situated, we drove up to Oswald West State Park and followed the surfers down the windy path under the freeway and eventually to the beach itself.  There were some great old growth trees and a fun suspension bridge.  The beach itself had some interesting geology in the cliffs - granite and sandstone all tilted at angles suggesting ancient and powerful events visible in the cliffs.

We ate our leftover pizza on a picinic table near the freeway, then drove to Manzanita for a long walk on the beach.  The fog was rolling in, making everything disappear as we moved along the sand.  We eventually returned to the shops and stores along the main road, killing time until the whiskey bar run by Joanna's agent friend opened up.  Sadly the friend was absent, as apparently owners of whiskey bars are sometimes, but we enjoyed the ambience and I nibbled on pasties and sipped ginger beer.

Now we're back at our b&b, I finished my physical therapy, and it's time to relax before a quiet night of Netflix and reading.  Tomorrow it's bikes on the beach, I think.  We'll see where our whims take us.

Greetings from Nehalem

August 20, 2021 by Adam in Family

We're staying at a little bed and breakfast near the Nehalem river. It's small but generally serviceable. Fortunately it's far better than the Ramada we stayed at in Portland. At least we haven't found anyone sleeping in the hallways yet.

Duncan and Ben made it to Rochester. Emma's back from Corvallis, getting ready for the introDUCKtion at the U of O tomorrow. Our housesitter reports the cats and garden are good.

It's been a lovely time hanging out with Joanna. Last night we walked around Manzanita a little and picked up some pizza for dinner. We started watching Shadow and Bone, which Ben had nixed as an evening show - too much risk of romance.

Sweet, Sweet Rain

August 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

It rained last night, a welcome event after so many hot, dry days.  The cars and patio have funny gray spots where rain moved ash around before evaporating in strange patterns.  Tomorrow we get our house sitter settled in and head off on our various adventures.  Duncan and Ben are preparing for their trip back east, loading up laptops with videos, music, and games to sustain them through Internet-free zones.  I've got to pack up my physical therapy gear for our beach adventure.  I'll miss Emma's IntroDUCKtion, despite the terrible pun - fortunately I went to Sam's and it's probably good Jamie experiences the event this time around.

Work's going well - I'm happiest when working on slightly crazy hard problems.  I'm slowly moving away from giant databases to url changes, which has little pieces everywhere.  Our next version has some nice polish and cool bells and whistles.

Joanna cooked up some of the corn we grew, a little on the small side, but very tasty.  I feel spoiled with all the great produce of late.

Midway through Summer

August 13, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been over 100 degrees the last couple days and the sky is hazy from smoke.  On the plus side, it's not as bad as last year - maybe we're all getting good dealing with disasters.  Plus there's another indoor mask mandate, so our slow apocalypse just keeps trudging along.

Ben finished up his Design Engineering class this week, a couple 3D printed objects as his reward.  Duncan went to the coast with a friend and his family yesterday.  Emma started selling produce from her mom's garden, apparently making $11 yesterday.  I continue my physical therapy for my sprained rotator cuff, which unfortunately aches more than I'd like.

We have a lot of coming and going in the next month, Ben and Duncan going to their dad's for a couple weeks, Joanna and I having a long getaway, Emma and I trying to get to the coast for a little kayak vacation, and Joanna going to a writer's retreat.  Hopefully everything works out as planned - the idea of getting away with Joanna does seem magical.

As for this weekend, Joanna's volunteering at Pride, I've promised Emma a library trip, and I'm sure we'll get some pizza, anime, and Star Trek in there somewhere.

A Comfy Loft

August 10, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

Joanna and I went out to the cabin again today to move the loft down 4 1/2".  It sounds silly, but the difference ended up being fairly dramatic in the end.  It's no longer a claustrophobic nightmare and instead a cozy bed looking out into the forest.

The work itself was fairly straightforward.  We put up reinforced rails to rest it on, pried it away from the wall where the last nails were hanging on, bent the nails, and then lowered it down to new rails with a ladder and car jack.  There was some mild cursing here and there, but we reattached the loft with screws and tossed up the mattress to give it a try.  There's a bit more work to make sure it's solid, but the end result turned out well.

Four and a half inches

August 09, 2021 by Adam in Family

Saturday morning I cooked my usual hearty breakfast, loaded up on coffee, got Ben started painting his room, and then Joanna and I drove out to the farm to work on the cabin.  The goal was to throw a mattress in the loft and see if there was actually enough room to sleep up there.  The conclusion that it was probably not quite enough and the hope is that we could lower the loft be a magic 4 1/2" to get to a more comfortable sleeping area.

The next few hours were spent cursing the builders, setting up rails to support the loft, and removing dozens of nails.  Some nails were impossible to get at without disassembling the loft, but we managed to carefully pry the nails out of the walls.  I stopped before completely pulling the loft free as I was completely worn out.  Hopefully we can go back this week and finish the job without bonking myself on the head.

Sunday morning Ben finished painting his room, which is now bright white.  He did the bulk of the work, which is probably one of those character building activities.  There's still more rearranging to do, but his bedroom is looking increasingly white and spartan.

As for me, I started feeling under the weather - tired and headaches.  Emma arrived from her family reunion and we hung out, then I went to bed for a two hour nap.  Emma eventually woke me up, I helped with dinner, watched a bunch of Star Trek, and then went to bed again.  I feel somewhat better this morning, though still feel like I have some upper respiratory thing.

Now it's back to work time, fiddling with queries and trying to accomplish cool new things.

Mocha Friday

August 06, 2021 by Adam in Family

The lazy days of summer move along, back to mask wearing, the sky once again smoky and a layer of ash on the cars.  It does seem better than last year, other than the heat, though we've had a few cool days and cloudy skies which were welcome.

We haven't been up to too much lately.  Emma's going to a family gathering with her mom's family in Eagle Crest.  Ben's printing another Among Us character after the teacher smashed the last one with a hammer to demonstrate the importance of leaving a little space around the joints.  I think everyone should have a shop teacher at least once.  Joanna and I had another go-out-to-dinner date night, though it felt like indoor dining was an afterthought as they just set a "to go" bag at our table.  Our hot date wrapped up with a slog through Costco, returning to stock our pantry for the next disaster.

Joanna and I are planning on heading to the farm this weekend to poke around the cabin some more.  The loft doesn't quite have as much room as hoped, so there are some difficult decisions as to how to best use it or move it into a better position.

Our home gardens have moved on to tomatoes, with the sunflowers and corn looking better by the day.

Back to Work

August 02, 2021 by Adam in Family

All is well.  We had a relatively quiet weekend of library, pizza, anime, hanging out, and the occasional walk around the neighborhood.  Emma's schedule for the fall is nearly sorted out, very science and math heavy - hopefully it's not too overwhelming.  Joanna was in a writer's conference all weekend, which was a little too Zoomy.

Ben 3D printed his Among Us character he made in class today.  Later this afternoon he had an online class on programming his robot.  Hopefully that means he's ready for school in the fall as well.

Under the Heat Dome

July 30, 2021 by Adam in Family

We're doing another one of those heat dome things, though it looks like we won't get over 100 degrees today.  Seraph and I setup one of our old air conditioners in mom's bedroom, which she reports keeps her fairly cool.  My little back shed is staying relatively cool and the air quality is decent as the smoke from the fires are blowing the other direction.  Then there's the Delta variant, so it looks like we'll all be wearing masks again.  I keep hoping our dystopian future gets more robots.

Our family has been doing relatively well.  Joanna had a post-surgery checkup in Portland, necessitating an overnight stay for an early appointment.  All is healing up nicely.  Emma has her U of O advisory meeting today.  Ben continues to enjoy Design Engineering, returning home with mysterious blueprints with strange diagrams and names like "GOOSE" and "WM" - maybe the high school students are building a giant robot.

Work's going well for me.  I'm doing some fun work with very large databases.  I love it when things go better than expected and cool results happen quickly.  I finished my book, The Gone World, which ended in a satisfyingly surreal manner.  This afternoon work is letting us off early to go see the Jungle Cruise movie, which is one of those funny traditions our work has.  Looking forward to a weekend of hanging out with kids - I predict the library, pizza, anime, and video games in our future.  Plus more physical therapy for my rotator cuff, which is less exciting.

Emma called this morning and broke the news that she got a 4 on her Chem AP test, so full credit and going into Biology in the fall.  I'm very proud of all her hard work - it really paid off.

Freedom Day

July 27, 2021 by Adam in Family

Yesterday was Health Catalyst Freedom Day, which just means we get the day off because our company went public.  Mostly I took Emma to her first grownup doctor appointment and then drove Ben to Salem for another doctor's appointment.  He loved getting sushi from the little conveyor belt, otherwise it was uneventful.

Joanna and I had a date tonight, though after sushi it was the start of my physical therapy for my shoulder.  It sure is weird that some parts of my body don't quite work right.  Work was good.  My book, The Gone World, is difficult to put down.  A pack of turkeys showed up in our garden this morning.  

This weekend everyone but Duncan went down to the Fair and enjoyed the animals and various homemade things - a knit octopus hat, cut flowers, and various preserves.  Ben really wanted to go on a ride, but the line was long and everyone settled for a giant block of curly fries we ate on the way back to the car.

Birthday Shindig

July 23, 2021 by Adam in Family

Not a lot happened this week, which is something I'm always excited to write.  Ben seems to be enjoying his Design Engineering class, learning Fusion 360 and coming home with diagrams of machine parts.  Joanna went out to the cabin to take measurements and make plans.  Duncan's enjoying an update to a game he plays regularly.  Emma's hanging out with her mom, playing Scrabble and going for walks.  The lazy days of summer continue.

Tonight we're descending on the farm for a birthday shindig.  Should be fun.

Birthday Week Continues

July 21, 2021 by Adam in Family

A horde of teenagers descended on our house last night to celebrate Duncan's birthday.  They walked down to get bubble tea then played Jackbox games until cake time, followed by even more Jackbox games.  Duncan was clearly having a great time and it was neat seeing all his friends hanging out together.

I had a really nice birthday the day before, hanging out with family and eating an amazingly delicious cake.  I got some good loot as well, some practical and some entirely entertaining.

Ben's really enjoying his Design Engineering class.  He's using the same software as dad, so they'll get to talk about software and 3D printing the next time he comes over.  Ben also won an Engineering hat in class for a drawing he made.

As for me, work's going well.  Joanna and I had a lovely walk in the summer evening, stopping by little free libraries and collecting books and puzzles for our upcoming vacation.  Life's good.

Week of Birthdays

July 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's the start of a week of birthdays.  Festivities conclude this Friday with a shindig at the farm.  Maybe we can clean out the hay barn and put on some fiddle music.

The weekend seems to have gone by in a blur.  Saturday involved a library trip, groceries, and then a trip to the farm to slowly watch the shed delivered.  It led to a late night and scrambling to put dinner together, but we all survived and watched our now traditional Sword Art Online with our pizza. 

Sunday involved some hardcore hanging out.  My big accomplishment was putting in a shelf in our kitchen specifically for all the tea we have, right above our mugs.  Such is the price of marrying someone from England.  Joanna, Emma, and I also went on a Little Free Library walk, returning with some questionable things but enjoying the journey.  We immediately played the pirate rock band CD, which was pretty much as expected.

Cabin in the Woods

July 18, 2021 by Adam in Joanna

For months now, Joanna's been trying to get a cabin in the woods at Jennifern farm.  The site was staked out, roads were improved, foundations were dug and framed, and dead trees were cut down.  Months of delays by the builder finally ended when the shed was driven from Bend to be setup.  Seraph fortunately kept Emma, Joanna, and I entertained while we waited for the cabin to be slowly driven up the road and leveled.  I think the end result is quite lovely, though as Joanna points out "now the real work begins."

Mocha Friday

July 16, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm still about an hour away from my Friday mocha, its sweet anticipation getting me through my morning routine.  It's been a quiet week for the most part.  Ben had a friend come up from California to visit for a few days.  Joanna continues to recover.  The most catastrophic event lately was a problem with the house's network - I think I finally tracked it down to a misbehaving router in the basement after considerable effort.

Work's been going well this week and I feel like a real programmer, using fancy techniques to talk to fancy new databases.  I also saw a doctor about my shoulder, who officially diagnosed me with a rotator cuff sprain.  It's improving with ice and Advil, with the hope that some physical therapy down the road will keep it from happening again.

I'm loving the garden and all the fresh produce that's coming in.  The flowers all seem cheerful and the walk to my garden shed is lovely each day.

Ouchie, Ouchie, Doctor Fauci

July 13, 2021 by Adam in Family

I think I tore my rotator cuff a few weeks back - I'd keep getting sharp pains when exerting myself in unusual ways.  It seemed to be improving until this weekend when I managed to bonk my head on the short door under our porch.  The bonk was fine, but I reached out reflexively and really strained my shoulder.  Since then it's been worse and I had trouble sleeping last night.  Fortunately I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow, which is hopefully the load road to recovery.

Otherwise it was a good weekend, with a touch of house projects and hanging out with kids.  Emma and I went to the library and she helped me paint a shelf that will eventually hold the sea of tea boxes in our kitchen.  Joanna continues to recover from surgery.  Our garden continues to overflow with produce.

I think Joanna and I managed to nail down some vacation plans in late August, spending some time at the northern Oregon coast.  It'll be nice to get away for a little.

Ben has a friend from San Francisco staying in town for a few days, so he's pretty excited.  It's nice that the kids are getting back to more normal hanging out after over a year of social distancing.

Mocha Friday

July 09, 2021 by Adam in Family

We're well into summer, another heat wave coming our way, though this time it's only in the low 90s.  Everything's doing okay these days, which is nice for a change.  Joanna's recovering, Duncan's dropping down to seeing his counselor once a week, and Ben starts up his Design Engineering class in less than two weeks.  Emma continues to get ready for school - I'm refurbishing my old work laptop to give to her.

It's nice to have life be a little boring lately.  Emma and I both got into a new game called Wildermyth, which seems like a basic RPG, but is more of a fantasy story generator.  Then I've got a new deck building game called Griftlands, which is pretty interesting.  We've also been watching shows with Ben in the evening and just finished Rick and Morty.  Joanna and I occasionally watch the Queen's Gambit, which is great so far.

All-in-all, it's nice to have things quiet for a change.

Last Day of Vacation

July 07, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's the last day of the official company vacation.  I made the mistake of trying to go to the DMV today, which was always as painful as it tends to be.  Plus my passport had expired, so I couldn't get the new Real ID thing.  I'll need to renew my passport (probably using my driver's license), then use that to get my new Real ID driver's license.  I brought my birth certificate as backup, but they wouldn't take it as clearly I'm a weird foreigner.

As for the rest of my time off, it's generally been a nice mix of house projects and hanging out with kids.  Joanna's been recovering from surgery and finally seems on the mend after being groggy for a few days.  The fourth of July at Jenny's was nice, just hanging out low-key in the pool with everyone was a treat.

Emma and I went down to campus and I gave her the informal tour that included tales of people LARPing in the old steam tunnels.  It's weird thinking she's a third generation student, like her father and grandfather before her.  She started looking at classes to take, like an honor's college class, a biology class, and something fun like urban farming.  I think it was also strangely reassuring to see that her familiar bus would drop her off right next to her first class.  I think she'll do just fine.

Cooler Days Return

July 01, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been nice and cool the last couple days, the record breaking high temperatures behind us.  Tuesday I took Joanna up to Portland for a procedure, driving back in the evening while Seraph and family kept an eye on the kids.  All went well and Joanna's been hanging out on the couch with the cats, both sleeping away the day off and on.

I'm appreciating the lazy days of summer as the kid routine is fairly straightforward.  Duncan and Ben are doing well, excited for a slightly belated bro night of sushi and YouTube tonight.  Emma's back from the coast and I went over to say hello yesterday.  Work's coming along nicely, with my big log-related feature finished up.  Not quite sure what I'll be working on tomorrow.

Looking forward to the weekend and seeing everyone for the 4th.

One Hundred and Thirteen Degrees

June 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

By this time on Sunday the flames of the heat dome should be lapping at our door.  The temperature forecast keeps fluctuating, but I've seen it up to 113 degrees, which is the hottest I've ever heard of in our typically mild valley.  Jamie and Emma escaped for the coast.  We've been checking with friends and family to make sure they'll be okay.  I think our house is generally going to be okay, though the heat pump may struggle with such high temperatures.  The basement is generally pretty cool, so we may retreat there.

There's always a new disaster, looming on the horizon.

Midweek Roadtrip

June 23, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm taking Ben to a doctor appointment in Portland, so it's a long road trip for me today.  Fortunately I picked up a good audiobook to entertain me.  I also finished Project Hail Mary last night, which was completely engrossing and a wonderful read.  I also spent a frustratingly long time trying to fix a network cable I'd strung into Ben's room.  I eventually gave up and ordered a new one after crimping on new ends a couple times.

The week continues to be hot, but we're muddling through.  Joanna's doing a great job organizing the house and trying to get things ready before next week.  The garden continues to be incredibly productive, with lots of greens and berries coming in daily.  Work continues to settle down and shift into new things to work on.

It's nice to have everything be okay for a change.

Back from our Anniversary

June 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna and I had a lovely time at the Campbell House for our anniversary.  We strolled around the 5th street area, eating at Cafe Yumm and the ice cream place, all the while watching people from the Olympic track tryouts and ordinary Eugenians wander about.  Waking up and drinking coffee under the little gazebo was a high point.  Chatting without the pressure to go do something useful was indulgent.

The rest of the weekend was great in other ways.  Saturday was a nice hang-out-with-kids day, with enough practical things that I didn't feel too lazy.  Sunday was Father's Day, congregating with the family at Jenny's house.  I ended up with a lot of loot, including the Project Hail Mary book which I can't put down.

We've also started the first week of summer, with Ben and Duncan into their summer routine.  I need to take Ben up to Portland tomorrow for a doctor visit - hopefully I can find a good book on tape.

It's also started to become really hot, with the upcoming weekend promising to be a hundred degrees.  It looks to be a hot, dry summer and it looks like wild fires may be in our future as well.  On to the next catastrophe, I suppose.

Graduation Mocha Friday

June 18, 2021 by Adam in Family

All our kids have officially made it through middle school.  Ben walked past the front of the school to get his diploma in front of cheering teachers.  Afterwards we immediately used our Prince Puckler's ice cream gift certificate.

All the kids have moved into summer mode.  Ben's been playing with his robot.  Emma goes for long walks with her mom and fiddles with the garden and art projects.  Duncan's been making videos with After Effects and playing Genshin Impact.  Joanna's been organizing the house and trying to get gravel spread around at the farm.

Work continues to settle down, especially as we have a release coming up early next week.  Chris, our QA person is going to another team.  He's becoming a junior programmer, which is a good opportunity for him, though he will be missed.

Robot

June 17, 2021 by Adam in Yvonne

We got a robot for Ben's summer learning experience.  It theoretically comes with one-on-one remote classes, but so far he's figured out how to drive it around the house with a tablet to terrorize the cats.  This morning we woke up to find this note on the dining room table.

Balcony Sanctuary

June 16, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

Joanna's been working hard on turning our balcony into a cozy little spot to hang out.  I've helped a bit - hauling dirt, attaching hardware, and holding umbrella pulls to be cut shorter.  The end result is phenominal.  Today I snuck out and just sat under the shade, warming my legs in the sun.  It was lovely.

Moving Into Summer

June 16, 2021 by Adam in Family

I was talking to my counselor the other day and was amazed to report that things were generally okay.  The kids seem relatively well, work was bumpy but I think things are sorted out, and the summer, while having things we need to sort out, seemed generally enjoyable.  Joanna and I get to have an anniversary getaway and maybe even a vacation later in the summer.  The whole family will be fully vaccinated this Wednesday.  Oregon is on the brink of opening up again.  I'm a little nervous about being so optimistic.

House Project Weekend

June 14, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a pleasant, rainy weekend, full of house projects and hanging out with kids.  Joanna coordinated the gravel drop-off at the farm, hoping to get the cabin put in place one of these days.  They're still really delayed, but hopefully it'll happy before the end of summer.

I ran ethernet cable to Ben's room, which is always harder than I think it'll be.  It's funny adding more layers to the outside of the house, going over phone lines and tv cable.  Who knows what'll be strung up outside the house in a few more decades.

The back balcony now has a side awning, plants rearranged, and I held the umbrella pole while Joanna cut it a foot shorter with the sawsall.  That tool is a thing of beauty to watch in action.  It makes me want to go around sawsing all the things.

Done With Highschool

June 14, 2021 by Adam in Emma

Emma's done with high school.  She turns in her laptop today and even though she's not attending any of the graduation ceremonies, I made her put on her cap and gown and pose for a photoshoot.

I regularly tell Emma how proud I am of how she made it through high school, especially during a pandemic.  She's already doing all her college prep activities, looking through classes, and generally being responsible.  It's cool to watch it in action. 

Mocha Friday Farewells

June 11, 2021 by Adam in Family

We had a going away celebration for Nick yesterday, and learned later that day that our project manager Keith was being sent to another team.  There may be more changes, so we're all holding our breath and waiting for news.  My calendar is weirdly quiet today.  I'll probably do some training and look for more bugs.

Joanna and I also hope to have a little anniversary getaway to the Campbell House thanks to Seraph offering to keep an eye on the household.  Joanna and I haven't gotten away for ages, so it's a rare treat.  There's a possibility of a summer vacation too if the stars align just right.

I suspect we'll have a relatively quiet weekend with the kids, the last weekend of spring.  I do look forward to the lazy summer days with slightly fewer responsibilities.

Mid-Week Update

June 10, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm feeling calmer after a somewhat stressful week.  I had a good chat with the person who wanted to hire me to do security work and explained my stress levels weren't up for it at the moment.  It feels like the right decision and now I'm just waiting to see how our team changes.  Today is the last day for Nick, who will be missed.

Emma's off with Jamie at the Oregon Gardens today.  I took Duncan and Ben for their last COVID shot last night at the Churchill cafeteria.  Taking kids to get vaccinated has been one of those things that give me satisfaction as a parent.  Lane County's risk keeps dropping - with a few more vaccinations most restrictions will be lifted.

Joanna continues to consolidate houses after taking everything back from Portland - flowers adorn every nook and cranny, making everything cheery.  They took a brief trip to the farm to survey the ever-postponed cabin, but most petted the chickens.

School is nearly over for Ben, and Emma's effectively done.  Summer plans are slowly coming together, with emphasis on slowly.

Monday

June 07, 2021 by Adam in Family

Duncan and Joanna packed up their Portland house, returning home with a U-Haul trailer full of all the things they'd purchased to make their stay in the rental more comfortable.  We haven't quite put everything away, and our garage is feeling cluttered again, but we managed to make a pretty good sized dent in our storage this weekend.

I managed some good hang out time with kids, helped mom move a table, had dad over for dinner, and did the usual cooking, laundry, cleaning to keep everyone fed and in clean clothes.  Joanna did a great job unpacking and updating the garden with all the plants from the Portland house.  Emma figured out how to send transcripts to the U of O.  Life seems full of endless little tasks.

I fretted a bit about job stuff, though I suspect I'll end up staying the course in the role I'm in.  More stress for the same amount of pay doesn't seem too keen of a deal.  But I want to go through the process and talk to everyone to get more information.

Mocha Friday Opportunities

June 04, 2021 by Adam in Family

Opportunities can be stressful.

Out of the blue one of our main security people reached out to offer me a job.  They hadn't had any applications, and it's a pretty good fit for me.  On the other hand, I love doing what I do now and I had a pretty lousy experience working security back in my PeaceHealth days.  I've been wrestling with it all day yesterday and last night - I'll go talk it over and see if it's something I'd enjoy.  It's also a weird time for our team with downsizing people and everyone seems to be applying for other positions.  The good news is that no matter what I'll still be working from my backyard garden shed.

The rest of the week is going along relatively well.  Joanna and Duncan are settling into their new routine at home.  Assorted flatpack furniture has been arriving at a steady pace - I put together a new bench for the front porch.  The garden is producing an amazing amount of food and flowers.  School is wrapping up - just a few more weeks to go.

Duncan and Joanna are off to Portland tonight with a trailer, returning with the last things from their rental.  I'm hoping I can cajole Ben to doing his math homework this weekend.  It'll be nice as always to see Emma.  I look forward to a little downtime and hopefully not worrying about career choices quite so much.

Summer Planning

June 02, 2021 by Adam in Family

I scheduled Duncan and Ben for their last COVID shot next week.  Ben in particular is excited to see his friend in San Francisco that he chats with virtually on a regular basis.  That's set up in a little over a month, followed by Ben starting a cool sounding Engineering Design class for a few weeks.  Joanna's working on finding Duncan an internship with someone doing video editing.  Later in the summer the hope is that Duncan and Ben are up for visiting their dad, in which case Joanna and I may get our first real vacation in what seems like forever.

Various house and garden projects have started up now that Joanna's back.  The Subaru has a trailer hitch.  A bunch of ready-to-assemble furniture arrived for the balcony and front porch.  Ben's hoping to paint his room and has some furniture to assemble.  We'll see how far we get in the next week or two.

It's date night tonight, so good food and company are in my future.

A Return to Normal Things

May 31, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been a nice three days of doing normal things again - we browsed inside the library for books, wandered around Hendrick's park and today Emma and I played games at a cafe.  I haven't done the first or last thing for over a year and it was a rare treat.  Emma's fully vaccinated as of today and the other two kids should be there in a few weeks.  It will be nice to put this all behind us.

Otherwise the weekend has been a pleasant mix of house projects and hanging out with kids.  I could get used to hanging out at home with everyone.

Seventeen Again

May 29, 2021 by Adam in Emma

Emma decided that becoming an adult was a bit too much, so it's seventeen again for her.  She picked out a Sweet Life cake and we piled presents around her, followed by an evening of going through my old yearbooks to contrast my high school graduation with hers.

Emma made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed and she's ready to go to the U of O in the fall.  High school is essentially wrapped up with the last AP test, so she's trying to figure out what to do for the summer.  Hopefully it's the last weird one before a relatively normal fall.

Birthday Mocha

May 28, 2021 by Adam in Family

More milestones came and went this week.  Emma finished her AP test, feeling like she did pretty well.  Now they're watching Junkyard Wars in chemistry class, watching people make improvised explosives.  Gotta get these kids ready for the next apocalypse, I guess.  I snuck over to Jamie's and had a nice long visit with her yesterday, though we're doing a full birthday party tonight for Emma.  She's turning seventeen again she says.

It's also the first week home for Duncan and Joanna.  He's been doing online counseling off and on - we don't have very good feelings about the program these days.  Fortunately Joanna pulled off a miracle and found a local counselor for Duncan using dark Facebook magic.  It's such a hard thing to manage, but it looks like we might actually be able to put something together locally out of bits and bobs.  He seems to be doing better, though I recognize there's a long way to go.

As for me, I survived a week of big team meetings, half-listening to only vaguely related breakout sessions and mostly finding a ton of bugs in our code.  Of course, now I have to fix them, but I don't think it's going to be too hard.

Excited for the weekend.  I predict lots of good hangout times and maybe a visit to the woods, which is always a treat.

Team Meetings

May 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

Duncan and Joanna are back, both looking a little exhausted. I imagine it'll take awhile to get settled in and there are apparently things that need to be packed up in Portland still, but it's nice to have them home. I moved my office back to the shed for my meetings, but I'll miss Ben as an office companion. Maybe not Leia - she's bossy and demands pets.

We did the usual team activities including Jackbox games. I survived Trivia Murder Party.

Strike Three

May 24, 2021 by Adam in Family

Duncan's program he's been with has been completely disorganized in so many ways.  First it was virtual, then that shut down and he and Joanna went to Portland to attend in-person counseling.  His third counselor left today and they announced they'd switch to virtual again.  At this point we've decided to transition to a care team of Eugene people that Joanna is working hard to assemble.  That worked relatively well with Ben, and having something long-term and stable seems better than what we're doing now.  Duncan seems supportive, so once again we're turning on a dime and Joanna and Duncan are coming home tomorrow.  The plan is to return before the end of the month to pick up what remains at the rental house.  What a weird year.

As for me, I spent the day mostly in training, learing about SLOs and SLIs and other Three Letter Acroynms (TLAs).  It's somewhat interesting from a business nerdy standpoint.  Maybe I'll even use it.  The next three days are meetings with our new uber team.  I think I'm hosting some Jackbox games, so I'm hoping that goes well.  I also learned that a person that works with our team is going to another team, which makes me a little sad.  I'm glad he's staying around, but it does seem like a time of change.

Emma has her AP test tomorrow, which is her last real school thing.  Birthday festivities follow soon after.  Soon it'll be just Ben doing school, at least for a few weeks.  Then it's on to summer and whatever that holds.

Mocha Friday

May 21, 2021 by Adam in Family

Another week is coming to an end, days full of housework, actual work, and coordinating Ben's schedule, with nights full of scifi binge watching.  It's not so bad, though I do look forward to everyone arriving later today.  It's starting to feel like Joanna and Duncan may be home permanently once we sort out transition plans.  Hopefully it's a sign that this really hard year is coming to an end.

Emma's AP chem test is next week, along with her birthday.  I'm not sure if she does much if anything with high school after that.  I remember my last summer before college - waiting with anticipation, working as a pewtersmith in the morning and reading short stories on the balcony in the afternoon.  Life is full of these strange milestones.

Work's doing okay, if a little bumpy in terms of getting things ready for release and the eventual state of the team.  I survived training last week and next week we have three days of meetings with our new, big overarching team that we're moving towards.  I've been listening to Ben's Murderbot playlist on Spotify, which is full of robot-themed angst.  It's strangely good to write code to.

Fully Vaccinated

May 20, 2021 by Adam in Family

As of today, I'm fully vaccinated.  It's a weird milestone - not the end of the pandemic, but certainly a significant step along the journey.  Mostly I'm excited to do normal things again like go out to coffee, hang out with family, and all those things I've forgotten how to do.  I imagine it'll take a few months yet before masks start to fade and people get together again.  We've got a few weeks yet before Ben and Duncan get to this point.  Feels good, though.

It sounds like Duncan plans are changing after his counselor left the program, the second one so far.  They keep dropping programs and losing people, and Duncan felt he wasn't getting much benefit anymore, so I think the plan is to set up counselors in Eugene and come back home.  Other than this latest frustration, he seems to be doing better.  Hopefully with the pandemic ending and more stable counseling in place he'll continue to do okay.  It's always so hard to know what's best.

In a weird way I'll miss the quiet Ben and I hang out days.  He's been a good coworker these last few weeks - focused on his own work, the occasional witty comment, doesn't mind me blathering on during meetings.  Still, having Joanna and Duncan back home is something I very much look forward to.  Not sure exactly when, but soonish.

Summoning Cthulu

May 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

Our cat Leia makes some weird noises.  Right after I give Leia her morning pills, we run to the cupboard for treats.  The typical meowing stops, replaced by a weird gurgling noise that human throats cannot make.  I'm pretty sure she's trying to bring back the return of the Elder Gods, probably in hopes of less pills and more treats.

Emma had a day of mostly sleeping after her second COVID vaccine.  She reported her bones and skin were too heavy in a sleepy voice over the phone.  Hopefully she's back to her normal cheerful self today, on the way to being fully vaccinated.  Her birthday is a little over a week away and the AP test just a couple days before that.  More endings and new beginnings.

Duncan's counselor was let go for reasons they didn't get into.  I wish the place Duncan is staying is more organized, but it's better than nothing and Joanna reports that he's been doing better this last week.  I keep reminding myself that this is all temporary and they'll return home one day.

Ben and I have been hanging out this week.  I signed him up for a summer class in Engineering Design which includes CAD, 3D printing, and milling machines - should be right up his alley.  I also introduced him to Super Hot VR, which he enjoyed quite a bit, deciding it was probably CIA training or something similar.  Our evenings are full of chatting about robots over dinner, followed by binge watching The Orville.  It's not so bad.

Russian Orthodox Easter

May 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

We all got together for Russian Orthodox Easter on Sunday, enjoying the fruits of Seraph's week of cooking before descending upon the delicious food.  I still have some cake squirreled away, but I fear everyone else discovered how delicious Seraph's chocolate potato cake is.  It was nice just to chat and catch up, especially with all the younger generation who are busy going to college and being very grown up.

The rest of the weekend was the usual mix of good and hard.  It was nice having everyone back for our usual routines of hearty breakfasts of waffles and crepes, pizza and science/anime, and just hanging around.  Joanna and Duncan went to a memorial service with his friend Conner who died recently.  A number of his friends from Newport Academy came down from Portland.  While visiting Conner's grave, Joanna noticed he was buried next to our neighbor Conner, who was swept away by a wave over ten years ago.  Life seems far too full of loss sometimes.

Everyone's vaccinations continue, with Emma having her second shot today.  I took Duncan and Ben to get theirs on Saturday at the Fairgrounds via Lane County Health.  They did a great job, though I'm more excited to take Emma this afternoon as the WOW Hall has live music.

Time Loop Friday

May 14, 2021 by Adam in Family

I've been watching time loop movies this week.  Monday it was Palm Springs, Wednesday it was Boss Level, and today I start Map of Tiny Perfect Things.  It wasn't entirely on purpose, just one of those niche scifi genres that had a bunch of movies come out recently.  It's a nice metaphor for this last year - waking up, working, taking care of kids, and repeating forever.  On the plus side, it feels like we might be breaking out of the time loop and into the unknown future shortly.  The CDC announced fully vaccinated people don't need masks - that'll be me in six more days.

It's also been a week of online training for me.  I have a lot more sympathy for all the kids out there, as learning via a screen for hours on end is a little soul draining.  The material is interesting and the intructor is fine, but it's challenging maintaining focus and engagement throughout the day.  Fortunately today is the last day.

As for the rest of the week, it's been relatively uneventful.  Joanna texts from far away Portland.  Emma calls daily.  Ben and I watch The Orville.  He's also gotten into VR again, so I've been dusting off games like Accounting Simulator that he was a little too young for the last time he got into VR.

Then there's the weekend, with Russian Orthodox Easter.  It'll be nice seeing everyone a little more.  Duncan and Ben also get their first COVID shots on Saturday, starting the clock when everyone in the family is vaccinated.

Mother's Day

May 11, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a somewhat rough weekend.  Duncan had a hard night Saturday night and most of us were up pretty late keeping an eye on him.  Joanna got the second COVID vaccine Saturday and was pretty miserable Sunday, holding off going back to Portland until Monday.  One of the highlights was going out to the farm, sitting in a big field next to the tree, and chatting maskless with all my family members that I haven't really seen in a year.  The weather was nice, the company was good, and taking a couple hours to do nothing in an otherwise stressful weekend was lovely.

I'm trying hard not to add work to my list of stressful things.  I've got a week of class, learning about big data (not our cat in this case).  People are applying for various jobs in the organization as the reorg continues.  My current plan is to try and stay where I am, though the situation may change as it evolves.

On the bright side, I just scheduled Ben for his first Pfizer vaccine this Saturday.  It's nice to finally have the end of this pandemic in sight.

The IKEA Effect

May 11, 2021 by Adam in Yvonne

I've been hanging out with Ben quite a bit with Duncan and Joanna up in Portland.  We went through The Expanse and have started on The Orville.  Apparently I'll be rewatching all the major scifi shows of the last ten years.

He has the smallest of the bedrooms and has always had challenges with storage.  Joanna got him a wardrobe from IKEA, which of course required assembly.  With a little impatience on his part, the living room was turned into an assembly floor.  I provided the muscle, tool organization, and occasional pointers, but otherwise he put it together himself.  I had to explain The IKEA effect, which I suspect drove him onward.  He finally finished it, in an odd corner of the room that doesn't quite fit, but it's majestic anyway.

Vaccine Mocha Friday

May 07, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm surviving my post-COVID vaccine symptoms, which are mild if a little annoying.  My stomach feels out of sorts and I'm a little tired, but otherwise I'm just taking it easy today.  I had my mocha, which was nice, helped Ben with math, worked a little, had my arteries ultrasounded, and I'll be off to slowly treadmill before lunch.

The Eugene household of Ben, Leia, and I continue on.  I haven't been pushing school too much, though I think he occasionally attends classes.  Yesterday was Jackbox games with a friend from Argentina and another from California.  I played a little Monster Train as I was feeling pretty worn out, stopping only to make a meal from Purple Carrot for the two of us.

I think the Portland household of Joanna and Duncan has been a little rougher this week.  Things aren't going as well as hoped with the new program and we're not sure what the next steps are, if any.

I look forward to the summer and life hopefully starting to return to normal.  This weekend's Mother Day at the farm is a step in that direction.  Maybe I can see Sam.  Getting out and about in the world again seems like waking up from a long, strange dream.

Second Dose

May 06, 2021 by Adam in Adam

And today I had my second dose.  I feel a little funny, but nothing too bad.  Same person at Wallgreens - he made some comment that everyone he was seeing today was getting their second shot.  It's nice to finally get to the end of this thing, though theoretically it'll be a couple more weeks until we can go out into the world.

Work's been a little stressful lately.  Our team has been asked to shrink by two people, which is quite a bit from our current five.  There are good openings within the company and there's a reasonable chance I'll stay where I am, but it still means our team is going to change.  I've really grown to appreciate the people I work with - work has kept me sane this last year and has been one of the few things that has been relatively stable and calm.

May the Fourth Be With You

May 04, 2021 by Adam in Family

The weekend was a mix of exciting, frustrating, and relaxing.  Joanna forgot to close the garage door, so someone walked in and stole our electric chainsaw.  They didn't take any safety gear, but fortunately didn't take any batteries either, so hopefully they can't hurt themselves.  The police came and we gave them the camera footage, but it seems unlikely anything will come of it.

After a hearty breakfast, Duncan's friend Nichole came over and we all headed down to the library for an outdoor murder mystery.  It sounded cool, but sadly turned into a march around downtown for an hour, giving up, and going for bubble tea.  At least Duncan had a good time hanging out with a friend and the usual pizza night was much appreciated.

Sunday was somewhat relaxing - a little homework, watching Ben and Emma play games, Duncan playing Minecraft with his dad, a walk with Joanna, puttering in the garden, and a movie in the evening.  It's always hard when Joanna and Duncan head to Portland, but we keep doing the best we can.

Polaroids at Dawn

April 30, 2021 by Adam in Family

Ben woke me up this morning in a hopeful way, asking if he could go on to the balcony to take pictures of the sunrise.  We hung out in the crisp morning air for a long while, chatting about the trees and the clouds and the city around us.  I watered the balcony garden, which is doing very well.  Taking a moment to appreciate the world around us was much appreciated.  Too much this week has been frantically crossing things off my list or rushing to another appointment.

Duncan and Joanna come home tonight, along with Emma from her mom's.  Our quiet week will get more exciting and perhaps a little messier, though I miss everyone when they're away.  Tomorrow we've got a murdery mystery around the library to solve, along with a multi-part mailed murder mystery that Ben got for his birthday.  Should be entertaining.

I picked up mom from the airport - it was nice to see her again.  I had a physical this week, which went well, though of course my doctor wants more tests to make sure everything's okay.  I suppose she'll want me to stop sniffing glue next.  I get my second COVID shot next week too, hopefully doing my part to get Lane County back from the extreme risk category.  It's nice to finally feel like this disaster is coming to a close.

Visiting the Farm

April 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

Weekends are always a whirlwind of activity in contrast to the usually quiet weekdays.  Duncan and Joanna arrived Friday afternoon, Leia becoming silent again and Data excited to be home, flopping down in the middle of the floor.  We did our usual routine of fancy breakfasts - waffles Saturday and crepes on Sunday, along with pizza and anime/science Saturday night.  Duncan hung out with a friend.  Joanna did some work on the farm.  Ben, Emma, and I went to the farm Sunday to play with chickens and walk through the woods.  Dad came over for dinner Sunday night, entertaining Ben in particular with tales of aviation, space, and engineering.

Today's a little frantic with endless work meetings, taking Ben to and from school, getting mom from the airport, and trying to get some actual work done.  I think I'm finally understanding this complicated feature - my brain is full of numerators and denominators and filtering now.

Photoshoot!

April 25, 2021 by Adam in Emma

Emma and I had a photoshoot this morning, getting something ready for her senior picture.  The one in front of the azaleas was the best looking, but I was fond of the cabbage background myself.

Mocha Friday

April 23, 2021 by Adam in Family

I never would have gotten a Spotify subscription for myself, but Joanna likes it and got us all a family subscription.  Little did I know just how many sea shanties were out there, not to mention bluegrass covers of Eye of the Tiger.  I try not to think too hard about all our subscription services, but this one has turned out to be pretty cool.

Life continues, with all its ups and downs.  Duncan knew the South Eugene student killed in a car accident this week, rooming with him at Newport Academy.  We talked to the kids' parents over Zoom earlier this year.  Too many losses this last year.

At the same time, Ben's doing great in math and shooting for an A+. His enthusiasm for French isn't quite there, but he's doing okay in art and science.  He's also been a good sport this week, going to endless appointments, helping with dinner, and being a scifi binge watch buddy.

Emma calls every day - we chat about chemistry, gardening, and the ordinary things we do each day.  Joanna, Duncan, and Data arrive for dinner tonight.  It'll be nice to get the crew back together again.

New Normal

April 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

Life seems to have a steady stream of new normals.  Joanna and I chat over video and exchange text messages throughout the day. 

Ben and I have our computers nearby. He'll occasionally laugh at my meeting comments and I have to explain that my local coworker was amused by my Shrek joke.  Monday Ben cooked dinner and served me the last of the birthday cake, which was very nice.  We chatted about helicopters on mars, talked about school, and continued our epic Expanse watching spree.

I occasionally get away from my desk sneak outside into our garden which is in full bloom.  I put up the hammock an briefly tested it out before work called me back.  I've got interesting little problems and puzzles to work on, as always.

Tomorrow brings the whirlwind of Emma, Duncan, and Joanna, not to mention Data.  Leia's personality has changed with everyone's absence.  She's far more vocal, unfortunately in the middle of the night sometimes, and very needy in terms of pets and attention.  I can sympathize.

Vaccinated

April 19, 2021 by Adam in Emma

I took Emma down to get her first COVID shot.  It was at the WOW Hall, which normally does a lot of concerts, so it was way cooler than Walgreens where I got mine.  The live band was nice, as were the bleachers and general ambiance.  They seemed more organized than Walgreens, with a timer for the 15 minute wait.  Mine was a chair in the store and it was up to us to leave after 15 minutes, or I guess gasp for air and stumble to the nearest employee.

Trials and Tribulations

April 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

We continue to muddle through, as best we can.  Duncan had a hard weekend and we weren't quite sure if he needed a different level of care, but we opted for the existing program as that's where he seemed to be doing best.  He and Joanna headed up to Portland again this morning and hopefully things go better this week.

As for the rest of the weekend, Ben celebrated birthday festivities with Chloe and Francis, eating cake and going to an escape room with a Russian biohazard theme called the Red Scare.  They didn't escape, but I think they enjoyed themselves.

Ben, Emma, and I hung out quite a bit, watching shows, playing games, and generally having a good time.  Ben's been working on art projects, getting some fancy china for his birthday that he's been attaching clay fingers, eyes, and mouths too.  It's creepy, but awesome looking.

Joanna continues gardening projects and is quite happy at how much produce has appeared recently.  I was compelled to eat freshly harvested greens in my salad, which was quite tasty.

Lots of running around today.  Ben's headed to school shortly.  I'm taking Emma in for her first COVID shot.  Hopefully things quite down by this evening, just Ben, Leia, and I.

Fourteen

April 14, 2021 by Adam in Yvonne

Ben turned fourteen today.  We were trying to figure out what he could do today that he couldn't do yesterday, and apparently it's the minimum age to work in Oregon.  I'll see if the coal mine is hiring.

He's had a lot of changes lately, from surgery a couple weeks ago to the start of hybrid school.  Plus it's just been the two of us and our cat Leia for most of the week.  He's been doing remarkably well, healing nicely, catching up with homework, and really enjoying his two days of in-person education.  He's been watching a lot of science videos and chatting with friends online.  We'll wind down our evenings with The Expanse or some of the news/comedy YouTube shows.

Today will probably be pretty low-key.  I was going to pick up some goodies at Sweet Life and we'll eat sushi in front of the television for dinner.  The weekend will have most of excitement, from family birthdays to an escape room with his cousin Francis and a longtime friend from school.

Hybrid School

April 12, 2021 by Adam in Family

Hybrid school starts today, one of those funny sci-fi terms we invented for the pandemic.  Ben's the only one actually attending this afternoon, and only for a few hours.  I'm not sure how academic it'll be, but I suspect it'll be good for the kids to get together again.

The weekend was busy, but generally good.  I managed to pour some concrete around the hole created for the sewer clean-out.  I helped Ben get through his math and science homework, making an experiment on conductivity that was fairly interesting.  I was feeling under the weather after my covid shot, so I took it easy Saturday, but was feeling perky by Sunday.  Most everyone who can have a covid shot has had their first one at this point, with the exception of Emma who has to wait another week or so.

Duncan seems to be doing okay, playing on his computer and hanging out with a friend for a long while on Sunday.  Joanna did some gardening.  I helped with laundry, cooking, and cleaning, along with our usual pizza and hearty breakfast traditions.

Road Trip Mocha Friday

April 09, 2021 by Adam in Family

I made myself a mocha and hearty breakfast this morning as Ben and I are hitting the road to Portland soon.  He's got a doctor visit where hopefully the tubes will be taken out.  I haven't given him any pain meds for a few days, which I suspect is a sign that everything is healing up nicely.

Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, getting my covid shot, running errands for Joanna, and having a brief walk with Emma.  Somewhere in there I managed to get some work done, make dinner, help Ben with two science and one math assignment, and read a few chapters of the latest Murderbot book.  Life feels busy but good.  I'm excited to see Joanna today and get everyone home for the weekend.  Our weekends tend to be equally full, but I'm hoping we can have a little downtime here and there.

I continue trying to get everyone I can scheduled for their vaccine.  Emma's signed up for the 19th.  I pestered Jamie until she signed up for a shot today.  I know Emma really wants to go on a train trip this summer with her mom and grandma, so I'd like to think I helped a little to make that happen.

The Beginning of the End

April 08, 2021 by Adam in Adam

Just got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Escape!

April 07, 2021 by Adam in Family

Our kitty Data is a big weirdo.

He learned somewhere with doors and cupboards that sometimes if he paws long enough, it'll open and he can go through.  Because of this connection in his little kitty brain, he spends his days staring out the window at birds and squirrels, scratching away at the window until he gets tired and goes to sleep.

I have a lot of sympathy for Data.  Escaping the house into the wide world is deeply appealing these days.  Yesterday was warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt.  I snuck out to water the garden and soak in the sun.  Tomorrow I have my first COVID-19 shot - it feels like we're finally seeing the beginning of the end.

It's also our traditional bro night/date night tonight.  I think I'll get sushi for Ben and I and turn over YouTube to him so we can watch weird videos.  We've been spending our evenings watching The Expanse, the second time for me.  It's a great space show and I'm catching details I missed the first time through.

Ben's also caught up in math and we did forecasting for SEHS as well.  He picked some electives around drones and aviation, and I think we may try to get him in the robotics club.  He's also recovering nicely from surgery - we've stopped the pain meds and he has a follow up this Friday, hopefully to remove the tubes and be declared ready for service.

Easter Weekend

April 05, 2021 by Adam in Family

Despite all the whirlwind activity of the weekend, it feels like things are picking up.  Friday afternoon was spent cleaning the house and doing laundry, along with excitedly flushing all the toilets thanks to our repaired main sewer line.  I picked up Emma and a tired Joanna and Duncan arrived for dinner.  It was nice seeing everyone together again as our days are more scattered than usual.

Saturday started with hearty waffles and other breakfast goodies.  Emma wanted to build a cold frame out of scrap wood.  I made her do all the work, from pulling nails to using the circular saw.  At the end she triumphantly showed off her nice box, waiting for an old window to be put on top at her mom's house.

Somehow along the way I decided to tidy the under porch area, which turned into Joanna and I in a cleaning frenzy.  It's one of those projects that kept spawning more work instead of less.  We assembled the wet/dry vac, threw out old garbage, got another car load of donations ready, and generally got to tasks we've been ignoring for a decade or two.  At the end of the day we were exhausted and satisfied with our progress.

Easter Sunday started with crepes and whip cream, along with plenty of coffee.  I wasn't quite as enthusiastic about projects, though Joanna headed to the farm to finish pounding rebar into the foundation.  I managed to hang out with kids a little, continued Ben's surgery aftercare, and helped get Joanna and Duncan ready for their return trip to Portland.

Joanna put together an impressive Easter egg hunt, carefully segregating eggs by height so that Duncan could get the high ones, Emma the low ones, and Ben didn't have to stretch far due to surgery pain.  The best part was the puns written in most of the eggs, which the kids read all together in the living room.  I think they liked those even more than the chocolate and money.

Duncan managed some quality hangout time with friends and I lended him my old work laptop as he wanted to do some video editing while in Portland.  Hopefully we'll have a better sense as to how long he'll be in this program.  We all want Duncan to be okay, and I'd love to have everyone at home too.

I think all is going as well as can be expected these days.  I carefully checked the COVID-19 eligibility and after doing a little math, my BMI is .1 into the overweight range.  I thanked the extra whip cream I put on my crepes and signed up for a vaccine this Thursday.

Back Home

April 02, 2021 by Adam in Family

Ben and I just got home after a whirlwind couple of days.  Seraph was a lifesaver, taking care of the kitties and even doing the dishes.  The sewer issues have been resolved for the time being.  Most importantly, Ben is doing well after his surgery and though he was pretty achy and tired the first day, he seems more back to his normal self today.

We headed to Portland Wednesday night, getting to this funny Airbnb place in Beverton.  Since it was our traditional bro night, we left Ben and Duncan to watch YouTube while Joanna and I went for a walk through the urban forest trails near the house.  It was nice to be able to spend a little time together after being apart since Sunday.  We stuck Ben into the walk-in closet, which was big enough for a mattress.  The rest of us crashed out in the main kitchen-living-bedroom and woke up at 5 a.m. for surgery the next day.

There was a suite of cheerful providers that got Ben settled and ready to go.  He'd worn his full Nasa regalia, which entertained them all.  After they took him away, Joanna left to get Duncan ready to go to his program while I hung out in the waiting room, writing code and getting periodic "everything's okay" pages on a little pager they gave me.

A little before noon he was awake enough that a single parent could go back.  I headed in and chatted with a very groggy Ben.  He was mostly pain-free, but pretty sleepy.  After napping a little we got the whole aftercare tutorial and went home to stick him in a recliner where he mostly stayed until this morning.  Other than being nauseous at first and his throat hurting, he had an okay first night and slept really well.  This morning he seemed much more his usual self.

Right now we're decompressing after the long drive and some lunch.  I have some unpacking and cleanup to do.  If I'm feeling enthusiastic I might grab some concrete to patch the place where the sewer line cleanout valve was installed.  For now, it's just nice to take it a little easy for a moment.

Help, I'm Trapped in a Sims Game

March 31, 2021 by Adam in Family

I remember when the kids used to play the Sims games, controlling little people in a little house.  Sure, the kids would start with the typical work-and-buy-stuff cycle.  Inevitably, though, they'd be selling pool ladders and making elaborate mazes to the toilet.  The poor Sims would embarrass themselves or die horribly.  It was apparently greatly amusing.

With Joanna and Duncan in Portland, I've been doing the cat feeding and taking Ben to appointments, along with the typical work-and-make-dinner things.  Unfortunately the main sewer line started backing up again and the plumbing company that was going to schedule a more long-term fix haven't called back.  This has led to stress and frustration, along with dishes piling up and scheduling time to shower at mom's house.  I'm pretty sure an elaborate maze to the toilet will somehow appear next.

I'm doing my best to manage.  I've started packing for the Portland trip.  I went to bed early and woke up early to go for a run.  I'm pretty sure I can manage a shower during a gap between meetings and appointments.  Most of all, I'm hoping I can get in touch with the plumbing service and get repairs scheduled.  That would make it all better.

Strange Days

March 29, 2021 by Adam in Family

I moved my office into the house from the back shed over the weekend, taking over Joanna's desk on the main floor.  It's just Ben and I, along with the cats, rattling around in the big, empty house.  Joanna and Duncan are up in Portland, having moved into a nautical-themed place for the foreseeable future.  Duncan will have started his first day, though it's with the same counselor he's had virtually the last few weeks.  Hopefully he can settle in okay.

We deliberately tried to have a low-key weekend, though we were only partially successful.  Saturday was beautiful, luring us outside to plant things in hanging baskets and do some yardwork.  I was feeling pretty good until I realized the main sewer line had backed up and the basement toilet was overflowing.  After frantically plunging and stressing out, our savior Nate arrived and cleaned things out.  Unfortunately we have roots growing through the main sewer line, so we've got some more work to do before it's completely resolved.  In the meantime, we're cheerfully taking showers and flushing toilets.

We all got together for a Jackbox game after dinner before Joanna and Duncan hit the road.  Duncan's shirt won, though Joanna wrote the tagline and I did the art.  It's somehow fitting.

Mocha Friday

March 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

Duncan's having a hard time and we're looking to make some changes again.  Though it's still in the process of being worked out, I think Joanna and Duncan will head to Portland this Sunday so that Duncan can go to an intensive outpatient program.  It's the one he's enrolled in virtually at the moment, but it's not as effective and they seem to be closing it down due to lack of counselors.  While it's another big disruption to our family, it's clear that Duncan needs more help than he's getting and doing things virtually isn't working out very well for him.  The thought is that Joanna can rent somewhere long term and come back on the weekends.  Hopefully I can figure out how to water the plants, feed the cat, and get Ben to various appointments.

We've put everything else on the backburner as we figure out next steps.  We'll probably try to finish the foundation of the farm shed.  Joanna has some 4x6's to frame the gravel that's going to be dumped.  Once that goes in place we need to dump gravel on the road to make it passable and then we just need to have a cabin plopped into place.  Hopefully it's all generally manageable even if Joanna's away most of the time.

As for me, I continue to heal from my two days of too much exercise.  My muscles are a little sore, I have a couple broken blisters that look gnarly, but a few more days at my cushy desk job should get me back to normal.

Hole Digging Vacation

March 24, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

I've had the last three days off, the last two of which I've spent digging a big hole for the foundation for Joanna's little cabin at the farm.  It's back breaking work, with thick, clay soil.  Last night I came home exhausted, then weirdly woke up early and headed out for more until noon today.  I have the bulk of the digging done, along with axing roots and generally clearing things up.  I think we'll have to frame it as it's at a pretty significant slope, but we're closer than we were.  Tomorrow I leave my hole digging vacation behind me and return to work and relax.

Ben got contacts today and is very excited.  It reminded me of getting glasses when I was little and noticing contrails in the sky for the first time.  Emma's trying to figure out what she's going to do with her free time now that she's going down to a single class.  Duncan hung out with a friend last night to sit around the fire and roast marshmallows.

Life is still bumpy from time to time, but a couple days of hard labor was strangely uplifting.

Spring Vacation

March 23, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm taking a few days off from work to hang out with kids and get some work done around the house and at the farm.  Kevin came to visit the kids, the first time in over a year.  They mostly hung out at our house, playing video games, doing art, and occasionally going out to eat.  Ben in particular had a good time, which was nice as they hadn't always gotten along.  It felt good to see the kids reconnect with their dad after so long.

Emma and I spent a fair amount of time just hanging out.  She's down to a single class now, so the months before the U of O are likely going to be pretty quiet.  Monday was the designated "hang out with Emma day."  We picked up Metropol goodies and hung out in the basement playing Magic the Gathering, Coup, and a lengthy Call of Cthulu game.

Joanna hired a couple guys to help cut down trees at the farm and they did a great job.  Plans have switched to try and bring the cabin from the top of the hill rather than the bottom, taking out the fence and putting in a gate.  It should be much easier to get in there.  Emma and I hopped the fence and wandered down to take a look.  There's a big osoberry bush by the site, which is apparently a native plum - small and bitter, but an early bloomer that was prized by the native people.

I think I'll be out there today, digging and leveling a pit for gravel.  The hope is that when it comes time to put down that little cabin, we'll have a place for it.

Schools out for Springtime

March 18, 2021 by Adam in Family

The kids all finished school for the week, with no school tomorrow and spring break next week.  Despite serious senioritis, Emma snuck in all A's, pending a chemistry test grade.  Ben has done well in math, which we do every night, and okay in science.  Duncan dropped a couple classes and will hopefully pass the rest.  At the end of the day, getting all these kids to the end of the pandemic alive will be our biggest measure of success.

Joanna continues to work through the challenges of getting the cabin placed, with plans changing as other plans shift around.  I think it'll all work out in the end and we'll have the beginnings of a little orchard before too long.

I ended up watching coworkers write code and gave them advice for quite awhile today.  It's known as "pair programming" in the industry and I felt useful while not actually having to click and type at all.  I'd like to think my endless wisdom was enough to make today productive for everyone involved.

Back at It Again

March 15, 2021 by Adam in Family

We had a busy weekend, going out to the farm Saturday with all the kids.  Joanna kept working on site prep.  Ben brought a friend and suckered them into helping clean the hay barn even more.  It's coming along nicely and might actually be habitable before too long.  We also had some quality chick holding time.  Ben discovered the gyroscopic stabilization of chicken heads and we decided they'd make great camera operators with head mounted cameras.

Otherwise it was the usual mix of laundry, cooking meals, and helping kids get homework done.  Somewhere in there I managed to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild and watched Emma play a little Luigi's Mansion 3.  Both were fun escapes on a rainy Sunday.

Work is going well.  We're slowly working towards a release next week, trying to get everything in before a code freeze.

Mocha Friday

March 12, 2021 by Adam in Family

I managed to get my annual bloodwork done, right under the deadline of the insurance discount.  What funny things we do as part of these systems people create.  Of course, the order wasn't processed, but fortunately they decided I wasn't sneaking in off the streets to get my blood drawn for funsies.  I also was supposed to have counseling this week, but their system decided to cancel after their web site broke and wouldn't let me click a button.  A quarter century working in healthcare and some things never change.

We're all hanging in there, looking forward to those vaccines being available.  I think we'll still hunker down for spring break, but more people are talking about trips and adventures sometime this year.  That would be most welcome and I suspect half of America has the same idea.

Work's going well.  Ben and I got through a ton of homework last night.  With sunny, warm weather promised tomorrow I suspect we may go out to the farm.  I also picked up a couple Switch games with an odd "thanks for working here four years" mini bonus this week.  Should be fun to play on rainy Sunday.

Pandemicversary

March 11, 2021 by Adam in Family

The unofficial start of the pandemic was a year ago.  I vaguely remember everything shutting down, people hording toilet paper and kids leaving school for good.  Joanna persisted a month or two before shutting down the office.  Kids started the dumpster fire of remote learning.  Date nights became "fake nights" and then rebranded as "bro nights" when we couldn't go out to eat and instead got takeout for everyone - the kids watching anime on Netflix and Joanna and I puzzling in the basement.

We also were struck with a nasty upper respiratory virus around the same time, switching to getting groceries delivered to the house.  Joanna asked on Nextdoor if someone had a battery for our thermometer so we could take our temperatures.  It magically appeared later that day, one of many kindnesses in those early days of the pandemic.  Joanna later got an antibody test, so it probably wasn't COVID, but we were certainly on edge for awhile.

Months passed and the new normal kept changing.  The younger kids had a really hard time with social isolation.  Family dinners dwindled and stopped.  My weekly tea with mom turned into masked visits on the patio.  Kevin's visits to see Duncan and Ben were put on hold.  Joanna started cutting my hair.

Winter was the hardest.  Duncan's mental health dwindled to the point where we sent him away for help.  It was the first Christmas without both my bio kids.  The days seemed short, dark, and the end was forever on the horizon.

In the last few weeks, the onset of spring and hope has been coming fast.  Duncan is back, more cheerful and armed with a variety of coping skills.  Ben seems to be doing better.  The farm has become a center of activity and promise.  In person schools are starting to open.  Those most at risk in the family have had their vaccines.  Emma's getting ready for college.  Mom's planning a trip to see Sadie.  It seems likely I'll get my first COVID-19 shot by the end of next month.

It feels good to have hope again.

Weekend of Adjusting

March 08, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was the first weekend with Duncan back.  He spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and catching up on computer activities.  While he seemed a little worn out at the end of the weekend, things seemed to go well.  We did watch anime instead of science during our traditional pizza eating Saturday night.  We also needed more food on the table for meals.    The kitties were happy to have more pets.  We were happy to have Duncan's humor and good nature around.

I was feeling a little under the weather, but managed to do all the usual things - making hearty breakfasts, helping with homework, and quality hang-out time with kids.  Joanna made it out to the farm both days to take down the stuck tree and cut down five or six more.  There are still things to do to prep the site for a cabin, but it feels like we're well on the way.  Next weekend we may try to make it out there with the kids.  Rumor has it Seraph has little chicks now.

Mocha Friday

March 05, 2021 by Adam in Family

The prodigal son returned, with Joanna and Duncan getting home late morning yesterday.  Christmas presents were immediately opened, followed by tech support helping get the new keyboard installed.  Duncan got his computer setup and had a friend over for a long while, making art in the basement.  Ben baked a delicious cake that morning, which we all ate and told him he should never make again because it was so good.

The rest of the day was mostly getting settled back into the routine of things.  I'm not sure if school will start today for Duncan - we're still playing next term by ear, which is coming up fast.  He does seem cheerful and optimistic, if a little worn out by all the changes yesterday.

It's hard to believe that only a couple weeks remain in the term.  Theoretically Ben and Duncan return to school a couple days a week soon after it starts.  Emma's going down to a single class.  Time keeps moving along and things that seem to take forever finally do happen.

Mid-Week Changes

March 03, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna picked up Duncan this afternoon - they're driving south on I-5 as I type this.  The plan is to stop somewhere soon and finish the journey tomorrow morning as otherwise it's quite a long drive.

Ben's new desk arrived today, which he immediately wanted to build.  Other than a few pointers through the frustrating bits, he made his desk and we moved all his computer stuff over to it.

Joanna left a variety of sweet notes hidden throughout the house before leaving, which have been entertaining to periodically discover.  Otherwise it's mostly been Ben and I being bachelors, though I've endevored to eat semi real dinners.  We started watching the Neil Armstrong movie First Man, which is great.  Presumably we'll start watching Chernobyl again tomorrow.

Corpse Removal Weekend

March 02, 2021 by Adam in Family

Joanna headed up to northern Washington to fetch Duncan.  It's quite the journey, so she's taking her time.  It'll be nice to have Duncan around again, and even more importantly I'm glad that he seems so much more cheerful than before.

We all had a pretty good weekend.  I helped kids with homework, Joanna put in some time gardening, and lots of Deep Space Nine was watched.  Sunday we headed to the farm, chatting with mom, Seraph, and the gang.  I took Emma and Ben up to the old hay farm where we continued to clean things out, including an old mummified opossum that Emma accidentally grabbed.  Still, it's looking quite nice and the kids are enthusiastic about further improvements.  Joanna cut a couple of the bigger trees, though apparently they got stuck on the way down.  More YouTube videos on the subject were being watched - I went to bed Monday night to the sound of chainsaws on Joanna's phone.

Ben and I have a bachelor's night tonight, though I'm trying hard to not just eat cereal.  Hopefully we can watch something fun after we finish up math and science.

Mocha Friday

February 26, 2021 by Adam in Family

Lots of small updates this Friday.  It looks like Duncan is coming home next week, which he seems very excited about.  We had a brief meeting about it on Wednesday and he seemed generally cheerful.  Leia, our older kitty, likely has IBS and needs daily pills to control it.  I continue to help Ben with math and science and he's generally caught up.  Last night he was building a little LED circuit just for fun.  Emma's getting through all her classes and looking forward to the weekend.  Joanna started Forestry classes this week and is headed out to the farm to try and feed things through the chipper.

At this point, I think all of the 70+ people in the family have had at least their first vaccine.  Looking forward to the rest of us getting it in the months ahead.

Midweek Updates

February 24, 2021 by Adam in Family

The week is moving along at a zippy clip - hard to believe that March is right around the corner.

It looks like Duncan is quickly approaching the point where he's coming home.  Maybe next week, depending on how things go.  There's always a complicated little dance between the therapists, insurance, and us that seems to happen at the end of these things.  We're excited to have him home and hope it goes well.

I was heartened to hear Hanni got her first vaccination.  COVID rates in Lane County keep dropping and we moved from extreme to high risk recently.  It also looks like hybrid learning will happen at 4J, likely in April.  I think that'll be good for the kids.

Otherwise it's been a generally uneventful week.  Joanna signed up for a forestry class and is planning on clearing the cabin site instead of hiring someone to do so.  I got Ben and Joanna watching Chernobyl, which is both terrifying and compelling.  I suppose it's a nice comparison with our current situation - at least we're not wading through radioactive water, trying to open valves before a nuclear power plant explodes.

Productive Weekend

February 21, 2021 by Adam in Family

Much was accomplished this weekend, which is extra satisfying as it was mostly Joanna doing the work.  Saturday morning we started the day with a fine breakfast of waffles, mocha, and the like.  Joanna practiced cutting down some tall arborvitae in our back yard with the new electric chainsaw, followed by some frustrating moments with the new chipper.  The kids were chomping at the bit to go out to the farm, so we drove out, followed by Joanna a little longer.

The new chainsaw worked pretty well taking out some of the shrubbery around the old hay barn.  Ben and Emma cleaned up quite a bit of the weird things, exhuming a number of old kid toys buried in the mud.  We swept up and took down some rotting paneling, plus removing the main door which was bent and couldn't open.

In the meantime Joanna cut down a number of the dead trees around the cabin site.  I think we'll skip paying someone to do the work as we were feeling increasingly confident after the outing.

Today was more garding, though closer to home.  Joanna mulched most of the arborvitae and planted the strawberries in the new bed we made for them.  I hauled up some soil to the balcony planters.  It's not quit done, but I think we're well on our way to being ready for springtime.

The kids finished up homework and Emma took a long chemistry test.  We occasionally took video game breaks for our entertainment.  Now they're cooking us stirfry for dinner, which is a magical thing.

Mild Winter Mocha Friday

February 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

Our power and climate has been fine this week, but much of the country is dealing with power and water outages along with the freezing weather.  Ben's been making science videos about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, so preparing for future disasters continues to linger in our thoughts.  It looks like our roof only has another year or two in it, so I'd like to add solar when we replace it.  I look forward to getting the cabin up and running, if only to have somewhere to go during the inevitable alien invasion and undead uprising.

Otherwise it's been a pretty quiet week.  Work's been good.  Ben's catching up with homework.  Duncan seems to be doing well.  Our chainsaw and chipper finally arrived, so we may go out to the farm to work on clearing things out for a cabin and orchard.

Happy Pancake Day

February 17, 2021 by Adam in Family

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, which means making crepes for dinner. It was a little last minute but they turned out well. It's probably good we only do this once a year.

Tuesday Work Week

February 16, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm back to work after a three day weekend.  I had big plans for my day off, but kept being thwarted by minor things and I ended up not doing much other than hanging out with kids, helping with homework, and getting a run in there somewhere.  I did hear from my mom that she'd gotten a COVID vaccine - she was at Safeway and they had a few left over after vaccinating employees.  Someone flagged her down and asked her how old she was.  It's nice seeing people in the family getting vaccinated.

Joanna also put in a bunch of work into our raised beds - the garden is looking really good lately.  We're also starting to talk about big house projects such as painting the house and replacing the roof, not to mention refinishing the wood floors sometime.  I try to leave such things in Joanna's capable hands as I get a little anxious thinking about all the things that need to be done.

Happy Valentine's Day

February 14, 2021 by Adam in Family

We're having a very low-key Valentine's Day.  Joanna's off in the yard doing more gardening work.  Yesterday we put together the various new raised beds, though most of the work was Joanna and I just assisted.  It's looking really good so far and I'm excited to see things start growing.

It was also a talk-to-all-the-kids weekend.  Duncan seems to be doing better, out of quarantine though it doesn't matter much as virtually everyone had covid.  I got Ben caught up in science.  Emma had a bunch of homework too.  Monday is weirdly off for me, though I suspect I'll just do yardwork and help kids with things.

It's nice to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Forest Adventures

February 09, 2021 by Adam in Family

We all went out to the farm on Sunday.  Seraph and Joanna worked on clearing brambles and cutting down trees while I took Ben and Emma to explore.  There are huge parts of the farm that are hard to get to.  There's an old hidden road, a big patch of dead trees, a couple creeks, and a patch of wild roses.  It's fun thinking of the possibilities, not to mention just tromping around.

COVID Mocha Friday

February 05, 2021 by Adam in Family

We got the news last night that Duncan's last PCR test before leaving quarantine was positive.  I think that means they're separating him from his roommates who tested negative and he has another week or more before some type of normalcy returns.  He wasn't happy with the news and I'm glad they're keeping an extra eye on him.  I'm thankful for the staff, who keep showing up, and the administration for not closing down.  It's been eye opening just how quickly covid spread through the place.

It sounds like 4J is going to try very hard to open up schools for hybrid learning relatively soon.  My guess is that middle and high school would start in April with the new term.  We've turned completely around with our feelings about school and want at least the younger kids to go, if only to be around their peers.

Joanna's off for a couple days, staying at a place at McKenzie Bridge to have a little break.  Ben and I had a tasty dinner, worked on homework, and watched some shows before turning into bed.  I started reading the fourth book in the Murderbot series, which Ben raves about.  It's a treat to read for fun.

As for the weekend, we'll get Emma tonight and try to get out to the farm.  I just need to make it through work, which has been a little more exciting than normal after our latest release.  There are always a few bugs to sort out.

Beginning of the End

February 04, 2021 by Adam in Family

Dad's had his first vaccine.  Jenny and Robbie are getting theirs soon.  In theory mom, Bob, Yayoe, and John all get theirs soon too.  Eventually it'll trickle down to the rest of us, and it looks like even the kids will be able to be vaccinated by summertime.  I'd love to be able to get Ben and Duncan back to school at least a little - the rates are slowly dropping and we might hit the magic threshold soon.  I'm not sure if Emma will go in person, especially as she just has one class next term.  I think it would be good for the younger kids to attend, for both their mental health as well as academics.

Duncan's hanging in there.  I think he might get out of quarantine today, where he's been mostly stuck with his roommates.  Fortunately he really likes them, though I think he's still having a rough time.  So many kids there have covid at the moment that they're not able to do a lot of the normal things very well.

Joanna headed off to McKenzie Bridge for a couple days, leaving Ben and I to hold down the fort.  I got a little excited looking up all the cool maps of the farm today.  The slope map gave clues to where streams were and what places were relatively flat.  I may end up taking Emma and Ben to survey things even more carefully - doing some tree identification and soil samples.  It's science if we take notes and write down numbers.

Chicken Attack!

January 31, 2021 by Adam in Family

Our neighbors have free-range chickens.  I'm not sure it's entirely legal, but they wander around, pecking at yards, and today decided to cross the street and hang out in our yard a little.  Data thought it was the coolest thing ever and watched intently out the front window.

We talked to Duncan yesterday after a couple hours of parent meetings and the like.  He sound okay, though okay has a fair range from really bad to getting by.  Most of the kids there have tested positive for covid at this point.  Because he's been in quarantine after his roommate tested positive, he seems to have missed it so far.  There's been a little too much drama over the last couple weeks and I'm hoping he's developing some resilience, though this wouldn't have been my preferred way to do it.

Today had a lot of helping Ben and Emma with math, as well as hauling buckets of soil up to the balcony by rope.  The giant troughs are slowly filling up for Joanna to use.  We have a lot of yard projects going on in preparation for spring.

Tomorrow work begins again.  I've got to tweak our notification system to do more complicated things.  I keep pondering the best option at weird hours of the night.

Quiet Week

January 29, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's been a relatively quiet week, at least as quiet as it gets these days.  Ben was making a science video about plate tectonics and used Joanna and I as props.  Work's moving along nicely towards a release.  Emma finished her mittens and has moved on to a hat, having learned enough about knitting to improvise a design.  Joanna's been enjoying her new Switch in between gardening projects - the troughs are on the balcony waiting for more soil.

My life is pretty routine. I wake up and make coffee and tea while listening to NPR, have some oatmeal and read the paper, then deliver morning beverages and head to the backyard to work.  At lunch I run and watch a show.  Then it's helping with dinner, usually assisting with Ben math, and sneaking in some video games before settling in to watch a show or two before bed.

There's enough novelty sprinkled in there to keep us on our toes.  Data terrorizes and amuses us with his hijinx.  We're usually celebrating some holiday, birthday, or half birthday most weeks.  Wednesday has become the de facto date night with takeout and puzzles.  It's a pretty good life.

Tromping Around In the Woods

January 25, 2021 by Adam in Family

Saturday was my running-around-everywhere day.  I picked up library books, got a COVID test, picked up groceries, helped move some garden project stuff around, and later that afternoon went out to the farm to help Joanna clear brush.  The COVID test was due to a mild cough and headache - I'll find out Tuesday, though I suspect it's just a cold.  The farm is coming along nicely and Joanna continues to get more equipment to get things ready.  I was a little worried when she started looking at portable sawmills, which are apparently a thing.

Ben enjoyed chopping things with an axe.  Emma liked looking at mushrooms. I took them down to the hay barn to explore the garbage in there.  Apparently there's a magazine from the 80's slowly decomposing.  I bet that place could be cleaned out and turned into a cool and useful structure.

Sunday was more low-key.  Since Joanna had a birthday on Friday, we all got to play with her main gift, which was a Nintendo Switch.  Everyone played a little Animal Crossing before the end of the weekend.

Cyberpunk 2077 Endings

January 25, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Games

I finished Cyberpunk 2077, which was high on my list of games I was looking forward to.  It was a good game that didn't quite live up to the hype.  I loved the world and some of the storylines, which felt very much like my vision of cyberpunk in the 80's.  The endings weren't quite as satisfying as I'd like, but they wrapped things up nicely and I can appreciate bittersweet finales.

Birthday Mocha Friday

January 22, 2021 by Adam in Family

It's Joanna's birthday today.  Ben's making a cake.  We're getting Thai for takeout this evening.  I've got presents squirreled away and ready to go.

For whatever reason, it feels like things are actually okay at the moment.  While not all the kids are okay, things continue to improve.  Joanna is having a great time planning a little cabin in the woods, working with builders, clearing brush, and tromping around the property.  We've also got some home gardening projects, with garden beds to build and troughs to put on the balcony.  We're all looking forward to spring.

Quiet Weekend

January 19, 2021 by Adam in Family

It was a quiet three-day weekend.  Joanna left for a getaway Saturday after some zoom parent support groups through the place Duncan is staying.  Emma, Ben, and I settled in for a couple days of eating goodies, watching shows, playing video and board games, and occasionally catching up on homework.  The most exciting thing we did was take Data outside to explore our backyard.  Later he knocked over a bunch of plants to get a better view of the squirrel feeder, so I'm not sure it improved his demeanor at all.

Joanna came back for dinner with plans for a little writer's cabin in the woods.  There are decisions to make and things to coordinate, so I think it'll be awhile yet.

Back to work for me.  I suspect bug fixes and table sorting await me.

Sea Shanty Mocha Friday

January 15, 2021 by Adam in Family

I'm greatly heartened that sea shanties are back in style, with the Wellerman going viral on TikTok.  These are the things that are keeping me going through the rainy days of winter.  I've been spending my days writing code and moving data around, while the evenings are spent helping Ben with homework, doing chores, and watching shows.  Ben's been on a dessert-making spree, treating us yesterday with a tasty chocolate dish and later custard pie.  Plus he made dinner and caught up with math, all of which are appreciated.

We've got a three day weekend coming up.  Joanna's spending a couple nights in a cabin by herself to get away for a little.  I'll be wrangling Ben and Emma, probably through video games, movies, and generally hanging out.  Should be fun.

Sadness

January 12, 2021 by Seraph in Cortez

Our bunny Luna died this morning. We could tell she was sick when we got up this morning, but it progressed quickly. It's been tough for all of us. Even the dogs were uneasy all day. Isa and I filled a box with cedar, and Robbie and I burried her under an apple tree on the farm. 

Garden Beds

January 12, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

Last weekend, Joanna put in a bunch of work getting the garden beds in.  We hauled dirt, spread sand from the old sandbox, and generally got things ready for planting again.  It was satisfying, one of those small victories in an otherwise hard year.  The beds have a gap of a foot or so of air between the beds and the ground, hopefully preventing roots from getting in and choking out the vegetables.  Here's hoping for the best.

RetroPie

January 08, 2021 by Adam in Adam's Projects

I asked for a Raspberry Pi for Christmas, which is a low-cost tiny computer that runs Linux and is used for all sorts of interesting projects, from weather stations to garden watering systems.  One thing people do with it is run old video games using emulators, and there's a well-known community to support it.  After mulling over options, I also bought a lift-top coffee table.  It took the duration of Monty Python's Holy Grail to assemble the thing, but it worked pretty well and nicely fit the old monitor and speakers I had laying around.

Yesterday I finally drilled holes for cables and finished putting it together.  Ben was my beta tester, playing old Atari games and a little Sonic before we had to stop and make dinner.

Back to Work

January 06, 2021 by Adam in Family

The kids went back to school yesterday and I had the day off.  I responsibly spent much of it doing practical things like taking down the Christmas ornaments and moving dirt into garden beds.  I still managed some video game time, playing through Cyberpunk 2077 and enjoying myself.  Ben made cream puffs, much to our enjoyment.  Data alternated mischeviously eating things he wasn't supposed to and sleeping in cute positions.  I'm a little envious.

New Year

January 04, 2021 by Adam in Family

After working for a couple days, my second big vacation of the season kicked off again.  For New Year's Eve we did our usual watching of Japanese boy bands and commercials, along with drinking virgin Piña Coladas.  Since then we've mostly been hanging out, occasionally accomplishing something useful.  Joanna continues putting in the new garden beds, with occasional help from myself and the neighbors.  Otherwise it's been lots of watching Star Trek DS9, video games, and the like.  Other than the final touches, I put together a video game coffee table for playing old video games.  Ben and Emma did a bit of homework.  Joanna survived another Costco run.

So far, 2021 is doing okay.