Useful Children

October 20, 2020 by Adam in Family

Duncan's taking a cooking class - International Foods.  Each of the kids has taken it and they've emerged with semi-functional cooking skills.  Tonight Duncan cooked us stir fry, though with considerable assistance and encouragement from Ben.  It was lovely, though Duncan let us know we shouldn't start expecting it as a regular occurence.

Easing into Fall

October 19, 2020 by Adam in Family

I'm optimistically wearing shorts today, though admittedly the weather has gotten chilly as the months move on.  We had a generally pleasant weekend, full of helping kids with homework along with the usual shows and games.  We didn't quite manage to get around to a science project, in part because it turned out far more complicated than I thought.  Distilling oil of wintermint from an incomplete solution of methanol and acid probably isn't something to do with kids.

Joanna and I filled out our ballots after Sunday breakfast.  We played with the kitties a lot.  I worked on my little browser game and got my robot to move around - still a long ways to go before it's anything vaguely fun.  Emma and I drove around on Sunday, dropping off our ballots and going to Barnes and Noble to buy a book.  Doing semi-normal things is suprisingly entertaining considering how much I stay at home these days.

Mocha Friday

October 16, 2020 by Adam in Family

It's admittedly late in the day on a Friday, my morning mocha a distant memory.  Work has gone well today, cleaning up a ton of bugs that have been building up after awhile.  It feels good to get things nice and tidy.

We've survived another week, keeping everyone alive and somewhat educated.  Joanna's getting a little worn out coordinating everyone's assignments, but I think things are getting a little smoother.  

We discovered Ben has some nut allergies after doing some bloodwork.  He also had a half birthday this week - Joanna got him a Nasa space suit outfit that he's worn the last few days.  

Joanna and I managed to sneak in a little date time, picking up vegan food and doing puzzles.  It's deeply satisfying to work side-by-side in silence as we slowly, visibly accomplish a task.  If only all our problems had such clear solutions.

Fortunately it's the weekend, with Emma, pizza, games, shows, and science projects.  Joanna got some taste strips to test genetic variation in taste.  I got the ingredients for making oil of wintermint.  Should be entertaining.

Back to Work

October 13, 2020 by Adam in Family

I back to work after a four day weekend.  I'm glad I had yesterday off as I was feeling particularly sore and achy after getting a flu shot on Sunday.  I mostly puttered around on the computer, though managed to do enough in the way of food shopping, cleaning, and making dinner that I didn't feel entirely useless.

Joanna wore herself out trying to get kids caught up on school.  I think her new role as an educational assistant is pretty time consuming.

Soggy Sunday

October 11, 2020 by Adam in Family

Somehow the week turned into the weekend and the weather has turned soggy and Fall-like.  We all got better from whatever illnesses we had, which never seemed particularly horrible.  Friday was a no school day, though all of the kids had a lot of work to catch up on.  Joanna and I have been educational assistants, occasionally taking breaks for the usual YouTube and Netflix shows.  Emma's had a good time hanging out with us all and playing with the kitties.  We've continued our various games in between exercising for her Cardio class and keeping her company while she works on math and chemistry.

Tomorrow is a no-work day for me, though the kids are back at school.  Hopefully I can get some good play time in there.

Weekend of Lethargy

October 05, 2020 by Adam in Family

I think we're all a little sick.  All the kids reported some sort of blah - sore throat, mild headaches, and fatigue.  Ben in particular slept for huge parts of the weekend, which is pretty unusual.  Joanna got a rapid COVID-19 test on Sunday, which was negative.  Ben took a typical nasal swab test on Sunday and we're waiting for the results.  My guess is that we have some other virus, but we're all being diligent and staying home.

I did manage to mow the lawn and power wash the patio and patio furniture over the weekend, which was a long time coming.  I helped Duncan catch up on math and bake cookies for his cooking class.  It's funny how incompetent in the kitchen he is, not knowing where anything is or how to operate the mixer.  We need to get him cooking things more.

The kitties entertained us.  Emma called from the beach.  I played more video games and incrementally worked on my little game.  I was very excited to get my robot moving around, though now they need a place to move in.

Mocha Friday

October 02, 2020 by Adam in Family

I went down to our local Mexican food place to pick up food for our weekly date night.  They were really late and threw in a flan with a "Sorry! :(" message on the box.  Afterward, we hung out on the couch, talking about the ever expanding list of disasters.  I had this insurance discount thing through work if I signed up for this telemedicine app, so we spent our hot date signing me up and getting me in touch with a counselor.  

It's strange being personally okay through this pandemic/social turmoil/raging fires that we call 2020.  Mostly I worry about all the people around me, some of which aren't doing very well.  Duncan's having a tough time with the start of school.  I sometimes think about how I was feeling at fifteen and how it would be if all these catastrophes were happening at the same time.  I'm hoping we all learn good coping skills.  I sure appreciate having a good job, regular exercise, and good relationships with others.

As for work this week, I feel I've come out the other side triumphant.  The end result turned out really well and everyone's excited about the feature.  I think I'm ready to work on something entirely different for awhile soon too.

I spent some time yesterday working on a personal project.  It's one of those game ideas that I dust off occasionally and play around with.  I feel I got incrementally closer to something that might one day become a game.  For some reason I found myself listening to live Russian air traffic control, looking for fun sound clips for radio chatter.  We'll see if it ends up in the game.

The air quality is poor again, making hikes unlikely this weekend.  Emma's off with Jamie at the beach.  She came to hang out with us on Wednesday and play with the cats, which was fun.  They sure like the attention.

Hades

September 30, 2020 by Adam in Adam's Games

I've been playing quite a bit of Hades, which is a rogue-lite game where you battle through the same levels over and over again.  It's weird that I'd like a game like that, but it's surprisingly good and rich with dialog and intrigue set in the Greek pantheon.  It's also one of those games that suits my lifestyle where I can pick it up for a little and put it down the next time I have to be responsible.

Plus the dialog resonates with me for some reason.

Rockets!

September 27, 2020 by Adam in Family

We launched rockets this weekend.  Ben, Emma, Joanna, and I stopped by mom's house to visit and pet the bunny.  The dogs got in on the action, but eventually we snuck away and went to the field behind Roosevelt.  It's where I'd been going for nearly four decades, and it worked out wonderful just as it had in the past.  Ben launched his newly constructed rocket, along with last year's rocket.

The first week of school generally went well.  I helped Emma with a bit of homework.  We ate pizza and watched How to Make Everything.  Ben's friend Morgan came over, which was good for both of them.  Humble Bundle had some new video games, which Emma and I joyously dug into.

Rainy Days, Early Nightfall

September 25, 2020 by Adam in Family

It feels more and more like fall is here - kids in school, cloudy days, and nightfall coming early.  I feel a little sad that summer is gone already - I never managed to take Emma camping, and Joanna and I had only the briefest of getaways.  Still, we kept the kids all alive another season, which is how I seem to measure my life these days.

I'm working on the most maddening of work problems at the moment.  A previous developer, who I really like, managed to create this extremely complicated system.  I've spent hours trying to understand it and have resorted to documenting it all out as best I can.  I've asked Jacquie for help, which hopefully comes before I go completely mad.

I think the kids have generally survived their first week in school so far.  I'm excited to see Emma later today.  I spent a fair amount of time reaching out to everyone I haven't talked to in awhile, which was a treat.  Socializing in a pandemic is hard, so it's nice to even say hello to someone outside the household.