Mocha Friday

November 06, 2026 by Adam in Family

I woke up at 4 in the morning, my brain deciding it was the perfect time to design a complicated computer system.  I never did go back to sleep, but I'm hoping my agents can build the thing before our demos today.  I'm starting to get sleepy, but I'm still working through the rest of my mocha and hope springs eternal.

My new computer is actually awesome, which is nice.  I think it's like the frog boiling situation and I hadn't noticed how slow it's gotten.  Now games are snappy and look nice, I can do some amazing looking AI generation of things, and the migration to the new machine hasn't been as painful as I feared.  I had it make animated attack movies for the different D&D characters in my game - some of them turned out really well and a few need some redos.  I'm just having fun tinkering.

Jo and I went to 5th Street on date night.  Tonight we're going to a Friends of the Library fundraising event.  Hopefully we can haul away some of the donations we've been piling up.

Excited about Delta Green tomorrow - hoping we wrap up the mission, but who knows how it's going to turn out.

Time Travelling Monday

November 02, 2026 by Adam in Family

Daylight savings has me feeling slightly jet lagged, but I do appreciate the view of the colorful Fall trees out my window first thing in the morning.  I've also started listening to a new time travel audiobook.  Add in weekend conversations with kids about their next phases of their lives and I keep thinking about time and how it seems to speed up or slow down in unexpected ways.

It was a generally good weekend, with lots of hang out time.  I managed to cross a few things off my list, buying a Costco computer that I think is a good deal despite some quirky choices due to the insane memory prices.  Hopefully I can upgrade in a year or so after the AI price insanity calms down.  I look forward to playing modern games without a stutter and I think I can do some of the AI video and 3d model generation I'd have to pay for on my local machine.  We'll see how the experiments go.

Halloween was very low key - putting out a sign and bowl of candy.  Both the candy and bowl were gone at the end of the night, so the scoundrels continue to run free apparently.

Sunday we celebrated Parent Day for Jo, with cards and messages from all the kids, along with a loom that they immediately started playing with.  We managed to repair the trailer to the point where we can haul away our next batch of donations.  The move prep continues slowly, with endless phases.

My hobbies continue.  I played more of the latest Gears of War game, finally getting into the groove.  Wandering through a destroyed city is quite pretty since it's imaginary.  I did a little more D&D prep, making maps and images and putting together a recap of last session.  Plus my weird "recreate Neverwinter Nights" project continues - I keep trying to figure out how to make low-poly game assets.  Sometimes it turns out surprisingly well, taking a high-poly skull and baking in the normal map to a lower poly one to retain the detail.

Sweet Mocha Friday

October 30, 2026 by Adam in Family

Somehow Halloween is tomorrow.  My pumpkin became moldy and collapsed several days ago, so I scooped up the soggy mess and dropped it in the compost.  I think we're going to be the boring people with a dark house and just put out some candy for passers by.  Already we gave away our box of foam gravestones and spooky decorations.  Such is the life of post-kid grownups.

Continuing the theme Jo and I went to a poetry reading at Tsunami last night.  A few of the authors didn't really click with me, but there was a great poem of a woman dropping acid in the 70s and wandering across the freeway, and another of a man looking for his brother - chasing rumors but never quite finding him.  While I certainly felt more cultured afterwards, it was also cool to hear these stories people had to tell.

The farm house is officially listed with pretty pictures and everything.  Pass the link along to anyone looking for a nice house in the country.  I'll breathe easier when it's finally occupied, but I hope we've done the hard work.

I continue to putter with AI making games for me - I'll loose interest in one project and get obsessed with another.  Right now I'm trying to recreate Neverwinter Nights, but it turns out it's a big and complicated game.  Every time I make the attempt I learn a little more about the technology behind making games, so it's been keeping me entertained.

And the weekend is coming up.  More house projects continue and Jo's been shepherding a stream of contractors through the house.  The plan is to clean out the basement area we're going to work on and maybe do some exploratory demolition ourselves to open things up for others to take a look.  I figure as long as I pace myself I won't get too overwhelmed.

Monday Fun Day

October 26, 2026 by Adam in Family

Well, that part's a lie.  It was okay today.  I vaguely functioned at work and made a little more progress forward.

The weekend was mostly good.  I got through a bunch of house projects, further downsizing all the things.  Sunday I hiked around Hendrick's park with my oldest kid and later that night went pumpkin carving at Jason's house with his family and a bunch of the Snyder clan.  A very old friend Alexis showed up with his daughter - it's funny seeing someone again after 30 years.

I continue to play around making weird games.  The latest is making a Neverwinter Nights style game with updated graphics.  It turns out it's big and complicated and scares my AI agents.  We'll see how far I get.

Doing my real-life D&D group tomorrow, back to the fun vampire campaign.  It's a good fit for spooky season.

Mocha Friday

October 23, 2026 by Adam in Family

Oh sweet mocha.  The last gulp is gone and I'm faced with the work day ahead.  I've got a couple cool things I'm almost ready to show others, so I'm looking forward to doing that.  It's been a couple weeks of hard experimentation but I think we're ready to actually make some things for real.

The week has been mostly uneventful.  I finally got my Costco membership sorted out due to a date night Costco run.  Next up is getting my tires replaced.  Jo and I continue to work away on assorted house things - getting quotes, replacing our aging dishes, and continuing to pack things up for donation.  The work is endless, but I'm trying to pace myself.

The Bioware closure has me wistful about the old days, so I'm playing around with making a D&D game now.  I ended up using Godot to see how well it works.  It's always easy to get a semi-functional prototype in a day or two, but now there are endless details to polish.    I'm having fun doing it, so there's that.

Tomorrow I'm Pumpkin carving with Jason, Bridget, and that gang.  I'm sure we've got more house projects on the agenda.  We'll see how it goes.

Monday again

October 19, 2026 by Adam in Family

It's not a bad Monday exactly.  I just wish the weekend went another day.  Some days I feel like I'm flailing around more than normal - trying to get approvers to my PRs, talking to other teams about their experiences, and doing weird AI experiments to see if I can accomplish our team's goals.

As for the weekend, it generally felt fun and productive.  Saturday was a great Delta Green session, leading the agents down various rabbit trails and throwing handouts at them left and right.  There's something magical about the players asking for the schedule for a dentist office and to be able to hand them a piece of paper.

I went over in the afternoon to help mom with some more rental management company paperwork.  Hopefully we're really, really good to go now.

Sunday started with picking up desk stain, sanding the pillars, and applying stain.  I finished up not too late after lunch, and the end result is pretty nice.  Next year is the much harder rest of the balcony, but hopefully we can get that done too.

Later that afternoon I wandered over to the Fairgrounds where Jo was tabling at the comic convention.  It was generally a good time and I picked up a local artist's cryptid comic, mostly to support the local scene.  Eventually I wandered home to indulge in video games and prep for the next Delta Green mission.

Mocha Friday

October 16, 2026 by Adam in Family

I've sadly finished my mocha, the caffiene giving me a burst of work enthusiasm.  So many chats, experiments, and explorations - hopefully one day we'll have a firm plan.

It's been a relatively chill week, moving quickly by at a rapid pace.  Date night was walking down to1960 Cochina. The leaves are turning and fall is in full swing.

I've spent the evenings playing the occasional game or getting AI to make something for me.  My latest experiment is a Battlestar Galactica style game with a giant spaceship launching fighters and shooting massive weapons at other ships.  I'm playing around with radio chatter as a storytelling device - this ponderous massive ship slowly trading blows while command officers yell out damage reports or fighter pilots punch out of their destroyed ships.  These weird things that entertain me.

I've got Delta Green tomorrow, the first Saturday in a long while.  Sunday Jo is tabling for work at a comic convention.  I'll stop by to show moral support.  Somewhere in there I have a long list of house projects.  Maybe I'll actually finish work on the balcony supports.

Midweek Update

October 14, 2026 by Adam in Family

I completely forgot to do my usual Monday morning update.  When I get to work I hit the ground running - there are so many things to learn and explore.  I've been having flashbacks to the browser wars of my early career when everyone implemented standards a bit differently in the world of AI.  Plus they seem to change monthly, so it's going to be a bumpy ride for awhile.

I wore myself out over the weekend.  The downsizing continues, removing my old computer hutch that was filled with odds and ends, hiding behind the tv.  I somehow found places for the family bible, my old Traveller collection, and assorted treasures.  Plus even more weird things to donate.

Most impressive was starting work on a house project I was supposed to complete nearly 20 years ago.  When we had the balcony added, there were these supports I was supposed to put on the base of the pillars.  Well, I got around to it, though they need some cleanup and staining.  Maybe next weekend.

I've got Delta Green this Saturday to look forward to - can't wait to show off some of the fun things I've planned for that group.

Mocha Friday

October 09, 2026 by Adam in Family

I very much feel like it's the start of the gray months.  I'm hanging on to my t-shirt and shorts a little longer, but it's getting a little chilly.  I've got my happy light going in my shed and the mocha warms my bones.  Spring will come again.

Emma had some excitement this week when a car tried to pass one of the farm tractors on the road next to the field where she was working.  The car took out the squash being hauled and knocked the tractor wheel off, crashing through the fence.  The car ended up on its side in the field where Emma was working, shaking her up a little.  Fortunately everyone is okay and the tractor has since been repaired somehow.

Mom and I got the agreement signed with the rental management company this week, hopefully getting us into the home stretch of the farm house project.  The retaining wall remains, but fortunately Seraph is taking that on.  I'll just feel better once it's actually rented.

I continue to putter around with my assorted hobbies.  Tuesday D&D was a good time, getting everyone into Barovia for the Curse of Strahd campaign.  We'll start up again in a few weeks.  I'm having a good time with my 80s themed car combat game, which I find myself playing for fun still.

As for the weekend, I've got the endless house projects but I'm also hoping to get out of the house and do something fun.  Maybe I can convince Jason to play board games tomorrow or something equally entertaining.

Sniffly Monday

October 05, 2026 by Adam in Family

I came down with a cold yesterday - nothing too terrible, but I slowed way down and did more puttering than housework.  That being said, the weekend felt generally productive.  I finished the Little Free Library refresh project - painting it and replacing the door that was falling apart.  I continue to downsize, wistfully putting the board games into the donate pile after realizing that no one really plays them with me anymore.  Fortunately I can always invite myself over to Jason's house and his wall of boardgames.

I continue to play around with ai-generated everything.  I've made a few more custom miniatures for very specific characters in the game that turned out well.  For some weird reason I decided to build a Car Wars style game, where voxel cars do battle in a destructable arena.  It's surprisingly fun.

And today it's back to the work week.  I made myself a mocha for medicinal purposes.  I've got tons of meetings, mostly one-on-one's where I'm introducing myself to the new people on the team.  I've got to get some real work in there somewhere - hopefully I can get a PR approved and another put together today.  Plus I've got this experimental thingie that might turn into a real thingie.  How strange software engineering is these days.