Monday, Monday

January 26, 2026 by Adam in Family

I'm in the doctor's office with mom, waiting for some results after I put in my hand holding duties for the morning.  I've managed to connect to work and do a few things - I'll probably wait to do complicated things until I get a fast Internet connection again, but I can at least update my blog.

It was a generally good weekend.  Saturday was pancakes and puttering around - it somehow became noon before we were ready to face the day.  Emma and I hit up the library.  Jo spent the day playing with their knew automatic knitting machine, cranking out a variety of hats in no time at all.  

Sunday morning Emma went on a hike with her big brother and then the two of them met up with Seraph and I to hang out at Hideaway Bakery to catch up.  He's looking for work in earnest, hopefully finding something in the arborist or land management field rather than construction.  Emma will likely look for new work in earnest soon too, though she's not really sure what she'll end up doing next.  Eventually we drove Seraph home and chatted with Robbie and Hanni.

Monday, Monday

January 26, 2026 by Adam in Family

I'm in the doctor's office with mom, waiting for some results after I put in my hand holding duties for the morning.  I've managed to connect to work and do a few things - I'll probably wait to do complicated things until I get a fast Internet connection again, but I can at least update my blog.

It was a generally good weekend.  Saturday was pancakes and puttering around - it somehow became noon before we were ready to face the day.  Emma and I hit up the library.  Jo spent the day playing with their knew automatic knitting machine, cranking out a variety of hats in no time at all.  

Sunday morning Emma went on a hike with her big brother and then the two of them met up with Seraph and I to hang out at Hideaway Bakery to catch up.  He's looking for work in earnest, hopefully finding something in the arborist or land management field rather than construction.  Emma will likely look for new work in earnest soon too, though she's not really sure what she'll end up doing next.  Eventually we drove Seraph home and chatted with Robbie and Hanni.

Post-Birthday Mocha Friday

January 23, 2026 by Adam in Family

It's a Day of Learning at work today.  I think they mostly want us to finish our required classes, but it's also to go learn new things.  I think I sadly have to learn why my code is behaving weirdly, but maybe I can sneak in something more fun along the way.

Jo had a hopefully acceptable birthday yesterday - other than forgetting to get a card the cake and presents were well received.  I was most impressed with the tube-knitting device that took yarn in one end and when a crank was turned, a tube of knitted yarn came out the other end.  Jo made a nice hat in about 15 minutes.  Duncan and Yvonne hung out with us after cake and we played some Bubble Talk like old times, matching silly sayings to silly pictures and generally having a silly time.

The week has generally been low-key.  Jo and I had a couple evenings of playing Heavenly Bodies more, bouncing around in zero gravity trying to accomplish various tasks.  Yvonne's still watching The Pitt with us, very excited about joining the medical profession still.  She's been talking about visiting her dad the paramedic for some ride-along time after she graduates.  We'll see where she ends up - lots of changes ahead, I think.

I had tea with my mom and my eldest kid on Wednesday - he's planning on stepping back from work on the farm house and going off to find a full time job.  I'm hoping the transition will be smooth - there are still things to be done and I may need to get involved more.  On paper the builders do their thing, someone gets hired to finish up a few tasks, and then it gets turned over to a rental management company, but life is rarely that simple.

I continue to putter around in my free time, mostly fiddling with AI tools to make things for my D&D and Delta Green games.  Getting ready for the next big Delta Green campaign is time consuming, but fun - it's a huge campaign with so many connections and twists.  Hopefully running it won't drive me mad.

Time to return to my mocha - it won't drink itself.

Great Weekend

January 20, 2026 by Adam in Family

It was a long and amazing weekend, a fun mix of puttering around and practical things.  Saturday was the Emma hangout day, going to the library and a thrift store.  I ended up picking up a good, cheap router for my shed, hoping to improve the wifi back there.  Plus a cheap digital recorder for an upcoming Delta Green game.  I took Yvonne to another EMT lab at LCC.  Saturday night was more Death Note, which continues to double-down on its weird premise. 

Sunday morning Emma headed to Corvallis to help move the last of Jamie's mom's things.  I went for a great hike up Pisgah with my eldest son, chatting about life and stopping at the top to admire the amazing view.  I think it was good for both of us.  Duncan had his Minecraft awards show where he exploited server vulnerabilities to amuse and entertain is fellow Youtubers.

Monday was a more practical day, putting away the last of the Christmas decorations, doing a little living room rearranging, and crossing things off my list.  Jo and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and played a game called Heavenly Bodies which involved sending two astronauts on various missions.  Mostly it involved flailing around in space dealing with zero gravity, but we seem to be enjoying ourselves.

Now it's back to work in a few minutes.  Hopefully I can figure out my challenging problem that's been plaguing me for weeks - it's finally a priority so I can focus on it.  I also get to try out my vibe coded automation tool that I showed off to my manager on Friday.  Theoretically it should make a sucky, tedious task actually fast and easy.

Surprise Three Day Weekend

January 16, 2026 by Adam in Family

I didn't realize Microsoft had Monday off for MLK day, so it looks like I have a surprise three day weekend.  Maybe I'll finally get around to taking down the Christmas lights, though I've appreciated their cheerful colors during these gloomy winter nights.

The work week was generally uneventful.  I made progress with my various efforts, though I'm most proud of a vibe coded little helper app that automates some tedious and error-prone work.  It's been wacky to see how much functionality I can stuff inside a single html file, though it's weird that I have no idea how it works under the hood.  I just keep telling Copilot to add this or tweak that and it magically appears.

Tuesday was another D&D session with my friend group.  They battled evil goblins and generally avoided traps to barely live to fight another day.  Most of my technical difficulties from last week were sorted out and all my images, combat trackers, and sounds worked as expected, though I occasionally felt like I was a one-man band as I cycled through various buttons to click.

Wednesday I had tea with mom and went to 5th street with Jo on our date night.  Later the two of us did another "find the treasure" puzzle that they got me for Christmas.  They had some clever puzzles involving light in this one.  I watched Sinners while I ran at lunch.  I'm almost done with my Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook - my latest guilty pleasure.  I'm occasionally still playing Hades 2, but mostly I'm prepping for the Impossible Landscapes Delta Green campaign.  It's a vast and sprawling campaign with so many handouts to make, images to generate, and notes to put together.

As for the weekend, Jo's off to the writing shack tonight.  Emma's coming over and I'm sure we'll go to the library and possibly a thrift store.  We'll see if I have time to get through my backlog of house projects.  Spring will come one day.

D&D Night

January 13, 2026 by Adam in Family

The weekend has come and gone.   Saturday was Delta Green, where once again our brave agents tried to save the world from unnatural threats.  They did a pretty good job and I'm hoping we can wrap it up soonish.  Emma and I tried to go to the library afterwards but someone pulled the fire alarm.  We headed back home to try again another day.  Yvonne had us watch Death Note for our Saturday dinner and anime, making me thankful that teenagers couldn't easily murder anyone they wanted in real life.

Sunday started with the usual hearty breakfast of hash browns, pancakes, french toast, eggs, and a delicious mocha.  Emma and I puttered around playing There Is No Game, which is a fun and funny puzzle game.  Next up was a leisurely trip to the library before she headed home.

I puttered around with the XBox Kinect we picked up at a thrift store.  Soon enough I vibe coded up a little app that showed a little ball-and-stick person that mirrored my movements when I danced around in front of it.  No idea what I'll do with it for real, but I'll probably do something wacky.

Tonight is the second D&D session with my friend group.  I think I'm generally prepared for it and if not, I've gotten pretty good at winging it.

First Mocha Friday of the Year

January 09, 2026 by Adam in Family

It's the first mocha Friday of the year, well deserved after a week of adjusting back to the daily grind.  Did I do anything useful this week?  I think so, though I spent a lot of time diagnosing problems and getting junior developers up to speed to fix them.  I met with my mentee, who has an exciting new project - sometimes I think I'm mostly a mix of a cheerleader and asking pointed questions, but I think that's what I'm supposed to do.  And lots of meetings, which are occasionally a little too soul draining.

I haven't been up to much this week.  Jo and I went out to dinner on Wednesday.  I played an occasional video game.  Mostly I've been prepping for Delta Green, a more in-depth campaign with lots of handouts and props.  Saturday is the last of the quick missions, which I'm generally ready for, and then we leap into the abyss of Impossible Landscapes.

Duncan is back to school.  I met with mom and my eldest son, talking about the farm and next steps.  I think we'll need a little more money to clear the slash and finish some things once the house is built, but it should be doable.  Yvonne's EMT program seems to be going well, practicing dealing with hemmorages yesterday.  Emma's working away at the chocolate factory.  Jo read excerpts of their story at Open Mic at Wordcrafters last night.

My mocha's gone and I've got bugs to investigate and tech specs to review, so it's back to the grind for me.

Back to Work

January 05, 2026 by Adam in Family

I finally got through my hundreds of emails and now need to organize what I'm doing today.  I imagine half the team is in the same boat, bleary-eyed from waking up at a normal time and trying to remember how this work thing is supposed to happen.

I left myself a list of things to work on before I left and I've got a minor crisis I need to investigate, but otherwise it's back to the usual grind.

The weekend was generally productive.  We had a couple trips to thrift stores to donate things.  Emma and I cleaned out the garage.  Our Christmas tree has been un-decorated and moved outside to enjoy the rain and cool weather for a bit before we plant it at the farm.  Emma and I finished up another puzzle game - The Curse of the Golden Idol - and felt exceptionally smart afterwards. 

I worked on more Delta Green prep, putting together a web site for me to run the game.  I have a long list of images, music, and sound clips that should enhance the experience.  I've still got another mission to run first, which I'm getting excited for, but the one I'm getting ready for now should be a doozy.

Saturday Errands

January 03, 2026 by Adam in Family

After I made a hearty dutch baby breakfast for everyone, Emma and I headed out for the day.  We went to the smoke shop to get a lighter wick, then the bank to get new checks, then Duluth Trading Company to look for clothes, then Michael's to get a replacement picture frame, and finally to the library before heading home for lunch.

We collapsed for a little and then started in to clean out the garage.  We threw out, stored, and rearranged until it was feeling much more organized.  Then we treated ourselves by playing the puzzle game The Case of the Golden Idol.  It's not quite as magical as the Seance at Blake Manor, but there are murders and mysteries, and filling out the blanks with words to solve the puzzle.

One more day of vacation awaits tomorrow, then it's back to work.  Hopefully I remember how to do it.

Farewell 2025

December 31, 2025 by Adam in Family

I'm slowly running out of vacation time, accomplishing less than I hoped for, but still having a generally good time.  It helps that I'm finally feeling much better and getting through my list of tasks.  Today I'm having breakfast with mom and then I'll break out my TODO list to see what things I can accomplish next.

It's also the last day of the year so I've been doing some reflection along the way.  It certainly feels like we've had some big changes this year, especially with the kids.  My oldest son is back in town, Emma's joined the workforce, Duncan's wrapping up school and Yvonne has started at Lane.  The biggest change is that all the kids are more self reliant and getting themselves places - I'll occasionally get asked for a ride, but it's more of a rarity.

I made some dietary changes this year, switching to more soups and salads and cutting back on sweets and cereal.  Nothing too dramatic, but it's made a difference over the year and I'm feeling good about the change.

Work has felt more settled and I'm really enjoying the new team and things I've been accomplishing.  It still gets wacky and stressful at times, but I have a better sense as to who I can talk to and appreciate all the support from my team and manager.

I continue to have a great time getting together with friends and family and help them pretend to be other people for a few hours, battling monsters or Lovecraftian horrors, all while laughing and bonding over the rolling of dice.

And every night Jo and I curl up on the couch as the kitties fight over my lap, watch a good scifi show, mystery, and the like, and do it all again the next day.