From the Doghouse
A look at dogs having fun
Poser Gallery
My gallery of pictures I’ve created in Poser
My Science Fiction and Fantasy stories
Stories I’ve written
Nature by Carol
A look at the less technical side of life
I’m Retired, So Why Am I Still On LinkedIn?
Long before I retired, I created an account on LinkedIn. It seemed like a good idea—you never know when you’ll need contacts to look for a new job. Still, I refused to play the numbers game. The people I linked with, by and large, were people I had worked with and...
French Culture, I’m Forced To Admit I Was Wrong
My father returned from WW2 with pieces of shrapnel slowly working their way out of his body and a deep and abiding hatred of the French. I don’t know about you and your father, but mine never wanted to discuss the details. I never knew his reasons, but he passed his...
What Can Spirit Animals Teach Us About Today’s America?
This week, while perusing my feed on Bluesky, I stumbled upon a post in which someone shared that she had just learned that crows can hold a grudge for 17 years and thus declared crows as her new spirit animal. While many responses expressed surprise or shared their...
An Engineering Valentine’s Day, A Tribute To My Wife Carol
Three days before Valentine’s Day, my wife gave me a priceless gift. She demonstrated the ability and initiative to think like an engineer. After 30-plus years of marriage, she’s starting to understand me in a way that feels both surprising and deeply fulfilling. Let...
How Does Philco Television Relate To Our Current Leadership?
Years ago, there was a thriving television company called Philco. Being the forward-thinking company they were, they assigned an engineer by the name of Larry Goch to cut costs. He was ruthless. He even went out on the line to snip parts out of a working TV circuit....
An Open Letter To The Democratic National Committee
Let me be absolutely clear about this: I detest Trump. And yes, I fully expect that one statement to drive away half of my readers, but I’m reminded of an old quote: “For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Fortunately, I had the good sense not...
Random Posts
How To Convince Your Spouse You Need A 3D PrinterSome of my favorite memories are from the times I spent as a computer salesman during the home computer revolution. I met astronauts, entertainers and an entire community of very smart people but the number one question my prospective customers always asked was “how do I convince my spouse?” Today, I count myself fortunate to […]
Terms and Conditions, a CautionEvery once in a while I read something that screams for a post. That’s the case with this news story, http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/02/tech/couple-fined-for-negative-review/. I’m not going to repeat all the details but it describes a couple who placed and order for a product they never received. Although they tried their best they could not get in touch […]
Why Are We Allowing The News Media To Manipulate Our Opinions?I know, I vowed no more political blogs but that was last year. This really isn’t about politics anyway. It’s about the manipulation of our society by the news media. I believe the divisiveness we see today is driven largely by this manipulation. Remember the recent headlines about a high school student harassing a Native […]
Random Posts
ESD Training, A Poser OpportunityAlmost everyone has heard the term ESD, ElectroStatic Discharge. It’s the little shock you get on a cold dry morning as you touch the doorknob. It’s seldom fatal to us unless it comes in the form of lightning, also a form of ESD. Fifty years ago, unless you were working with explosives or selling lightning […]
Why I Finally Allowed Microsoft To Put Windows 10 On My ComputerToday is the thirtieth day after I finally gave in and allowed Microsoft to put Windows 10 on my machine. That’s an important number for Windows 10. If you change to Windows 10 and decide you don’t like it, you have to do a roll back before 30 days have elapsed. After that you’re stuck unless you have […]
Grammar and Rhetoric, the Drout WayWhen I wrote my post on the confusing rules of writing, the last thing I expected to find was an answer. Two months later not only have I found several answers but I have a better insight into the way I learn. All thanks to two books on rhetoric and grammar. Living in rural Texas, […]
Random Posts
The Sundae Style of Management, Please Don’t Try This At WorkIt’s been fairly busy at work this month and nobody wanted to help me out by writing a guest blog. In a moment of desperation, I agreed to let Sundae share her views on management. To be fair, I have worked for managers who seemed to share many of her theories. Fortunately, my current manager […]
An Insidious Plot Against MenI’ve recently become convinced that my wife has embarked on a deliberate campaign to fatten me up. I don’t know why, I certainly don’t need additional help but I can find no other explanation for her actions. Consider this. It’s the weekend, I’ve spent a grueling day exercising the dogs, writing this blog and printing […]
Office 2013 Terms, Marketing Ploy or Greed?Revised March 6, 2013: After reading my post Microsoft had a change of heart and relented on allowing you to transfer your copy of Office 2013. They made the announcement today allowing you to transfer it every 90 days. They did not mention my blog in particular but I know that’s they way it happened, […]
From the Doghouse -It’s all about them
A look at dogs having fun!
Short Stories
With posts like these, ever wonder what kind of fiction I would write?
Random Posts
Solar Powered Wyze Cameras, An Engineering EvolutionAs with most engineering projects, it started with a need. In my case, as soon as I got high-speed Internet, I eagerly added several cameras. I chose Wyze because they are affordable, don’t require a monthly subscription, and offer excellent picture quality. Wanting to extend coverage beyond just my house, …
Musings On My Greatest Achievement As I Enter RetirementWhen I retired, there were a few questions that everyone seemed to ask: how did I feel about stepping into retirement (frankly, terrified) and what was my first project going to be (the rebuilding of my dilapidated well house). Yet, there was one question that genuinely made me pause and …
Why Would You Want To Write A Blog?Ever notice that the moment you describe a problem to an engineer, they stop listening to you? Before you’ve finished describing the problem, they’ve started working on a solution for you. True, some of the very best engineers have the ability to remain focused on you until you’ve fully described …
The Sunshine Greenhouse, a Six Hour ProjectEvery year that my wife and I went to the State Fair of Texas, we looked at greenhouses. My wife would always tell me she wanted one. I always had plenty of excuses not to get one, we could not decide on a model, we could not decide on a …
Learning Through AnalogyI don’t know about most people but when I’m learning a new task, I look for analogies with skills I already possess. I’m not always successful but sometimes I stumble on a valid analogy that exists between two totally unrelated fields. For example, the relationship between raising plants and writing software is …