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
Why is An Engineer So Brutally Honest But Still Can’t Read A Schedule?
For a marketing person, introducing a potential customer to an engineer is the stuff nightmares are made from. Engineers can be brutally honest about technology. Note I said technology. We're perfectly capable of lying. Ask us about schedule, percent complete, does...
Cooped Up With An Engineer For A While? Maybe This Will Help.
In these times of uncertainty and outright panic, it seems almost irresponsible to publish a post on living with an engineer. I certainly can’t argue the logic behind that line of thinking. On the other hand, the prospect of being cooped up with an engineer for an...
The Eternal Conflict Between Human Behavior And Engineering Logic
The popularity of my Married to an Engineer posts tells me that most of you have difficulty understanding how engineers think. As an engineer, I can tell you that difficulty is mutual. We try to design based on rational human beings and the truth is most of you are...
Time Travel As Viewed By Einstein. A Simplified Discussion
Time travel, I don’t know of any other concept so used and misused in Science Fiction. Although judging from Avengers Endgame, a lot of writers have problems with the concept. Still, despite the inherent paradoxes, from the time I was first introduced to the concept,...
Companies Not Reading Your Complaints? You’re Probably Dealing With A Chatbot
Ever write to a company about a problem and their response made it obvious they weren't reading your message? No, it's not your spouse moonlighting as customer support. Odds are, you've just encountered a chatbot. Chatbots have been around as long as I've been...
Closing Out 2019 In Bits And Pieces
I admit it. Sometimes very logical conclusions completely escape me. I started Opinionbypen because I realized I was too isolated. At the time it never occurred to me that nobody cared. In order to people to take time out of their life and read my blog, they have to...
Random Posts
The Puppy With No NameIn almost every culture there is a belief that one’s name has magical properties. There’s no question that I respond much quicker when I hear my name. I can hear my name being used in situations where it’s impossible to understand the other words being said. When my wife says my name she has my […]
The Martian Notifier, Another Smartwatch?In today’s world it’s a given that in every large gathering of people somebody’s ring tone will blare out. Choosing not to be that person, I try to always keep my phone on vibrate. Only two problems with that plan, because I keep my phone in a holster, I don’t always feel it and worse, […]
Suggestions On Writing Readable Product ReviewsIt’s Christmas time! Then again, by the time you read this, Christmas will probably be over for the year. Fortunately for you this post only has a slight relationship to Christmas. Every year as Christmas draws near my wife asks for something related to her gardening. Couldn’t be easier, I pull up Amazon and start […]
Random Posts
Email, A Training Tool For Poor PerformanceIn a typical game you have a number of obstacles that you have to overcome. Overcome enough of them and you gain a level. Not unexpectedly, the designers of these games often use psychologists to maximize the rush of endorphins you get for each accomplishment. It should come as no surprise that responding to your […]
How To Drive Customers Away, Why I’m Done With NetgearOver the years I’ve used a number of Netgear modems, routers and switchers but this weekend I received what will be my last Netgear product. It’s a simple Wi-Fi range extender and probably works well but Netgear’s attempt at customer retention is not acceptable. Netgear will not let me setup the extender until I enter […]
Website Data For My Udacity Statistics CourseA few weeks ago I did a post, “Probability, Statistics and Udacity”. Udacity read the post, tweeted it and posted a link on their site. The increase in traffic to my site was astounding. This provided a whole new audience and a great opportunity to study the statistics generated by Udacity linking my site. Udacity’s […]
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Dessert Selection, A Description of One Engineer’s Decision ProcessMy wife constantly tells me that nobody but an engineer thinks the way I do. I say she’s exaggerating but in an attempt to keep peace in the family I’ve agreed to a test. I’ll write about an ordinary decision process and leave it up to my readers. The Decision In Fort Worth, there’s a […]
Married To An Engineer, The Christmas Dinner DilemmaI just discovered that I’ll be having steak for Christmas dinner instead of the ham everyone else will be having. Truthfully, I don’t see this as a bad thing but I hate to see this happen simply because my wife and I don’t seem to communicate on the meaning of like and don’t like. My […]
Tis The Season For 3D PrintingJune 2014, that’s the date I got my UP! Mini printer and wrote my first post on 3D printing. That was my introduction to 3D printers and while I intend to get another, I wanted to first review my reasons for getting that initial printer. I tend to review my goals and my achievements for all major decisions, I like to […]
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
Married To A Systems Engineer, Why Do Engineers Ask So Many QuestionsI really don’t think it’s fair for my wife to break into uncontrollable laughter every time I explain that as a systems engineer, most of my job involves facilitating communications. I understand why she starts laughing, despite speaking a common language, communication between the two of us is difficult but …
Are Android Permissions Getting Out Of Hand?It seems like every Android app builder out there wants permissions, no, absolutely needs permissions to access to my location, my contacts, my camera and so on. Without it there’s no way they can trust me to use their app. I may be in left field here but I don’t …
Requirements, A Tale With Two SocksChance was and still is a very energetic Australian shepherd that spent last spring with us as a foster. His major vice, in my opinion, was that he loved to chew on my socks. Worse he managed to convince another dog, Cajun, that this was entertainment. By the time Chance …
A Mother’s Day Post On Political ChangeI should explain why I’m doing a political post for Mother’s Day. Last year I explained that I have to consider both my Mother and my Mother-in-law. When it comes to this blog both of them have given me strong encouragement to continue writing. They’ve only expressed one minor disappointment, …
Know When to Say Goodby to Your AppliancesWhen I make a mistake I try to admit it. If I can turn it into something positive it helps reinforce this behavior. Writing this post is about as good as it gets for this one. From my wife’s point of view I have a very bad habit of maintaining …