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
Email Taxation, Musings From The Thought Simulation ChamberI’m going to make a suggestion and please hear me out before you call on your fellow villagers and start lighting torches. I want the government to start taxing email. Wait, put away those lighters, I do have a reason. With approximately two hundred billion emails sent every day and assuming that one tenth of […]
Why Do We Feel the Need To Revise History?I’ve always liked the mystique of being a Texan. While I miss that six foot plus ruggedly handsome stereotype by several inches and …on second thought, several inches is as far as I will admit. Every country I’ve been to fully expected to see me wearing boots, six gun and a ten gallon hat.  I […]
On The Design Of My New Business CardAbout 40 years ago, during a period of self-discovery, I chanced upon a handwriting analysis book. Naturally, I used the book to analyze my own handwriting. What hidden aspects of my personality might it reveal? We won’t go into the gritty details, but the picture it painted was not a pretty one. To that end, […]
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 that’s still no excuse. She […]
Negative Reviews, They Don’t Always Represent Bad ProductIf, like me, you read a lot of reviews before making a purchase you wonder why a lot of big name companies are sending out shoddy merchandise. Sure it looks like the majority of people are completely satisfied with the product but there’s always a few dead on arrival or dead within a few weeks. […]
Knowing Mechanics Of Writing Doesn’t Make Me A WriterCreative writing has always appealed to me. During my career I’ve had a lot of practice writing reports, proposals and specifications. Â While these documents require the ability to communicate information in a clear concise and, hopefully, unambiguous manner, none of them require an active imagination. With the exception of a few proposals, imagination is usually […]
Random Posts
Bryce 7, A Virtual World BuilderBefore I get too deep into this post I should mention that Bryce is also the name on my wife’s agility companion. He’s a handsome dog but this post is not about him. Spend any time looking at 3D models on the Internet and you will come across the names Bryce, Daz Studio and Poser. […]
The LinkedIn Numbers GameSometimes having easy access to statistics can cause us to focus on the numbers instead of our goal. I used this picture of my dogs for this post because their personality matches illustrates the point. Shelby and Cajun are easily distracted, Sundae will always remain tightly focused on her goal, especially her football. Â On the […]
A Plateau In Blogging, Which Direction From Here?When I was teaching fencing, my colleagues and I often observed an interesting phenomenon. If a student made it through the beginning classes, odds were good that they would usually stick with it for another six months. It was at that six month mark that students started to drop out again. It’s also around this […]
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
Technology Or Magic, Is There a Difference?Do you believe in magic? If you answered no, why not? The evidence is all around you. As an engineer I have a very pragmatic view of the world. I’ve been taught the scientific method. I’ve been taught math, physics and chemistry as foundations of science. I’ve been taught that …
In Search of an EditorI’m afraid that my mental picture of a newspaper editor is largely limited to movie characters. Perry White and J. Jonah Jameson are two that come to mind. I also assumed that they had something to do with the big picture for a newspaper but I never gave it much …
Thank You UdacityWhat do I like about Udacity? From ST101 Statistics that I just finished, to CS387 Cryptography that I will have to take again, I’ve enjoyed the challenge and the learning experience. The instructors enjoy their work and it shows. With a very professional appearance in videos, coursework and instructors, Udacity …
Surviving An Engineering PresentationIf you’re a nontechnical person and had the misfortune of having to sit through an engineering presentation you probably felt the presentation was never going to end. There was just not enough coffee in the room to keep you awake. There’s a reason for all of this. Like many engineers …
Driving Change With Comments – Force MultipliersI had barely hit “send” on my last post when Zee, ever the critic, called me on it. I mean, she’s penned a gallery of fire-breathing missives about shoddy products, clueless congressmen, and writers who wouldn’t recognize a plot if it slapped them in the face. What did she get …