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
How To Take Part In A FCC Scam Without Really TryingI think I’ve made my view of the current FCC leadership fairly clear. In my opinion, commissioner Ajit Pai has lied and misrepresented facts in order to turn the Internet over to the big cable companies. When I read that the New York Attorney General was investigating a FCC scam, I wasn’t even surprised. Twenty […]
Inspiration, It Might Be Closer Than You ThinkOn our journey through life we meet a number of people that have profound influences on us, our parents, our teachers, our friends, even our co-workers. I’ve been very fortunate to encounter a number of people who were very positive inspirations. As I sit here spending my Saturday morning taking my Udacity course, two friends […]
Want To Be A Great Writer? You Need Great CharactersWhy this topic? Why now? Perhaps an explanation is in order. Recently I had to send a white paper I had written several years ago to a colleague having similar problems. Prior to sending it, I took the time to read it and almost spent the rest of the day rewriting it. Obviously, my goal […]
Random Posts
SundaeWhile I enjoy the company of our dogs I realize that their motivations are sometimes very far from what we ascribe to them. When we try to humanize their behaviors we often misinterpret instinct for personality. At least that’s what the canine behaviorists tell us. I’m never quite as sure. Sundae is full of personality. […]
Why Can’t I Find A Good Book, The Evolving Nature Of LiteratureThere’s nothing as wonderful as starting a new book and finding yourself totally immersed within the first chapter. Sadly, such books are becoming scarcer than finding a worthy political candidate. I find myself reading more books and enjoying far fewer of them. I used to think that this was caused by self-publishing but this has […]
Demystifying The Prusa PINDA With a Possible SubstituteSlightly over three years ago, I acquired my first 3D printer, a UP! Mini. I didn’t know it at the time but as a beginning printer it was perfect for me. Two years later I was familiar with the weaknesses of my printer and wanted more. I studied reviews, I put various printers on my […]
Random Posts
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, […]
Married To An Engineer – Part 1I’ve written several posts about the risks of getting involved with an engineer but some of you have already decided to entwine your life with an engineer. My wife suggested I write this post, not as a warning, but as a guide to communicating with that engineer in your life. Nothing I’ve ever written would […]
Written By An Engineer, Improved By AI. Which Do You Prefer?A request for data: I have a problem. While I don’t intend to suggest a topic and have ChatGPT write my post for me, I’m also not going to ignore a tool I can use to make my writing better. I’ve always felt that more readers will read other posts if they find my writing […]
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
Baby Knowledge, An Important Concept In Being UnderstoodWhen we moved out to our ranch, my wife had to impress on me that horses were not merely big dogs that we could ride. Wagging their tail does not indicate pleasure at seeing you. Rolling on the ground doesn’t always mean their back itches and yawning certainly doesn’t mean …
Amazon vs Hachette, A Consumer’s ViewIn the current argument between Amazon and Hachette, I’m not qualified to discuss the finer details of price points and author royalties. What I can discuss is my opinion and my response as a consumer. I don’t expect anything I say to influence Hachette. I think they see e-books as …
Opinionbypen Hits 10,000 ViewsSometime this last week, Opinionbypen had its 10,000th page view. For those of you who, like myself, love numbers, that’s an average of 556 views a month or 18 views a day. I’m proud of that number because those are page views by real humans, not bots. If I counted …
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 …
Speed Reading, the Good and the BadI’ve always been proud of being a speed reader. With light fiction I can hit about 1000 words a minute. If I’m scanning a document for key words, I can push it far above that. It’s not a skill that I was taught, it just sort of developed. When I …