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 It So Hard To Describe A Problem To An Engineer?
If there's an engineer in your life you already know the soul numbing frustration that comes from trying to describe a problem to an engineer. My poor Wife has suffered through this so many times she's become a computer expert in self defense. Why is it so hard to...
An Easter Cactus Flower
No matter how I considered it, I couldn’t come up with an appropriate post for Easter. To me, Easter announces the presence of spring and spending time with family. More than anything else it’s a time for relaxation. It was my cactus that gave me the inspiration for...
How Did My Website Get Hacked?
Getting hacked was not one of the new experiences I planned for my website in 2016. True, when I went to Rome’s Porta Portese flea market, I carried a spare wallet just so I could say I’d been pickpocketed but that was an experience I was planning for. I’ve already...
Spam Reduction, An Idea From The Thought Simulation Chamber
Today I'm the recipient of some sixty odd emails. Fifty-five of them assume I’m dumber than a pile of rocks and want me to visit their website and spend money. That’s not quite true, only eight of them want me to spend money on useless junk, the rest want to infect my...
My Adventures And More At Amazon WriteOn
This is the year I intend to promote my short stories. I have them posted on Opinionbypen but without better SEO on them I can’t expect Google to send anybody my way and sure enough, that’s exactly what has happened. When Amazon’s newsletter for self publishing...
A Proposal For Developing Engineering Synergy
If you work in a factory you're used to hearing management babble, just think about your mission statement. If it’s like most mission statements out there, it’s a collection of meaningless phrases. Take this for example, “Utilizing our engineering synergy, we will...
Random Posts
Is Windows 10 So Bad I Should Consider Using Linux?If you’ve ever been frustrated to tears by some of the “enhancements” Microsoft has added to Windows over the years, sooner or later you’ll consider using Linux. As I’m writing this on my Windows 10 laptop, Microsoft has already told me that my version of Word is out of date, asked me if I want to upgrade […]
Why Did Amazon Kill Amazon Explore? It Was Becoming Great.Why did Amazon kill Amazon explore? Let me start this rant by admitting I am an Amazon fan. I love the large selection of merchandise and the quick delivery. I’m a member of Prime and I frequently use their credit card. Still, they do enough boneheaded things that I sometimes wonder if they are running […]
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 Killing Frost, A Transition to Winter In My GardenAfter six years, I finally persuaded my wife to write a post for OpinionbyPen. Well, that and the sadness she felt with the transition to winter killing so much of her garden. She’s writing under the nom de guerre of Big Tomato. Keeping the Brussel sprouts at bay, I hasten to add that her name […]
Why Is It So Hard To Describe A Problem To An Engineer?If there’s an engineer in your life you already know the soul numbing frustration that comes from trying to describe a problem to an engineer. My poor Wife has suffered through this so many times she’s become a computer expert in self defense. Why is it so hard to work with us? We’re smart, intuitive […]
Why Do I Need To Change My Passwords So Frequently?I was in a discussion about passwords a few days ago when somebody mentioned that it was a good idea to change your passwords frequently. That sounds good on the face of it but if you have a strong password should you change it frequently? It’s that frequent changing that causes us write them down […]
Random Posts
What Happened To Rewarding Customer LoyaltyAfter almost ten years with Sprint, my wife and I changed our cell service to Verizon. There were a number of reasons but the number one factor was cost. In this case Verizon was offering $150 credit per line that I added and the monthly fee, with two new Galaxy S5s, was slightly less than […]
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. 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 […]
Trust In The Digital Age, Has The Definition Changed?I want to ask you the question. If Target announced that it was having a 50% off sale today and you could only use your credit card but they assured you that you could not get hacked, would you do it? My guess is no. Simply speaking, they have lost your trust in their ability […]
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
Whitewall Nebraska, A Study Into Current RealityI’m proud to announce that I’ve been elected mayor of Whitewall, Nebraska. It was unanimous—or will be as soon as I update the websites I created for this event. Of course, you’ve probably never heard of Whitewall, Nebraska. That’s not surprising because it doesn’t really exist. Today, AI makes it …
A Question About Poor Customer ServiceI often try to get you to comment on my blogs but today is a little different. I’m going to describe an issue I had with customer service about a year ago and I really want your opinion. Am I being petty? What have you done in a similar situation? …
Wanted, a Women’s Magazine for the Rest of UsTop-Drawer Women’s Magazine Wanted By Zee “Top Drawer” is fine because our flexibility to bend down to the bottom drawer isn’t what it used to be … but we still want to be acknowledged as important, but not “aged” or “senior” or “mature” or other dastardly names we’re called after …
Congress, Can We Force Politicians To Show Capability?As a nation we firmly believe in certification and training. I can’t charge people for doing their taxes without being certified. I can’t teach without a teaching certificate. I can’t wire someone’s house without a lot of training and a license. I certainly can’t represent someone in court without a …
Starting A Blog? Spend Some Time PlanningI think everybody would agree that planning is essential. There are degrees of planning that may be necessary to be successful but the planning still needs to take place. My wife tells me that I over plan everything. I don’t get it. If I’m going somewhere I’ve never been I’ll …