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
How To Talk With An Engineer
Last week when I described my current systems engineer position as being all about communications, I almost lost my wife to uncontrollable laughter. When she finally recovered, all she said, while still trying to catch her breath was, "how do you stay employed?" She...
Communication As Seen By An Engineer
Communication, the human race has been attempting it for thousands of years. Whither it’s art, music, writing, movies, even this website, it’s all a form of communication. With that much practice, you would think we’d be better at it. Honestly, I don’t know why we...
TNSTAAFL, Windows 10
TNSTAAFL, There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Microsoft’s continuing antics to coerce me, by hook, crook or outright trickery, into accepting their free upgrade to Windows 10 brought this phrase to mind. Microsoft is hardly a nonprofit organization and I doubt that...
A Plea For An End To Short Power Cords
In a world where we’ve given up all pretense of individual responsibility we’re flooded with an ever expanding universe of safety regulations, safety stickers and short power cords. When I look at the sticker on my lawn mower, “Caution! Do not reach under mower while...
Encryption and Hacking, A Government Granted Right?
Did you heave a huge sigh of relief this year when your personal rights were reaffirmed? Twice in fact, once by the Library of Congress when they issued an opinion that hacking your vehicle’s software was legal and once by the UN when they declared encryption to be a...
First Thoughts on Flying a Phantom DJ3 Advanced Quadcopter
Several years ago, I found myself admiring a friend’s F16 RC model. It was almost five feet from nose to tail and although it had single ducted fan motor in the body to replicate the jet engine of the F16, it was supposed to be one of the fastest models out there. It...
Random Posts
Why Does Change Seem So Random?It’s a given that change happens. From fashion to transportation to political viewpoints, it always changes, but why? Change is seldom welcome so why does it happen? And why does it happen so often to the things you like? Why does today’s Big Mac more closely resemble a White Castle Slider than the Big Macs […]
In Defense Of My Junk Box: Married to An EngineerJust about every electrical or mechanical engineer I know has some kind of junk box—a treasure trove of parts accumulated over the years, all saved with the hope they might come in handy someday. My own junk box started at a very early age. Too young to work a part-time job, my chances of obtaining […]
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 found his permanent home, my […]
Random Posts
Companies Not Reading Your Complaints? You’re Probably Dealing With A ChatbotEver 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 interested in computers. My first encounter was a chatbot named Eliza […]
The Challenge of Blogging and an OfferIt should be obvious that I write this blog in hopes of other people reading it. I have no advertising on my site and certainly no one is paying me to write it. I do get some satisfaction out of the creative effort and working on this blog has certainly improved my ability to express […]
How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil, a Review of the AudiobookI bought How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil because Audible put it on sale the same day I had an argument animated discussion with a co-worker about Artificial Intelligence. Knowing I was right, I bought the book to provide supporting material for my position. While the book did support my argument, just barely, my victory […]
Random Posts
Food ScoutIn almost every war movie I’ve watched there’s one guy that seems to be able to scrounge anything. In the corporate engineering world we all scrounge for parts but the talent we really admire is the food scout. It’s no secret that engineers are strongly food motivated. I don’t know what the connection is but […]
Most of My Knowledge Started With FailureThere are people who say I have an enormous ego, not that I disagree. I’ve gone so far as to write about my ego, although in that post I attributed my ego to being an engineer. There are even a few people who believe I deserve to have a big ego. So much for truth in […]
Hubris, An Engineering Malady?Hubris, excessive pride or self-confidence. Last year I barely understood what it meant, today I recognize it for the deadly threat it is. Speaking as an engineer, we all know how fun it is to impress our non-engineering friends and family with our near mystical understanding of all things mechanical and electrical. To be sure, […]
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
I’m Male But I’m Not That Stubborn, ReallyI want to make something perfectly clear. When I wrote my post about male stubbornness, I was talking about other males, I was certainly not talking about myself. Despite what my wife may think, I’ve always considered myself to be very reasonable. That is until this week, when it was …
Happy Mother’s DayIf I had given thought to the idea, I would have timed my Celebration post to come out on Mother’s Day. Then again, my Mother deserves her own post for all the grief I gave her as a child. The following are a few examples of what she had to …
Married to an Engineer – Part 3, Brussel SproutsOver all the years my wife and I have been married one thing has remained constant, I hate Brussel sprouts. I’ve eaten stuff all over the world but nothing that tastes as bad as those little green balls of cabbage. When the marriage was still young my wife tried serving …
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 …
I’m Stuck But I Have A Bold And Cunning PlanHave you ever started something but try as you might you can’t finish it? It doesn’t matter if it’s a book that you hope will get better, a movie that always puts you to sleep or the first blog post of a new year, we all been in that position. …