French Culture, I’m Forced To Admit I Was Wrong

My father returned from WW2 with pieces of shrapnel slowly working their way out of his body and a deep and abiding hatred of the French. I don’t know about you and your father, but mine never wanted to discuss the details. I never knew his reasons, but he passed his...

What Can Spirit Animals Teach Us About Today’s America?

This week, while perusing my feed on Bluesky, I stumbled upon a post in which someone shared that she had just learned that crows can hold a grudge for 17 years and thus declared crows as her new spirit animal. While many responses expressed surprise or shared their...

An Engineering Valentine’s Day, A Tribute To My Wife Carol

Three days before Valentine’s Day, my wife gave me a priceless gift. She demonstrated the ability and initiative to think like an engineer. After 30-plus years of marriage, she’s starting to understand me in a way that feels both surprising and deeply fulfilling. Let...

From the Doghouse

A look at dogs having fun

Poser Gallery

My gallery of pictures I’ve created in Poser

Nature by Carol

A look at the less technical side of life

Change, It’s Not Always Apparent

Change, It’s Not Always Apparent

I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, he was contending that there had been no major changes in our lives over the last five years. Of course I brought up drones, 3D printers and well, that was the problem, I couldn’t think of anything...

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Don’t Be Seduced by Technology

Don’t Be Seduced by Technology

When it comes to new technology most of us are familiar with the terms “Bleeding edge” “leading edge” and “legacy”. Bleeding edge is the latest and greatest. It’s just beginning to show up in the hands of a few tech savvy consumers. We call it bleeding because it’s a...

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Betrayal at Neverwinter Mod 6

Betrayal at Neverwinter Mod 6

(If you’re not into MMORPGs, Neverwinter mod 6 in particular, do yourself a favor and skip this.) You say you want me to help you kill a dragon? Times must be worse than I thought when you have to scour taverns to get a group together. Still, like myself, I know that...

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A Late Mother’s Day Praise For Mother Nature

A Late Mother’s Day Praise For Mother Nature

It’s amazing how fast time passes. This makes my fourth Mother’s Day post since I started Opinionbypen. Okay, last year was a political piece but I dedicated it to both my Mother and Mother-in-Law because of their strong interest in politics.  Given how tough it is to...

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Musings on Parallel Universes

Musings on Parallel Universes

All my life I’ve been fascinated by the concept of parallel universes. You know what I mean, universes that coexist with ours, having only minor differences. Then again, maybe you don’t know what I mean. The idea goes something like this. Every time you make a...

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Random Posts

  • A Look at Beauty Through The Eyes Of An EngineerA Look at Beauty Through The Eyes Of An Engineer
    One look at my wife’s website, NaturebyCarol, and you can see she’s enamored with daylilies. As an engineer, I simply don’t understand the fascination. You put all this time and effort into a flower that only lasts a day. When I work on a project, I want it to last years not a mere 8 […]
  • Have A Message? Viewing Conversation As A Value TransactionHave A Message? Viewing Conversation As A Value Transaction
    I’ve embedded an audio version of this post. Of course, the voice is AI generated but please let me know how you feel about this feature. Thanks! Ever get out of a meeting thinking that’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back? When you consider it, getting someone to read or listen to […]
  • Why Can’t I get The Internet Speed I’m Paying For?Why Can’t I get The Internet Speed I’m Paying For?
    This year my electric company made me a deal I couldn’t refuse, 1000 Mbps Internet. Only two years ago, I was still living with two very questionable ADSL lines from AT&T. On a good day I might get 1.2 Mbps. Last year T-Mobile Home offered service in my area and I felt like I had […]

Random Posts

  • Upgrading To The Prusa MK3S From the Prusa MK2 , Is It Worth It?Upgrading To The Prusa MK3S From the Prusa MK2 , Is It Worth It?
    It’s Saturday night as I listen to my new Prusa MK3S and wonder how I can justify my purchase of a third 3D printer to my wife. After two years, my Prusa MK2 was getting a bit long in the tooth. My prints were no longer a thing of beauty. Where I used to have […]
  • Wanted, a Women’s Magazine for the Rest of UsWanted, a Women’s Magazine for the Rest of Us
    Top-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 we pass about the age […]
  • Married To An Engineer – Change Is Inevidable, For YouMarried To An Engineer – Change Is Inevidable, For You
    As I wrote in Married to an Engineer Part 1, living with an engineer isn’t for everybody. Not only do you have to put up with someone you often suspect loves technology more than you but living with an engineer will change you in more ways than you ever anticipated. I had time to reflect […]

Random Posts

  • Office 2013 Terms, Marketing Ploy or Greed?Office 2013 Terms, Marketing Ploy or Greed?
    Revised March 6, 2013:  After reading my post Microsoft had a change of heart and relented on allowing you to transfer your copy of Office 2013. They made the announcement today allowing you to transfer it every 90 days. They did not mention my blog in particular but I know that’s they way it happened, […]
  • Google Wallet, PO Boxes and No Nexus 7Google Wallet, PO Boxes and No Nexus 7
    I promise this will be my last word on the subject but looking at the  traffic to my website I’m not the only person not getting a Nexus 7 tablet today at my PO Box because Google Wallet cancelled their order.  The issue is interesting because it shows a massive lack of communication between Google […]
  • A Caution On Considering An Engineer As a CompanionA Caution On Considering An Engineer As a Companion
    Like many other bloggers, I check my logs frequently. I love seeing what articles people find interesting, what search terms they used to find me, and of course, did they find me interesting enough to read another post. I have two posts that always make me feel concern for the people reading them. When I […]

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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

  • Congressional Lottery, A ProposalCongressional Lottery, A Proposal
    Sequestration or not, every member of Congress should be deeply ashamed of the service they’ve given us getting here.  Many people have advocated getting rid of incumbents, term limits, campaign spending limits. I would like to offer my own solution. I believe I have a plan that restores Democracy, brings …
  • Communication As Seen By An EngineerCommunication 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 aren’t better at it but …
  • Do Electronics Have Feelings? How Can You Doubt It?Do Electronics Have Feelings? How Can You Doubt It?
    This morning as I left the shower, I heard my wife barking out orders to Alexa in a very forceful tone. Although Alexa has become an essential fixture in our life when she becomes confused, we tend raise our volume and enunciate very clearly. Almost like we were chastising her …
  • Sequestration, Escrow and Congressional Cuts, An IdeaSequestration, Escrow and Congressional Cuts, An Idea
    Think about this. You’ve known for a while that your company was having some issues. Your company seems to be slipping in its market position and recently the board of directors can’t seem to agree on anything. Your manager calls you into his office to tell you that the board …
  • The Demise of the PC, Where I Blame EverbodyThe Demise of the PC, Where I Blame Everbody
    Writing this post took a lot longer than usual. It wasn’t all the additional research,  the facts are staring us in the face. This post depressed me because it was so obvious. Building your own PC is about to go the way of the 70’s muscle cars, suddenly the entire …
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