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
Customer Service, Why The L8 Is My Last Sainsmart Product
When it comes to technology, I tend to have a pretty staunch brand loyalty. It’s not just about the tech meeting my needs; if two products are similar in technology and capability, the price isn’t as big a deal to me as the brand itself. However, there's another...
Retirement, A Very Personal Fear
Fear is a funny thing. I’ve seen grown men injure themselves to escape a common garden spider. Personally, I’m petrified when I have to climb higher than 3 feet on a ladder. They’ve never been bitten by a spider, I’ve never fallen off a ladder, so why the paralyzing...
2023, I’m Very Glad To See It End
2023 is now firmly in my rear view mirror and I have zero feelings of nostalgia. It was tough losing two of our beloved dogs to cancer. Sundae had been a part of our family for 14 years, leaving a significant void, and even though Hilde was with us for just under a...
A BambuLabs X1 Carbon for Christmas? Careful What You Wish For
My Prusa MK3 has been a true gem, but after a solid three years of unwavering service, the plastic pieces sadly started to show signs of wear, cracking under the strain. I was at a crossroads: should I invest in a shiny new printer, or breathe new life into my trusty...
Driving Change With Comments – Force Multipliers
I 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...
Driving Change With Comments, You Should Do It
Grab any product you know like the back of your hand and check out its comments. Ditch the fake, fluffy ones—they’re as real as a three-dollar bill! Personally, I get a good laugh out of reading those one-star dramatics. Oh, and we’re ignoring the folks who say,...
Random Posts
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. […]
My Approach To Identifying And Eliminating Email SpamI don’t know about you but I’ve completely stopped answering my phone. If you want to talk to me, leave a message. I’m guessing you already know why I made that decision; 99.9 percent of the calls are someone trying to sell me something or to scam me. In case you wonder, I’m including the […]
First Impressions and a Great SteakWe’ve all been told how important first impressions are. From dating to job interviews we’re lectured constantly that people will judge us based on their first impressions. If you’re like me, you also believe that people are rational beings and will easily overcome those first impressions once they get to know my sharp, analytical and […]
Random Posts
ControlsI want you to try an experiment. Pick a remote control that you use frequently and tell me what each switch does. Odds are that you can’t. I would even guess that you only use a few of them. As an engineer I love choices. The more controls you give me the better. As a […]
Using 1040 Advertising As A Revenue Stream, Why Not?Every once in a while I have an idea that’s almost brilliant. Google has made most of its money through advertising. Why can’t the US government do the same? Every year the IRS gets an update on where we live, how much money we made, and how we spend our money. They keep records of […]
Dear Engineer Who Ignores My Words Apparently I made a number of people unhappy with my post on why engineers are ignoring you. As an occasional contributor to this blog, Zee demanded equal time on this subject. Since one of my goals for this blog is to get people to think, allowing a view from the other side is always beneficial. I […]
Random Posts
A Late Mother’s Day Praise For Mother NatureIt’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 have good SEO on politics, they were probably […]
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 […]- Using 1040 Advertising As A Revenue Stream, Why Not?Every once in a while I have an idea that’s almost brilliant. Google has made most of its money through advertising. Why can’t the US government do the same? Every year the IRS gets an update on where we live, how much money we made, and how we spend our money. They keep records of […]
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
Dragon Naturally Speaking , a User’s ReviewThis post is going to represent an experiment. I’ve recently acquired Dragon naturally speaking . For some reason every time I start writing I think how much better it would be if I could dictate rather than type. I’ve actually bought Dragon speaking naturally three times in my lifetime and …
Improving My Writing Means I Have To WriteWhen I started writing this blog, I had two goals, improve my writing and become comfortable sharing parts of my life. Well, there was also the lure of becoming rich and famous through my writing but reality set in quickly. Writing for a living takes a lot of work. The …
Freezer Not Cooling? Check The Compressor Start RelayAfter enduring a long, brutal Texas summer, in a grand display of irony, my chest freezer—a Hotpoint HHM7SMWW—gave out during a winter cold snap. My wife caught it quickly, but not quickly enough—the upper layer was already flirting with unsafe temperatures. A few years ago, our upright freezer failed, and …
Sometimes the Engineers Get It Wrong, TPMSYesterday the TPMS warning for my wife’s canine roadshow, AKA known as a Dodge Grand Caravan, came on. In case you’re not familiar with the term, the TPMS is your tire pressure monitoring system. Now my wife’s relationship with tires is the stuff urban legends are built from, her tires …
Why Does A Request For Advice So Often Result In An Argument?If there’s anything that can cause conflict between my wife and me, it’s a misunderstanding of my role in life when she makes a request for advice. Hmm, I said that poorly, let me give an example. You’re sitting at your computer, trying to understand why your 3D printer is …