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

Bank of America, I Hear You Calling

Bank of America, I Hear You Calling

After reading my last post, my wife suggested I address one particular vampire. I'm doing two because I'm amazed at how long one of these vampires has been around. Over the last month both she and I have been getting daily text messages from "BOA", "B of America" and...

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Surviving An Engineering Presentation

Surviving An Engineering Presentation

If you're a nontechnical person and had the misfortune of having to sit through an engineering presentation you probably felt the presentation was never going to end. There was just not enough coffee in the room to keep you awake. There's a reason for all of this....

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Too Good For Your Career?

Too Good For Your Career?

When you design a game you have two classes of gamers that you have to consider, those that are content doing the same thing over and over to get a high score and those that want new challenges, new levels, and new areas to explore. If people don't find what they want...

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The Sunshine Greenhouse, a Six Hour Project

The Sunshine Greenhouse, a Six Hour Project

Every 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 location, there was not enough...

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Random Posts

  • The Me Too Movement, One Woman’s OpinionThe Me Too Movement, One Woman’s Opinion
    I want to make it very clear that this was not written by me. I could give the standard disclaimer about the opinions expressed here and so on but as a male, I’m not qualified to express an opinion on the topic. However, as a woman who has spent over forty years in several male […]
  • Why All The Negative Political Ads? Are Politicians Afraid Of A Position?Why All The Negative Political Ads? Are Politicians Afraid Of A Position?
    I just finished exercising my political rights by voting against all the candidates so far from my own political views that I had no choice but to vote for their opposition. Looking back on my experience, I realize every vote I made was for the lessor evil. I did my research but with all the […]
  • Blogging Changes and ImprovementsBlogging Changes and Improvements
    Two months ago I posted about the mistakes I made in starting this blog. It’s in my nature to review the changes I’m made since then and give them an objective look. The most obvious change is my theme. I know I said that I wouldn’t but as I also said, it was something I […]

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  • Why Would An Engineer Find Gordon Ramsay Entertaining?Why Would An Engineer Find Gordon Ramsay Entertaining?
    One of the major differences between my wife and I is the way we view food. My wife likes to savor new foods and enjoy the delicate interplay between the seasonings. Me, I’m more concerned about how long it takes to prepare and eat. My wife accuses me of only having two taste buds, both […]
  • News Reporters Or News Fabricators?News Reporters Or News Fabricators?
    News Reporters Or News Fabricators?                             by  –Zee– The “takedown” in McKinney Texas of a young lady by a police officer at a party held in a private neighborhood pool was vulgar, perhaps unnecessary, but it belonged to McKinney, not the world. The […]
  • Criticism, It’s Not Always BadCriticism, It’s Not Always Bad
    When I started this website I was really concerned about the comments that I would receive. How much tolerance would I have for negative comments? Would I get a multitude of negative comments? Could I handle the criticism without giving up completely? I guess I really didn’t need to worry because out of the almost […]

Random Posts

  • The Zone, An Explanation For The Rest Of YouThe Zone, An Explanation For The Rest Of You
    It’s evening and your dearly beloved has been sitting at the computer for hours. You know that this obsession has something to do with the latest project but you aren’t sure of the details. With a smile, you decide to do something nice for your beloved. You pour a glass of their favorite beverage and […]
  • The Solar Powered Chicken Coop Fan Project RevisitedThe Solar Powered Chicken Coop Fan Project Revisited
    Between Google, Pinterest and the renewed interest in keeping chickens, my solar powered chicken coop fan project has become a very popular post. Although low maintenance, I was replacing the battery every year. The Texas heat and the way I hooked it up both conspired to shorten the life of the battery. This year I […]
  • What’s This Thing Called Cache? A Non-Technical ExplanationWhat’s This Thing Called Cache? A Non-Technical Explanation
    Spend enough time with computers and you’ll encounter cache. When your browser is acting up, the first thing you hear is, “your cache is corrupted you’ll have to clean it.” When your computer is running slow, you’re told you need more cache. Obviously cache is important but what is cache? How does it work? Let […]

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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

  • What’s This Thing Called Cache? A Non-Technical ExplanationWhat’s This Thing Called Cache? A Non-Technical Explanation
    Spend enough time with computers and you’ll encounter cache. When your browser is acting up, the first thing you hear is, “your cache is corrupted you’ll have to clean it.” When your computer is running slow, you’re told you need more cache. Obviously cache is important but what is cache? …
  • An Engineer Looks At AccountantsAn Engineer Looks At Accountants
    Put a group of engineers together discussing projects and sooner or later the discussion will turn to beancounters. No, beancounters aren’t an apparatus for counting individual beans, we use the term to refer to the accounting department. As you might guess, this is not a term of high regard. There’s …
  • Interspecies Communication As Experienced By An EngineerInterspecies Communication As Experienced By An Engineer
    I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise because they spent much of the time grappling with communication issues. Universal translators, missing databases, peculiar methods of communication, and one memorable episode without a translator. I highlight this because finding similarities is one of my key problem-solving tools. When …
  • Saying Thank You, It’s Not That HardSaying Thank You, It’s Not That Hard
    The first time I entered a library I was overwhelmed by all the information. At the time I was more interested in all the science fiction but I soon learned that there was much more than just fiction. I never considered how much work went into putting that repository of …
  • Opinionbypen Hits 10,000 ViewsOpinionbypen Hits 10,000 Views
    Sometime 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 …
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