Useful Stuff for Useful People

Intensity of Life

2010-09-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

I had the choice.

Back about two years ago I had been hired full-time, I was remodeling a kitchen, and Carrie was preggers. I was also smack in the middle of a decision. I needed to decide where my schooling/career ought to go. Many of the guys I work with are over the age of 50. Many, if not all of them recommended that I pursue a BS in Engineering. Its better pay, better life, etc. I started out just continuing on to get my BS in Engineering Technology. This was the shorter, cheaper, and less difficult route. After the first semester, I realized that it was less difficult. So less difficult that it was almost a waste of money. So I changed routes by going into straight engineering.

Really I chose intensity. Every hour of most days is consumed with work, school, being dad and studying. Moreover, I am working on this awesome project at work that is extremely demanding. I had the choice. It is weeks like this that make me wonder if I made the right one.

H2 Bus Coming to Cleveland

2009-10-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

These are the type of articles I like to read. I like them more because it is close to home and it is relevant to the industry I'm in. Electrolosis is very ineffecient, but I can handle the inefficiency when renewable power is used. Way to go Cleveland. We might not be able to win a championship, but we can certainly spearhead making Hydrogen.

5th Anniversary

2009-10-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Carrie and I will be married for 5 years this Oct 16th. This past April 15th we closed on our house 5 years ago. These two milestones gave me reason to reflect over these 5 and a half years on what we've done. Every now and again I get a little miffed that I'm not further ahead in life. These are usually the times that I just need to sit back and remember the things that have been done and accomplished in our lives.

These are not in any particular order.

1. I quit a job, went back to school, got an Associates Degree, and got an amazing job. (I guess that would be 4 things)

2. When we got married, we owed roughly $23k in debt ($20k in auto loans and $3K in credit card debt) This has been paid off. Now onto Malone's $30K.

3. Completely gutted a kitchen, rebuilt it, and paid cash.

4. Elizabeth Catherine was born March 30, 2009

5. Successfully traveled to Charleston, SC twice, Bryson City, NC, Outerbanks, NC, Hilton Head, SC, Cape Neddick, ME twice, Lake Murray, SC and if you count our Honeymoon- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

6. Repainted every room in the house; some of them twice.

7. Put up crown molding in all but one room.

8. Installed blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, cherry, and apple trees on my small city lot.

9. Learned how to vegetable garden. Carrie and I both feel that this past summer was our most successful yet.

10. Rebuilt the front porch.

Intentions for the future look something like this:

1. Pay off all debt
2. Own and maintain an orchard and vinyard.
3. Own a second home on or near the beach in Charleston, SC.
4. Sail the East Coast down to the Caribbean.

I better get going.

Knight in Shining Armor Part 2

2009-06-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

If you remember, my first post ever was about chivalry and the first Transformers. I thought that since I just saw Transformers 2 over the weekend that I would comment. I saw it on IMAX and it was pretty incredible. It was my first IMAX experience. Even though we were pretty far back in the theater, I could have moved 15 rows back to really take in all of the detail with the HD. It is worth paying more money. I agree with the critics average of a C+ for a rating. It was your classic sequal. Michael Bay made this one a little bigger with more transformers and more explosions. It was what I expected out of him and I came away satisfied. The CG was pretty amazing. It was just a touch better than the first movie. I give it a C+ mainly because the script was a little blah, the acting was a little blah, and the plot was a little blah, but the action more than made up for these poor aspects of the movie. Shia continues to do a good job in any role he gets placed in especially for being a younger actor. Megan Fox is pretty much eye candy. She may want to stop before she gets ahead of herself. The comic relief was funny but a bit annoying at times. The rating commission may also want to reconsider the PG-13 rating. This movie certainly pushed the line to an R rating with some of the sexual references and profanity. Let's just say I was a little annoyed with the parent that brought their 8 year old to the show. All in all Transformers 2 was a great summer blockbuster.

Here is my list of summer movies thus far in order that I like best:
1. Star Trek
2. Transformers 2
3. Wolverine Origins
4. The Hangover
5. Angels and Demons
6. Fast & Furious (not sure why I put myself through this one)

I have yet to see Terminator Salvation but am a little concerned over the reviews.
I'm excited to see the following:
1. Public Enemies
2. GI Joe
3. Sherlock Holmes (comes out in December)
4. Harry Potter.

I will probably see the following:
1. Hurt Locker
2. District 9
3. Inglourious Basterds (not a huge fan of Tarantino though)

Call me an action movie nut...

Dan Gilbert: Clean House

2009-05-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

Based on the Cavs season, I had high hopes for the post season. Yet here we are.
When the Cavs acquired LeBron 6 years ago, I said he needs another star player to help him win a championship. More importantly, I said he needs a big man underneath. I like Z, I liked Gooden, but never so much that I thought they would win it all. When Mo Williams began the season, I thought he would help and he did. LeBron's frustration shown through in games 5 and 6 against the Magic. It seemed like he did his best to show the front office that he needs help. In game 5, it looked like he let his teammates keep them in the game, until he took over in the 4 quarter. In game 6 he did the same thing, yet his teammates didn't show up. Their inconsistancy hopefully showed Danny Ferry that LeBron cannot do it all.

Now for Mike Brown: Get over yourself. Your an NBA coach and you can't make adjustments to defend the 3. You have a previous defensive player of the year in Ben Wallace, but didn't utilize him until games 5 and 6 when it was too late. In the game 4 over-time when Howard had 5 fouls, why, oh why, was LeBron not driving to the hole everytime to get him fouled out? Also, the game is long, so make every foul on Howard count. The weak fouls when he was going to the hole are not going to wear him down. I guess this is why Anderson Varejao needs to get into the weight room and gain 40 pounds.

Its frustrating to watch when you can sit and see the mistakes being made. But kudos to the Magic who hit every freakin' 3 every freakin' time.

Soil

2009-04-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the yard yesterday doing some spring cleaning. I dug up a spot out back by the compost bin to plant my garlic. Normally this goes in during the fall, but I got a little preoccupied remodeling the kitchen. Anywhoo, I dug up a few garlic shoots that were actually growing in my garden and put them with the seeds that I planted by the compost pile. Thus far in my gardening career, I take the compost that decomposed over the summer and put it in the garden in the fall so that I have room for the leaves. As I was digging out the garlic, I had to dig through some of the compost. I realized why so much is written about compost. It is really an amazing additive to your soil. I have grown lettuce in compost, I started my seeds this winter in compost, and when I go to plant something new, I am sure to mix in some compost. The plants thrive, and really is a great system. So compost!

Gorgeous

2009-04-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

A man that has yet to have a child just can't understand what's its like to be a dad. Elizabeth was born almost 3 weeks ago and I just can't get over how I feel. When my brother told be that it was the most amazing thing ever, I tried to equate that to hitting a walk off home run in the playoffs or accelerating around a corner with the windows down, knowing you are in control of the machine with a shot of adrenaline to boot. But, Wow. God really shows you a glimpse of what he did to make the world we live in.

'09 Auto Show

2009-03-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

My father-in-law and I went to the Cleveland Auto Show last night. These will probably be the cars I will buy in 5 or ten years. I'm just not a huge fan of buying new and losing all that value as soon as you drive off the lot.

My thoughts are that Honda makes the best, most functional cars on the market. The Honda Civic was the only car in its class where I felt confortable sitting in the back seat. Why have a passenger car that passengers or carseats can't fit into? The new 2009 Pilot is money. It also has the most space for a 3rd row SUV. Granted the gas milage still sucks, but the milage on all SUV's suck, literally and figuratively.

Of the Big Three, I thought Ford had the most stylish and decently priced cars. The new fusion looked good and I was impressed with the new styling of the 2010 Taurus. It honestly looks like it can compete with the Audi A8 or BMW 700 class. No joke - it looked sharp. The new 2010 F150 Raptor looked great too. It looks like something you could go bajaing in.

When I walked through GM & Chrysler, it just seemed blah. The sedan selections seemed cheap and overpriced. They are still trying to sell trucks and SUV's at ridiculous prices. Why would I pay more for an American Truck or SUV, when I can get a foreign one cheaper that would last longer? This again needs fixed for the American consumer to gain confidence back in buying American autos.

GM is coming out with the new Camero and Chrysler has the Challenger. These are big muscle cars that resemble the '70s. I understand the idea that they are marketing to the Baby Boomers, but these cars are impractical to the everyday buyer and will not drive revenues. However, they both look sharp and there is a good chance that I would get pulled over driving both.

Lastly, talking about impraticallity, the Nissan GRT blew my doors off. This car is bad ass. It reminded me of the old Toyota Supra's, but certainly has made some advancemnts in mechanics. It has a duel clutch so that you can more quickly get through the gears allowing you to go from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. Ridiculous I know, but it would be a lot of fun.

Salmon Patties

2009-02-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

On occasion I prepare something in the kitchen that is worth writing down. So I thought I'd share this one with the rest of you.

These salmon patties are some of the best patties of any patties, including full fat burgers, that I have made. Here's the dish:

Take 6oz of fresh salmon filet and cook it in a tad of oil. Then break it apart as it is cooking into small flakes. Once it is almost cooked through, set it aside to cool a bit.

Then take the following and mix it in a bowl:

2 eggs (beaten)
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry ginger (if I had fresh I would have used 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 garlic powder (if I would have taken the time this would have been 1 clove of fresh - minced)
2 tablespoons feta
2 tablespoons mayo (skip the lowfat - seriously)

Once this is mixed add your cooked salmon and mix
Then take about 1/2 to 1 cup of plain bread crumbs and mix it in. Mix these in a little at a time until the mixture starts to get more dense and less sticky.

Heat about 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet. Form patties and place them in the hot oil. Make sure the the edges get brown and crispy before flipping them. The browned edges add to the happiness. Set them on a paper towel. I ate mine on a bun with some eggplant and red pepper spread from Trader Joe's, but these are certainly amazing by themselves. You should be able to make about 4 decent sized patties.

The Food Network ain't got nothing!

Happy eating.

P90X - End of Week 6 (Day 42)

2009-02-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

My buddy purchased P90x this past summer and I asked him if I could join him in the workouts starting the new year. We were both determined to get disciplined and lose that extra 20lbs we've been carrying around.

We've been diligent at getting after it and have been "bringing it" every day for the past 42 days. I feel great. I've lost about 5 pounds, but have probably added the same or more in muscle mass. I can feel the difference in how my clothes fit.

During the first few weeks I could feel all of my "old" sports injuries coming back. - sprained left foot, right rotator cuff issues, hip displacement, sore knees. I'm happy to say that all of these injuries feel stronger and better. My knees are sore pretty much every day, but they feel like they are healing themselves. It's almost like rehab. Plus I was so out of shape, no wonder everything hurt.

I like this workout because you feel the burn in every exercise and routine. This is a workout program not to take lightly, but I think that is what has kept me motivated. Its like 90 days of two-a-days (pre-season football camp)

Lots of folks ask on different message boards about what happens after the 90 days are over. People think that your workouts end and you go back to the same old slouch you were before you started the program. I am excited for post-P90x. P90x is a catalyst for other types of exersise that I want to do. I have never ran in a 5k, which I plan on doing the day after P90x is over. I also want to ride my bike to work more often. Its 6 miles one way with lots of hills. I want to shed 10 minutes off my ride time (it currently takes me 25-30 minutes one way.) Lastly and most importantly, I want to be able to have the stamina get after raising Carrie and I's first baby.

If you are thinking about taking the P90x challenge - do it. It will save your life.

Environment to Thrive

2008-07-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

When Carrie and I bought a house over 4 years ago, we had two rose bushes in the front of the house. The house faces north so these roses never really got the sun they needed. During the first summer we were there, they pretty much didn't do anything. We had a few leaves and the bushes themselves were about 12" x 12" x 12". There were no blooms. In the fall I transplanted them into the back yard where they got the sun. That next summer they did a little better. I got one bloom per bush. After a bit of pruning in the fall, the next summer they only had, yet again, two blooms. I was like what the heck!? That fall I added some compost and fertilizer to the soil. I again pruned back the tall canes in the fall. This spring I added some more fertilizer and compost. Wouldn't you know it, they went crazy this summer. I had so many blooms on it that the canes bent over and were touching the ground. Needless to say...its about time!!

I can equate these rose bushes to my working life. 4 years ago I started working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. It was a good experience. I hated the work but it taught me what I wasn't good at. I am just not a salesman and can't deal with pressure very well. I want to be able to work on my own time at my own pace. I quit two years ago and started a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was 26. A littel late, but better late than never.
In my second semester I was fortunate enough to have a class with an Engineer. Come to find he was the Systems Engineering Manager at Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems. This is geek speak for overseeing a lot of people and projects. About half the way through the semester, I asked him about an internship. He went on to say that I would have to give him my resume and he would pass me on to the HR dept and jump through the hoops. He came back the next day and said, "You know what I'll just take you resume and see what I can do." By May he had hired me as an intern with the hopes that my performance would necessitate a full time hiring. This past May he did hire me full-time!
Similar to the rose bush, my working career is thriving. I am working at my own pace with no pressure. I feel like for the first time, I am in an environment to thrive.

See Carrie's post about this exciting news

Hydrogen Economy: "Yeah I think it's possible."

2008-02-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

So a friend on mine in class today gave me an article about an extremely feasible means to produce hydrogen. Here is the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18700750/
Being in the fuel cell industry and even working for a company that uses fossil fuels to create hydrogen, my interest immediatly piqued.
This would mean a great deal to the environment, the energy industry, and, well, me.
To sum up the article:
Take recylced aluminum, mix it with some other metals, dip it in water, and then: hydrogen. So good. This has the potential to mean that you could power everything from hydrogen. Since this is a chemical reaction, the reaction itself could heat your home, the hydrogen could power your car. Build a fuel cell power plant for you house and use the hydrogen to give your house the necessary electricity it needs. No nasty emissions!

I also wanted to point out that the Energy Blog that I've listed to the right is a good resource if you are interested in more of this stuff.

On to conquering the world...

Fast Lift or Lift Me Fast

2008-02-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Upon scaling the mountain top, I was amazed. The ice and snow had covered the bare trees. They glistened from the rays of the setting sun...enough of the mushy crap.

So this weekend Carrie and I went skiing with my sister and brother-in-law. The main lift at Bristol ski resort was freaking fast. It was cool because as the lift came back down to pick up passengers, the benches would disengage from the cable and be carried by a machine to where you were standing. The bench would scoop you up move a little ways and the re-engage with the cable. It felt alost like when the chain on the roller coaster would start to lift you up the first big hill, but faster. We scaled the side of a hill in about 5 minutes to ski down a 2 mile run.

Since going back to school to study things mechanical, I was truly amazed at the contruction and evolution of a ski lift. Before we went, Troy, my brother-in-law, told us about the first time his dad went downhill skiing. This guy used leather straps to attached his work boots to his skis. Then he would grab onto a rope to pull him up the hill. Now we sit in a chair and take a ride. But this ride is amazing. This 2 inch thick cable holds thousands of pounds to let us enjoy skiing.

The morality of the circumstance is what really got me. Should I be amazed at how fast this lift was and enjoy the fact that God has enabled us to create things like this? Or how do I handle the stuggle with "I want this now and I want it faster". The contruction cost of this lift and the thousands of dollars we pay to be entertained could be helping starved people. At the same time, I was also able to build a closer relationship with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law. Maybe some of the workers worked there to raise money to become missionaries.

My resolution: To continue to struggle with this. That's all, just struggle...

The Million Dollar Question

2008-01-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Remember back in 7th or 8th grade when you took those personality tests to figure out what you wanted to do when you grow up? Or the time in college when you were taking psych 101 and they asked you, "If you had a million-gazillion dollars, what would you do?" And the answer ultimately meant that that was what you were supposed to do for a living.

This brings me to a conversation I had this week. It really wasn't a conversation, it more of a day dream. I was sitting there listening to my coworkers chat. They were talking about one of their son's needing to make a decision about what they wanted to do with their life. In my mind I had all the answers for this son. Based upon the five minutes of information I had it all figured out for him. I didn't say anything because this would have come across as rude and pompous.

So the point: I caught myself. I caught myself giving great advice without really having any direction for myself. I sat at Panera later with coffee and wrote till my heart was content about the million dollar question. I wrote about how great it would be to help business and home owners get off the grid. The grid being the electric grid and and coming off of it creating renewable electricity. I would come up with specific designs based upon specific needs in specific areas. It would be great because each method of getting these businesses or homes off the grid would be different. Now on to saving the world.

See the Ideal Energy Conservation post.

Grades

2007-12-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

When I attended Malone College, I had the priviledge of playing baseball. Since I sat the bench so well, I had to make up for my defeat, so you could say I also had quite a dynamic social life. These Folks were really important to me and became more important than an education. I am pretty sure that the spring semester of my sophomore year, I did not go to bed earlier than 3am. This happened because my friends and I tried to keep Perkins or Country Kitchen in business. I say tried because generally we would only order coffee or hot chocolate and on the rare occasion we had money, we would get a bread bowl. I think Perkins has since done away with those...too bad. I left Malone with a less than desirable GPA. I will not mention it here because in the off chance a future employer looks at this, I don't want to have to explain myself. Let's just say I got by. I did what I had to do.

This brings me to now. I am back in school getting an engineering degree. We just wrapped up this past semester and my grades have been published. In doing this, I kinda feel like Perry from scrubs. The character is this cocky doctor who believes he needs to be cocky and arrogant to be a good doctor. I hope I don't come across this way, but I got a 4.0. This is 4 A's for the four classes I took. I really don't know what I was doing at Malone, but getting A's feels awesome. There is this feeling of accomplishment that I really never felt when I was getting C's and D's. So you could say that the quote "hard work pays off" is true.

Being A Man: A Basic Understanding of Respect

2007-12-06T08:38:00.001-08:00

Aside from not posting in a while....
I pulled into the Marathon to get gas today. It was a gorgeous morning. It snowed two days ago and the sun was just beaming off of the bright white goodness. These mornings are an immediate cause for joy.

As a child growing up I was always told that as a man you should eat your green beans to put hair on your chest and always respect women. As I pulled in to get gas, I noticed this lady walking to her Ford Expedition after paying inside. I pulled around her to get to the pump in front of her. As I got out of my car I saw her pulling the nozzle out of the holster and placing it into the tank. The I ventured over to her passenger seat. There he was. He looked squirelly, young, and had braces in his mouth. I would guess he was a freshman or sophomore in high school. He would in my mind be more than able. He took up most of the seat and I would guess he was 6 foot or taller. This is the point where I chuckled and then felt dissappointment.
Was he not told about manhood? "eat your green beans and respect women." When Carrie and I started dating, I want to say that there has been one time when we have been together that she has pumped gas. This would have been the instance when I went in to pay and she hopped out and started pumping without realizing what it would do to my self-esteem. My manhood had come into question. Was I not capable? I immediately told her that she could go sit in the car and I could handle the rest of the pumping.
Now I understand that this braces-faced kid will probably turn out just fine. However, I do think that this could raise a greater issue. I recently watched a 60 minutes report on how Gen X and Y are going out into the workforce. This is the first generation where parents told their kids "they were special." One comment that really got me was how these parents are actually talking to their kid's employers wanting to know want kind of "grade" they are getting. So braces-faced kid, is your mom teaching you self-respect by telling you that you are special? Or would she be better off telling you to get your ass out of the truck and pump the gas?

Barry Freakin Bonds

2007-08-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Though there have been no convictions, I dislike Barry Bonds.
If you had a career like his pre-steroid issue, why even consider putting yourself in hot water? Based upon his physical change, one can only imagine what he was on. Look at Mark McGuire. When he started in the majors, he was more lengthy than stout. Ask any weight lifter and they will tell you it is not easy to obtain 26inch forearms without something helping them out. Same with Barry. He physically showed change. Look at Curt Schilling, for example. A strong proponent against substance abuse. Here's a guy that you can tell he is getting older and less defined, but still performs. Why is it that Barry couldn't have followed suit. Not to say that Aaron or Ruth didn't take anything, but the scandal surrounding the situation and the fact that he is an ass to fans and media, makes me dislike the fact that a guy like this broke these records.
But this begs the question about Big Mac. Why was it that there was no scandal around his physical change? Simply put, he and Sammy were good for baseball. Big Mac actually cared about St. Louis and the game. This isn't to say that Barry doesn't care for Baseball and San Fran, but Mcguire was actually pleasant to the fans.

However, how do we deal with the fact that these players were on some sort of substance? It is just dissappointing. Play as you were made and if that's not possible, go into a different profession.

I don't cheat on tests. Don't cheat baseball.

Jovial

2007-08-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

So the majority of my day, currently, is spent in a typical cubical style office. I enjoy the random conversations people have that I get to overhear. More exciting, however, is the quiet conversation that you can't hear. It's the one all the way across the office where it's the low muffel barely audible over the air conditioner fan.

Then, from no where, it happens. The random, yet pronounced, deep, gutteral eruption of laughter. The kind of laughter that disrupts the office rythem. The kind, in my case, that I start laughing at. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the total disregard for any one else with the desire to just let it out.

It's the guy at the movie theater that laughs at a kind-of funny part in a movie where no one else laughs. It's the guy in isle 3 when you're in isle 25. It's the guy half way across the food court laughing over top the busyiness.

Ideal Energy Conservation

2007-07-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

If money was not an issue, there is a good chance I could run my home on little or no fossil fuels. The technology is out there.
Here is what I would do...

First I would install two windmills. From the minimal research I have done, one windmill would give me a little less than half of the energy my home consumes.
Second, solar panels would be installed. I would install both photovoltaic and hot water panals.

Third, geothermal would be installed. This would help with the solar hot water panels. Then, this geothermal would help in cooling and heating the home. This combined with the hot water solar panels would greatly reduce the need of electricity to run a hot water heater. For that matter I would work it out to install an on-demand hot water heater. Not sure how that would work, but I'd figure it out

When the system is running at full power with excess, I would take the electricty and electrolyse water to make hydrogen. This hydrogen would be stored for future fuel cell usage. Potentially to power my automobile or any other mechanical device for that matter.

Lastly, with advances in batteries and fuel cells my automobile could certainly run on the excess electricity provided by the other means on the property.

Yeah, so money aside, I am going to make this happen. I just decided.

There will be a continuation of this post with the hope to elaborate on these technologies

...and they thought Einstein was crazy.

Knight in Shining Armor

2007-07-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

This past week I had the privledge of seeing both Transformers and Live Free or Die Hard. Both will go down as summer blockbusters. They were both great action movies with plenty of over-the-top stunts, but they were fun none the less.

Out for a walk with my wife, I asked her, "Why is it, in these fun-loving, action movies, that the male lead is always disfunctional?" For example: John McClain is divorced, his kids hate him, and he has no friends. Sam, in Transformers, is your weird, computer geek, single child, who's dad yell's at him for walking on the lawn. This character didn't necessarily bother me, except for one shot. This shot ruined his character for the rest of the movie. The Transfomers came to earth as asteroid form. When they are coming, mikela, the girl lead, hold's Sam's hand and then steps in front to protect him. For as macho as Micheal Bay seems by his explosions, I was disappointed. Sam continues to be indecisive and squirlly. Mikela drives the tow truck and knows cars. Not necessarily a bad thing, but seriously when will the man come back to the movies?
My wife did make a good point in that today it is difficult to relate the strong, confident male, who is the Knight in Shining Armor. My response to that was, it makes sense and it sells movies, but shame on the man for not at least protecting the girl.