January has me running around like crazy to start 2011

Friday, 7th January 2011 @ 4:58 pm | Category: Update

This January is packed with stuff to remind me that it is time to get down to business and get things done. The first knock on the head was the lack of registration for my workshops. I had to cancel them and re-think my strategy. Apparently I did not do a good job of advertising the workshops. I won't go into details but next time ... I'll work harder.

The next slap in the face was the realization that I had to step up and really challenge myself to expand my abilities as a coder. My clients expect a lot and I want to provide them with someone who has the ability to develop with their ideas and challenges.

Boom, another wake up involves my photography. I was invited to display a few of my photos for Final Fridays and inside of the local 3 Spoons Yogurt store. I have less than 2 weeks to matte, frame, and prepare photos for both events.

What else? I am trying to get my podcast, 58% Geek, going again. My co-host and I took some time off and now it's time to get back in the studio. Thinking of podcasting, I am also helping someone else start a new podcast in the next couple weeks.

Lastly, Zachary started up school again. This is the important stuff. Is he up getting ready for school and in time to make the bus? Is his homework done? What do his grades look like? Does he need help with homework? Parents, you know what I am talking about.

Well enough writing, it's time to get to work.

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Happy New Year, Hello 2011

Saturday, 1st January 2011 @ 7:28 pm | Category: Update

What happened to 2010. Wow that year flew by. No time to waste. I am going to make 2011 the best year possible. I am going to start my own business, spend more time with the son, read more books, and play more video games this year. I'll go ahead and also add work harder while allocating a healthy amount of time to spend with the girl to the list. How about blog more! Yeah that's a good one. I'll give it a try. I'll add more later and leave them in my head because there is no need in flooding this post.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 2010. Now, let's get 2011 started.

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I met Georgie

Saturday, 11th December 2010 @ 7:03 pm | Category: Right Now

I left yesterday and headed to Omaha, Nebraska to visit my friend Jared. He has a 3 year old son, named Georgie, that lives in Venezuela and gets to visit his dad about 1-2 months a year. This is the first time I have met his son. He is a happy little guy who loves trains and cookies. Right now we are under a blizzard warning and Georgie had his first encounter with snow. He jumped into small piles and stomped around while reviewing each impression created by his boots. So far this has been a great visit and seeing a child play with snow for the first time was the icing.



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Cooking lasagna in a crock pot

Monday, 6th December 2010 @ 1:54 pm | Category: Cooking

Last week I made a lasagna recipe in the crockpot and posted a tweet about it. A few people responded and were interested about know how to cook this dish in the slow cooker. Well here is how.

What you will need

• 1lb ground beef


• green pepper chopped


• onion chopped


• spaghetti sauce (your choice)


• 4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella


• 15oz of ricotta


• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning


• 2 garlic cloves (finely cut) or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder


• salt and pepper to taste


• lasagna noodles

Making the meat sauce

Cook beef, green pepper, and onion. Drain and then add sauce.

Making the cheese sauce

In a bowl, add both cheeses and the seasonings. Mix like crazy.

The marriage

Add about 1/2 cup sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker. Next, layer it with noodles, cup of sauce, cup of cheese mixture. Repeat until both are depleted. Cook for 4-6 hours on low.

Let me know how yours turns out. I am going to experiment a bit and try using different sauces and maybe add some Italian sausage. Enjoy!

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No, not the PS3!

Thursday, 11th November 2010 @ 11:19 pm | Category: Disappointments

I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out why my PS3 would not take my Blu-Ray disc. Then I noticed after pressing the power button that the light went from red to green to a flash of orange and then to red. I cycled the power on and off many times. The results were the same. The PS3 is gone ... I pulled the plug and made my piece.

It took a few moments to realize how much it was used in my house and how much it would be missed. It will be many weeks before I can afford another PS3. So I decided to write about how we used the PS3.

Netflix

If you know me, you know I love Netflix. I pay twenty something dollars a month for 3 Blu-Ray discs at any given time and unlimited streaming of online content. Since this is a non-cable subscribing household, Netflix is our main source for viewing TV shows and movies.

Gaming

I didn't game on the PS3 as much as my son, but will miss it the same. While he enjoyed the crazy 1st person shooter "C.O.D.", I liked games such as "Fat Princess", "God of War III", and "The Force Unleashed".

DVD Player

The PS3 was the only DVD player for watching movies and shows on the TV. Fortunately, DVD players are very inexpensive so this can be resolved easily.

Blu-Ray Player

This is what I might miss the most. I love watching HD movies and TV shows. Most Netflix movies and TV shows are sent to me in Blu-Ray form (if you haven't seen "Top Gun" in Blu-Ray, rent it now!). So for now, I might have to get a cheap DVD player and request Netflix send standard DVDs instead.

Well that's it. A broken PS3, but I finally get to see everything it was doing for me. It was worth every penny. Especially since I bought it over a year ago, used on craigslist.

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The site that brings it all together

Monday, 8th November 2010 @ 11:52 am | Category: Update

After making the previous post about a new business, I was quickly contacted by several friends about the whereabouts of the new website. I finally announced the url on Twitter and Facebook. However, many on your were still waiting for an answer on this blog. All I have to say is, "my bad". I should never assume that only posting on Facebook or Twitter was enough. The fact is I was exhausted and posting to Twitter and Facebook is fairly painless.

The evening of the launch was filled with relief and rest for only a brief moment. I had made plans that evening to meet with a friend and still needed to prepare for the Podcamp Topeka conference in the morning.

The next day was then a flurry of events. The conference was from 8am to 4pm. After returning home I immediately fixed the heater in my mom's car. Then I needed to prepare to take my girlfriend out to dinner for her birthday. In fact, at this point it was 5:30pm and I didn't have a card or gift yet (please don't tell her though).

After frantically running around town I quickly showered, changed, and made my way to pick her up. After dinner we met with a group of our friends and headed downtown to celebrate her birthday (don't worry, I was the DD).

Ok. Now it's Sunday. After waking up late, I prepared to meet with a friend to discuss some business. This ended up lasting until mid-afternoon. Afterwards, I jump right into teaching HTML & CSS basics to a couple people. Now it is 8 or 9 ... I don't remember. But I was very tired. I watched a couple episodes of "Tru Blood" and then went to bed.

Now it's Monday (today). I started my morning early. However, a moth in my coffee had me worried about how the rest of the day would take shape. About an hour later the phone rang and it was PMI. PMI is a local engineering company were I previously worked. They need a little assistance for about an hour.

So that is it. That is the story why I am just now mentioning the new website, philsquare.com. That is the new site which features a set of services I am offering. Let me know what you think! Please comment below or contact me if you have any questions. Thanks friends!



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The mission of the moth

Monday, 8th November 2010 @ 7:34 am | Category: Right Now

Last night I noticed a moth just hanging out by my coffee maker. He wasn't bothering me so I left him alone. Things would have been different if I was aware of his crazy self-sacrificing plot.

The next morning I started making coffee. While refilling my coffee mug I noticed something on the skim of the surface. Are you ready for this? I ignored it! My mug is dark in color and in low light it looked a bit like normal coffee froth.

After finishing my coffee and finally getting to the bottom of the last cup, I took a closer look at the "froth". It was the moth from last night. I new it was the same moth because of the familiar beady eyes.

Lesson learned! Next time I'll look closer at my coffee. Or maybe I should of disposed of the moth while I had a chance last night. Either way, it was still good coffee.

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Turning busy into business

Friday, 5th November 2010 @ 9:39 am | Category: Update

As many of you know, I like to stay busy and love learning and expanding my skills in a variety of areas. These include engineering, programming, digital media, building (DIY projects), graphic design (although I have weak freehand skills), and photography. In addition, I am a single father. This means I have to be a super multi-tasker ... and would like to think that I am.

For the last several years I have worked on a variety of projects outside of my full-time job. As time progressed, I started getting more and more involved in these projects. I was learning fast and enjoying myself every step of the way. If this seems a bit ambiguous, let me give a few examples. In the last 2 years while maintaining a full-time engineering job, I have produced and published a podcast, improved as a photographer, co-started a local social group, and built a variety of websites.

In 2010 I wanted to take the leap and determine if any/some of my projects could evolve into something significant. My thoughts were to develop these projects to learn, promote, and hopefully create a business. In July of 2010, I decided to leave my full time job and "pursue other interests". Since I am working as a part-time staff member for the University of Kansas, a little bit of income was still trickling in. It isn't enough to support me but is flexible enough to allow me to spend a large amount of time on my important projects.

So how have I survived in the last 4 months on limited income? Fortunately, my previous employer was nice enough to use some of my services as an engineer and MATLAB programmer for a variety of jobs. In addition to independent contract work for this company, I have built a few websites for people/business, taught classes in HTML & CSS, and did some photography work.

This is me. I enjoy applying my passions into services. Working for myself has been exciting, challenging, and scary as hell. But this is what I want. I am not comfortable with the confining hours of 9-5. It makes me feel restricted creatively and potentially reduces my motivation over time. I have unscheduled creative burst that must be quenched almost immediately and without warning.

After 4 months I finally decided to put something together that promotes my skills as services. These include web development, digital media (podcasting, photography, and photo enhancement), MATLAB and engineering services, and holding workshops in a variety of topics.

This afternoon I will announce and promote a new website with details about my services. My goal is to become a reputable source for coding and digital media services. This is a big step for me so … wish me luck and stay tuned!

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