April 2013
1 post
17 tags
My Passion for Camping
Everywhere I look there are passionate people. People passionate about sports, politics, animal rights, lobster ravioli with toasted pine nuts in a light white truffle sauce. I’m sure there is something you are passionate about. I was feeling left out. I wanted to find that one thing I was truly passionate about. That’s when I found it: Camping! I hate camping with a white-hot,...
June 2012
4 posts
8 tags
Talks with Dad
My father, Donald Miller, died in January 2000. Here is an essay I wrote not long afterwards. I’ve only shared this with a handful of people until now. Dad pretending to sleep while I took his picture Life and Death of a Salesman My father and I, as men, have been conditioned to hide our feelings behind small talk about sports or the weather. Whenever I needed to discuss problems and...
6 tags
Lady in Waiting ... Room
Just think, if it weren’t for iPads, people like this poor woman might have to go several minutes without playing video solitaire. Thank you, Apple.
4 tags
I'm not in the market for a car. However ...
… when I am, I am definetly going to purchase my next car from a car lot that has one of these air-driven stick men. When I think quality used cars, I think air-driven stick man.
From Downton Abbey to the Bedroom
Recently a friend of mine, Mason,* posted the following on Facebook, “Hypothetically speaking, if a man were to say all he really wants for Fathers’ Day is season 2 of Downton Abbey, would you think less or more of him?” Mason received the obligatory responses from his manly friends. “This is an impossible scenario since no actual man would do such a thing,” said...
May 2012
7 posts
The young man in this photo is my uncle Bruce. I...
Please use this Memorial Day as an opportunity to thank someone who has fought to preserve our freedom. Thank you, uncle Bruce - you are missed, and you are loved.
Good Luck, Graduates - You're Gonna Need It! XKCD:... →
5 tags
Boise's Best: Cascade Cleaning Services, LLC
“We need new carpet!” my wife, Pearl, said in her most declarative voice. It wasn’t the first time she had said it. She has said it several times since we moved into this house. As a frugality enthusiast I am against the idea of replacing carpet that is still in good shape just because it is a little dirty.[1] In an effort to stay off buying new carpet a while longer I...
10 tags
How to Baffle Your Mom
If you really want to leave your mother speechless and utterly confused, try this little trick.* There will come a time when your mom will ask you to do something (really, it’s been known to happen). If you’re like most people that have mothers, your initial reaction is to resist doing anything your mother asks you to do. If this describes you, keep reading. If you’re a...
farcimini asked: Hi, I saw your nerd holidays post, and I APPROVE....but May the Fourth is also the anniversary of Reichenbach, from the original stories. And Sherlock Holmes needs to feature... ("At this fearful place Sherlock Holmes vanquished professor Moriarty, on May 4th 1891." from the plaque put up by the Baker Street Irregulars.) May the Fourth be with you! :)
24 tags
May The Fourth Be With You - Nerd Holidays
One of the benefits of being a geek/nerd is that I have the opportunity to celebrate a lot of extra holidays, certain days of the year where we can just geek out and have fun. The significance of each of these celebratory days generally centers around one of these categories. Popular literature or films with a unusually large fan base (generally based on science fiction or fantasy) - (pop)...
6 tags
Laundry Rebel: A Glimpse into My Psyche
One afternoon in culinary school I was having a conversation with Jolene, one of the school’s employees. We were cleaning up after lunch and chatting about random topics. After a while the subject of laundry came up. She said, “My daughter did laundry the other day and washed socks and towels — together!” She said this in a way that made me think I should be shocked. I was...
April 2012
7 posts
5 tags
8 tags
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
– Walt Disney
14 tags
Recipe: Cubetti di Verdure Cotte (Italian Salsa)
In the years I developed recipes for restaurants I spent a lot of time trying to make food more appealing to the clientele by adding yummy things like rich sauces and gravies loaded with fats and refined carbohydrates. I also specialized in decadent desserts loaded with cream, butter, and sugar. Now that I’m a little older, wiser, and fatter I’m attempting to eat healthier. The...
11 tags
Consider the Context
If you want to plug your healthy products, placing your advertising on a busy street is a great idea. Placing it under the Big Smoke Tobacco Shop sign — not a great idea.
10 tags
The Correct Way to Watch Star Wars
Not long, long ago I talked to a fellow software engineer who, until recently, had never seen any of the Star Wars movies. I thought about asking him if his dad made him pursue a career in engineering, but I was speechless. I just stood there, slack-jawed, when, without warning, he said that the movies were “okay,” but he didn’t really care for them. I don’t remember...
8 tags
That Was NOT Pie!
I think it was a Wednesday. Early in my restaurant career I was managing the night shift at a family restaurant. The restaurant had a large, rectangular dining area with entrances to the kitchen on both ends. The restrooms were in the south west corner, and way over in the north east corner, as far away from the restrooms as possible, was where Jennifer*, the hostess, sat a family of eight. In...
March 2012
12 posts
8 tags
Office Gag: The Stapled Finger
Got squeamish co-workers? Even if they’re not so squeamish this gag will freak them out. What you’ll need: Stapler (a red, Swingline Stapler, if you have it) Staple(s) 2 small pieces of paper Scotch tape Red pen (optional) Take the two small pieces of paper and staple them together near an edge. Turn the stapled papers over. Tightly roll a piece of scotch tape and...
3 tags
This seems really cruel
7 tags
Saying No to YES
Every trash day I come home from work and pull my empty garbage/recycling bins back in their proper place. There is something very serene about having all the trash and recycling emptied each week. Until recently that serene feeling didn’t stay long. Nearly every week since I’ve lived in Boise someone throws a pink plastic bag filled with “newspaper”[1] on my driveway (or...
3 tags
Steve Krug is a Hypocrite!*
Web usabiliby guru, Steve Krug, wants us (web developers) to keep users (people) from having to think too much when they use our sites. But now that I’ve read his book, Don’t Make Me Think, whenever I visit a website, I am constantly thinking about usability. I know! it’s confusing! I find myself thinking things like, “This lame site has navigation on the log-in...
Whoever designed this didn't really grasp the...
Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, Eagle Rd. - Meridian, ID
4 tags
Anatomy of "Swirl"
Even if you’ve never heard of “Swirl,” that doesn’t mean you’ve havn’t been caught in it. If you’ve ever hit “Reply-All” on an email thread or been added on an email chain that already has eight or more entries then there’s a good chance that you have been caught in the Swirl. Here’s an example of how Swirl works. Jeff is...
The best time to go to Costco?
Wednesday, 10:30 AM
3 tags
Bardenay - Mixed Spirits
Even if you love the food, service, and atmosphere, what could keep a restaurant from becoming your favorite? In my case it was a bunch of little things. Nestled next to the Boise River, Bardenay is probably best known for their drink menu. But the best meal I’ve eaten since moving to Boise was at Bardenay. It was a one-night special, a perfectly cooked salmon in brown butter sauce with...
7 tags
Muffin vs. Donut - Misconception meets Fact
If asked which choice is healthier for you a muffin or a donut most people (including me) would probably reason that the muffin would be the better choice. The muffin is baked not fried like a donut; a muffin has fruit in it, and donuts are topped with frosting (fat and sugar). If you’re talking about a 1½ oz. bran muffin, made from scratch, these assumptions would probably be correct....
Could Credit Card Offers Pay For College?
A little while ago I joked that if I had all the money that Capital One spent on trying to get me as a customer I could put one of my kids through college. I decided to see if that was true. For the month of February (2012) I decided that instead of shredding all the credit card offers as they came in I would see how many offers I received. For 29 days I watched the stack grow. The total?...
When I think Software Engineering ...
I think EXCITEMENT! WOO HOO!
Some decisions are hard ...
October 2011
1 post
5 Things I've learned from walking my dog ...
1) No matter how much those around you are in a hurry, they will stop and scratch your ears if you act adorable. 2) Always take time to smell the flowers (, trees, fence posts, hydrants, dead things, etc). 3) Regardless of how much noise others make, you should always stand up for yourself. 4) If you see a pickup truck in a driveway there is a good chance there is a cat hiding underneath. ...
June 2011
7 posts
For movies about doctors, lawyers, or the military...
Nearly 80% of Americans own a computer. We’re not that stupid. Stop using computers as a crutch for your lazy writing! Although, I’m not sure I would want to talk to computer experts ;)
People who drive around looking for the best...
Also the spaces up front really slow down the backing out time because of the high pedestrian and traffic volume (unless, of course, some yahoo holds up traffic waiting for said backer-outer). One could make a valid argument that it takes less overall time to park toward the back of the lot than the front.
Out of all the labels I've ever had, "father" and...
Some of my least favorite include, “bus-boy,” “cube-mate,” and “One of Ms Goss’ students.”
My dad had some great Yogi Berra-style dad-isms -...
Others that I remember fondly, include … “That’ll feel better when it quits hurtin’,” (to my mother) “What’s cookin’? Chichen? Wanna neck?” “Come over here; I’ll help you up.” “Use your head, not your feet.”
It was 20 years ago today. I sat in the delivery...
It was a beautiful baby girl who brought great joy and happiness into my life :) Happy birthday, Amanda!
It's not that I hate Apple, it's just all the time...
Maybe that was just the Linux/GNU guys. All the whining sounds the same after a while.
If your father was told he had 6 months to live,...
This may seem like a macabre question, but I didn’t get to weigh in on this when I had the chance. When my dad died it wasn’t exactly a “shock.” I knew he was sick; I just didn’t know how sick. When his cardiologist told him he had 6 months to a year to live, he and mom decided that they didn’t want to tell us kids about it because they didn’t want us...
May 2011
2 posts
The young man in this photo is my uncle Bruce. I...
Please use this Memorial Day as an opportunity to thank someone who has fought to preserve our freedom. Thank you, uncle Bruce - you are missed, and you are loved.
Where would you find a list simultaneously...
Netflix, of course. You gotta love it.
April 2011
1 post
Awesome web development tool: Visual Event -...
Allan Jardine has developed a great tool to visually inspect events which are subscribed to DOM nodes:http://www.sprymedia.co.uk/article/Visual+Event This works great FireFox and Chrome, but (surprize, surprize) this does not work in IE.
March 2011
1 post
Do you ever think that Ben Franklin thought,...
Yeah, Ben Franklin was a jerk.
March 2010
6 posts
I don't think the invention of the compact...
Seriously. It’s 2010 and I have to wait 5 minutes after I flip the switch for the 4 “flood” lights in my kitchen to get bright enough for me to see to cook. Even kerosene lamps could illuminate a room immediately.
Funny thing: On the news this morning I heard...
by the highway patrol to get him stopped. It was an amazing story, but the only thing that kept going through my head was, “Someone got a Prius to go 90 MPH?”
I love Gmail! I was sending an email to my...
Gmail parsed the body of the email and noticed that I wrote, “attached is the picture I was telling you about.” And popped up this dialog when I hit Send …
Microsoft - where the only limit is 248 characters
“The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.” This leaves a good 12 characters for a very descriptive file name. I miss DOS as much as the next guy,but COME ON!
Pressing F1 in Visual Studio may as well start...
Unfortunately F1 is real close to the Esc key.
I have found a problem with high-definition...
I swear I’ve never noticed how bad his acting was before high-definition. He has this horribly noticeable swagger that is really distracting. Plus it makes his overly melodramatic facial expressions even more apparent. I’ve noticed it in Next and National Treasure, but nothing is worse than Ghost Rider. On a positive note, high-def really improves my perception of Angelina...
February 2010
3 posts
When I was a restaurant manager, having a highly...
I could smell something burning or steam jacked kettle that had gone dry before it became a problem. It even helped when I was working in manufacturing because I could smell out chemical leaks before the sensors. But now, sitting in long meetings with a bunch of software engineers - it’s a curse! Apparently when God closes a door He should open a window.
