Inspiration in the interwebs

Last week I was encouraged to find what it is that I'm passionate about. I've made some progress as I spent time reading and exploring topics related to User Experience, my main area of expertise. More than anything, what I did find is that there are thousands of passionate people out there who love to write and talk on these subjects. I don't necessarily agree with all that has been written but that is the beauty of the internt, you don't have to get approval of everyone who reads your thoughts, you just need to put them out there and see what happens. 

I didn't find my passion but I was able to feel the passion of others as they do what they love. I think that finding your own passion is a worthy pursuit and that everyone will eventually be able to do what they love and hopefully they'll put it on the interwebs where others will be able to benefit from it. 

I seem to be drifting of late between the things I do and those things that I want to do and I'm trying to find that place where I am "in my element." Reknowned TED speaker Sir Ken Robinson said that the Element is the point in time when your natural gifts (aptitude), personality and passion meet and become aligned.

My aptitude has been made manifest as I've developed my skills as a web designer and developer, my personality allows me to easily form relationships with others, but I have struggled to find what it is I'm passionate about in regards to my current circumstances.

I am passionate about building websites that work from any device or browser, also known as responsive design. I am passionate about trying out new technologies to see what works best for solving complex problems on the web. I am passionate about not working long days and missing time with my family. Sometimes these are at odds with each other especially as I spend time on projects outside my normal work routine or I am constrained by the tools available to me on a given project.

I think the key here is that I've not yet found something I am so passionate about that it will drive me in the direction of making changes. I need to step back and really think about what it is that I want to be doing and how I can start doing those things and perhaps that will lead me to discover what I am truly passionate about. Then comes the scary part... you have to do it. You have to make changes and take risks to follow your passions.

Here's to all of you that have gone before me, may you find continued success in following your passions and give me the inspiration I need in order to do the same.

Blogging... the lost art?

It's been so long since I posted to this blog that I nearly forgot that I ever had a blog. That's what happens when you go from riding trains every morning to driving in your car. You have the same commute but you get so much less done.

These days I commute for 30 minutes in the car, do my job, eat some lunch, drive the 30 minutes home then do other stuff. The blog is a lost art for me but I find that I miss doing it. Whenever I have a funny story to share with everyone I know there is no better way for me to get the word out than to share full paragraphs of text with the world.

Twitter and Facebook can be a great way to share a one liner but somethings just can't be crammed into 140 characters or less and need to be given the chance to be read and remembered.

So here I am, 3 years and 7 months later attempting to pick up the pieces of this poor little blog. I hope that I'm able to share more things and that the former "regulars" might find their way back to reading this.

Here's to the future, and to the lost art of Blogging!  Cheers.

Running for the train

Everyday I commute from Washington Union Station to Halethorpe, MD on the MARC commuter rail. I will typically catch the 5:20pm express on the Penn line but this particular day I was running late so I was resigned to take the 5:34pm local.

When I got to the station platforms the 5:20 train was still there so I started heading for it and I heard the conductor said, "All aboard!" I'm not really the running type so I was just going to go catch the later train but as I was about to change my mind the conductor saw me and said "Come on!" and waved his arm beckoning me to make the train.

So I put on a little bit of speed and ran to the end of the first car where the conductor was now standing in the doorway. Right as I was getting there the train began to pull away from the platform. The conductor said, "careful now" and stepped aside to allow me to jump onto the moving train.

I was a little bit out of breath from the sprint but I was pretty excited about what had just occurred. I had just jumped onto a moving train as it pulled away from the station. When in my life will I ever get the chance to jump on a moving train again?

The Chocolate Chipper

More than a century ago on the shores of Scotland a couple of guys in kilts decided to whack a stone with a large stick. It went flying across the sand bouncing and skipping and eventually came to a stop. So they hit it again. Out of this madness was born a game, we call it golf.

Out of a desire for instant gratification someone came up with the idea to remove all the extraneous efforts of getting the ball to the green and created mini-golf. Golf in miniature, what a concept! It is truly golf at its basis, get the ball in the hole.

Sometime in the 80's this fad made its way to the Pacific Northwest. The weather there is not ideal for being outside so when mini-golf came to Portland it was inevitable that it would be indoors.

The popularity of mini-golf exploded, it grew like wildfire on the minds of children all over town. It was only a short time before we all wanted to try our hand at putting a neon pink ball across astro-turf. It was such a huge hit that field trips were organized through the school so all the children could fulfill their weeks-long dream of playing the sport.

The Chocolate Chipper opened up along one of the busiest roads in the area. They couldn't have picked a better location to be in, right next to Burger King and across the street from McDonalds. And to top it all off, the Chocolate Chipper also was an ice cream parlor.

No parent could keep their children from seeing the course in all it's glory, just waiting to be conquered. "Please mom, just one game?! You said that you would take me," would be the cry. "Can I get ice cream too?"

I don't know how long I had to wait to go but it felt like months. It seemed that everyone at school had been, some several times. When we walked in the aroma of waffle cones filling the air pulled me in the direction of the ice cream. But wait, what's that? All of a sudden there it was, challenging me, 18 holes of wonder.

The windmill, the rolling bumps, and of course the 18th hole had a chance to win another game. I don't remember how well I played, it couldn't have been good but when it was all over, I had a double scoop cone of chocolate chocolate-chip ice cream. I remember thinking that it had been the greatest experience of my life.

Oh My Aching Teeth

I cannot complain enough about the bad dental work done by dentists in New York. So I picked a dentist who happened to be from California figuring that would be the safer route to take.

My story begins way back in July 2008. I went to the dentist and he told me that I needed a filling in my top back molar. It just so happened that the tooth directly below it had an old filling that needed replacing as well. I agreed to let him do the work.

So he drilled out the old filling and discovered that there was decay underneath it. So he drilled some more and kept drilling, then the most uncomfortable pain began to well up inside that tooth. He gave me some topical anesthesia, waited a couple minutes and began again. It helped but it was still uncomfortable.

When he was all done he told me that the tooth was very thin and would be better off if I let him put a crown on it. I agreed that I would rather not have the tooth break on me. So he ground down the tooth, filled it up and put on a temporary crown as well as filling the top tooth.

Three weeks later I went back to get the permanent crown and I told him that the tooth was still giving me pain when I bit down. He said, "Oh the tooth was traumatized, it will just take a couple weeks to get back to normal," and he put on the permanent crown.

A few weeks later I called up and said, "it still hurts." He said, "I'll adjust the bite." He drilled the filling and crown to get a better bite and said, "see if that's better, give it a couple weeks and let me know."

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Let me adjust it".

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Hmm... I guess I'll take off the crown and put in a pain reliever filling." Come back in a few weeks and we'll put a new crown on.

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "Let me adjust that bite again."

A few weeks later... "Still hurts." Dr., "I think you need a root canal."

So in January, 6 months after the initial visit I got a root canal. Everything seemed to be fine after that, no more pain and I could chew on the left side of my mouth again.

Two weeks later I got a new permanent crown put on. At this point I must admit that the dentist has been great in dealing with the problem and not charging me anything extra, he even refilled the top tooth because it was still sensitive to cold.

But... a few weeks later, "it feels weird, sort of hurts." Dr., "let me adjust the bite."

A couple weeks later, "still hurts a little." Dr., "let me adjust the bite." The bite felt good, like it was supposed to, so I thought.

Meanwhile we moved to Maryland in May. A couple months later the "permanent" crown came off, something it shouldn't do.

I have to find a dentist in Maryland to put it back on. Dr. in Maryland, "this guy really didn't know what he was doing. I'll glue it on and adjust the bite some more."

Two months later with sinus pain, "Wow, my tooth hurts." Take some decongestant and ibuprofen and a few days later all is well.

Two months later, "my tooth really hurts!" It feels like there is something stuck between the two teeth keeping me from biting down all the way and now both teeth hurt, not just the top one. Decongestant and ibuprophen help to a point but it's a temporary fix.

So here I sit two weeks later and 15 months after the initial dental visit and the same two teeth are giving me pain. Now I will go, yet again, for an adjustment. If this doesn't fix it maybe I'll just have them pull the tooth!!

You have to admit that it's pretty ridiculous for a tooth that doesn't have any roots to be giving me pain. But it's not the roots, it's sore all around the outside of the tooth, not the middle, like it's slowly being pulled out of my jaw.

All I can say is if I need a new crown I'm going to have them send the bill to the old dentist in New York. Even though he was a nice guy and I liked him a lot, he wasn't a very good dentist.

Working from home

The best part about working on the web is that as long as you have an internet connection you can work from anywhere.

This week my wife has been sick with sore throat and a cough, it's been going around the DC area like wildfire. Like that isn't enough, our 8 1/2-month-old hasn't gone to bed before midnight and has been getting up every 2 hours for the past 2 weeks.

So instead of getting up at 6:00 am to catch the 7:28am train to make it into the office by 8:30, I roll out of bed at 8:00 am take a shower and log on.

It's definitely more difficult to focus on work when you're at home and the baby keeps screaming to get your attention so you'll watch her play, but it's really nice to be able to help out with her while my wife is feeling so terrible.

I think in order for me to take a telecommuting job I would need a home office where I shut myself in to avoid being interrupted. It would be a place where I could "go" to work and when I'm done for the day leave the work behind closed doors until I'm ready to work again.

I love this digital age where I can work while sitting on my sofa in my pajamas with a baby at my side all while watching Paula Deen on Food Network.