I'm a Metro Detroit-based product leader with over a decade of experience in product strategy and agile leadership. I'm also slowly learning self-hosting and using Linux as my daily driver. I believe in honesty, empathy, and integrity. This site documents both my professional work and the personal projects that keep me curious.
General # Completed more onboarding tasks, put some new templates to work, and attended my first big room planning session. Practiced guitar a couple times but not nearly as much as I would like. Completed most school work early in the week again so I could spend most of the week working through my section of the group case study. Dropped the kid off at two driving sessions this week. Sounds like…
After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws. As one by one they transform into deadites, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life - survive even in death. Media Type: movie Stars: ⭐⭐ If you just watch the trailer you do not get to experience how awful the characters are or the miserable way they ended the film. I rewatched all the other Evil Dead films in…
In a remote village, two brothers find a demon-infected man just about to “give birth” to evil itself. They decide to get rid of the body, only to end up unintentionally spreading chaos.d Media Type: movie Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This movie stays when others would cut away. There are a few moments when I think they may be trying to hurt you. This is a violent film that does not pull punches. This is a…
General # Full week of work is tough after two weeks of vacation and a week onsite at a location. Made some progress on the remaining onboarding tasks. Practiced guitar a few times but not nearly as much as I would like. Completed most school work early in the week so I could spread working on the paper out a few days comfortably. Corrected the expired token issue with Netlify so the /now page…
Questions are taken from the Blaugust post here . What made you decide to do Blaugust this year, and what are your personal goals? # I saw the event last year halfway through and have been thinking about it since. I would like to try for the 31 but I am working and going to school so my expectations are a bit flexible. Did you start preparing for Blaugust before the August 1st start date? If so,…
This probably does not merrit an entire post but I spent a little too long troubleshooting this one so I figured I would post about it anyway. I have an instance of Immich installed and I use the iOS app to backup photos from my phone. I had not noticed that this was not happening for a while. When trying to backup a photo the app would show somewhere between 8% and 21% complete and then time out.…
Personal # The family just got back from the Boston (to see Ariana Grande) and a trip to Cape Cod. We had excellent seats for the concert and enjoyed a few nights in downtown Boston. Spent almost a week on Cape Cod with bonfires every night, the ocean within walking distance, relaxed schedule of activities, and some good seafood. In May I got a job at Lineage, a cold-chain logistics company, as a…
Things Take the Time They Take: A 42nd Thought at 42 via Brad Frost You can’t make a baby in one month by throwing nine people at it. I think I had heard this quote before but after thinking about it for a little while I think I will definitely be using it in the future. As someone who has spent decades now discussing timelines and setting expectations this really hits home for me. Often you will…
General # No Guitar this week. It has been too long but I am home now and will pick it back up. Last week I failed to mention I was writing from Cape Cod having driven there the morning after the Ariana concert. I get a little weird about writing about being away from home while I am actually away. We got an Airbnb within walking distance to the beach on the ocean. There was a bonfire every night…
Wake up, wake up, it’s the first of the month Today is August first and the first day of Blaugust , a yearly challenge in the month of August to blog every day. Well technically I believe it is to blog 31 times which works out to once a day so you can double up and miss a day with it all evening out. I don’t think it’s that strict and many have taken to other activities and posting about them the…
General # Spent most of Monday working ahead on school stuff so I can keep it to a minimum while on vacation. I only have peer responses and a group paper to complete for next week which is nice. Practiced guitar for 30 minutes on Monday. Drove to Utica, NY on Tuesday and to Boston, MA on Wednesday. Grabbed some food nearby our rooms at Hotel Indigo near the TD Garden. We looked into getting…
General # Traveled for work this week seeing the warehouses of University Park, Joliet, and Hobart. I drove there which I enjoyed more than flying but the smoke from the wildfires made it a less enjoyable ride back. Windows up and air recycled still let in enough smoke to give me a sore throat by the time I got home. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes on Sunday only. I am a little…
General # Got back into a normal week of work after the holiday. I still have some to learn but I’m trying to contribute more. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. Completed MBA620 on Sunday by completing the final exam. I dropped MBA670 for this semester and will just be taking MBA630. I’m traveling next week and then I have a vacation for two weeks. So, I’m going to be crunched…
General # Traveled for work this week seeing the warehouse in Hazleton, PA. Lots of impressive stuff happening there and I got to see the software in use and spend time with someone who uses it all day every day. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes only a few days as I did not travel with it. Completed final week activities for MBA610 on Tuesday and did all but the final for MBA620 on…
General # Continued with 1:1s, building a stakeholder map, reviewing the backlog, and started leading a few recurring meetings. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. Got all the case studies submitted ahead of time and started on Week 7 activities early. Media # Leah and I finished watching The Traitors Canada season two. Leah and I are still watching Soap. It’s getting back to…
General # Continued with 1:1s, building a stakeholder map, reviewing the backlog, and discussed my first 30 days. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. Missed a few days due to the combination of work, school, and family stuff just being a bit too much. Completed all of week six stuff early so I can get a jump on Week 7 and the case studies which are due tomorrow. All case studies…
General # Continued with 1:1s, building a stakeholder map, reviewing the backlog, and putting together my 30 day review. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. Took a midterm, did some homework, took a quiz, submitted a discussion, and weekly reflection. Media # Leah and I finished The Traitors Canada season one and have started season 2. Leah and I are still watching Soap. Amnesia is…
General # Really ramped up the 1:1 meetings this week and had lots of good conversations. Grabbed a few reports and created one of my own for reviewing backlog activities. Leah and I went to Fun City in Lansing for my niece’s birthday party. It was nice to see the fam. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. I missed on Saturday with school, birthday party, and birthday party related…
General # Short second week on the job with the holiday on Monday. It was nice to be part of the regular cadence of meetings this week. I was also able to schedule some 1:1 meetings with the US development team as well. Seems like a nice group of folks. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes most days. I missed on Thursday again this week with school and dinner. Completed homework, written part…
General # Started a new job. Monday was onboarding and reading documentation and watching what they call “brown bag” videos. They have recorded some lunch and learns that gave some good overviews of their systems. Tuesday through Thursday I was onsite in Novi to meet with teams during their product design team meetings. Exciting to meet and learn from the team so soon. Friday was home again with a…
The Boring Internet via Terry Godier This has been showing up in a number of feeds I follow and I really enjoyed this read. I agree with this take and I think more people should read it. So if you have not yet taken a look I think you should. This is day 43 of 100 Days To Offload.
General # Did not apply to any jobs but I did fill out some paperwork and meet with my boss to talk about next weeks activities. I’m late on this week’s week notes so I am going to work tomorrow! Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. C chord is getting better but going from C to D remains a bit tricky. D was the first chord I learned and it still trips me up. I probably need to…
General # Applied to a few jobs. I’m not going to include this in next weeks week notes. I was offered the position I’ve been interviewing for and I start on 5/18! Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Still working on the C chord. Getting a bit twisted up moving from C to D but I’m making progress and it’s sounding better. Still studying for the PMP although I think I may need to…
Here is my first attempt at answering 40 Questions . What did you do this year that you’d never done before? My wife, son, and I went to France last summer. It was the first time I’ve been to Europe. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions? I don’t make them so I can’t keep them. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope. Did anyone close to you die? Also, no. What cities/states/countries did you…
Project Objective # The objectives of the project were to align the setup configuration for door products within Paradigm software to a standard they referred to as Entry Door System 2.0 (EDS 2.0). These changes needed to be completed across five different retail catalogs. Before # The previous configuration functioned but was cumbersome to maintain often requiring duplicate effort to add or…
(Not that bacon) This is my submission for the IndieWeb Carnival May 2026 . Dear Francis Bacon, I just finished watching this video about your life and how you came to be who you were. I do not think I really appreciated the motivations for the expressive nature of your work prior. The work itself has appealed to me largely due to its deconstructive nature and its implied movement. Part of the…
I was watching a Hank Green video during my lunch today and he shared this animated image a redditor share in this reddit post . This is the combination of about three minutes of travel and you can see a bunch of really interesting details. Some Interesting Details # The bright light in the sky to the right is Venus. There are thunderstorms flashing lightning on the top right of the earth. This is…
Why Notre-Dame Needed to Burn via Engineering The Impossible This video makes a compelling case that the fire actually saved the cathedral. This place was stunning in person when Leah, Noah, and I visited it last summer. This is day 36 of 100 Days To Offload.
Cinco de Cuatro is the fictional holiday from Arrested Development started by Lucille Bluth to deplete supplies for Cinco de Mayo. Having just rewatched the show this is the first thing that came to mind about today’s date. Also, May the fourth be with you and here is some money go see a Star War . This is day 35 of 100 Days To Offload.
The Secret to Success Is ‘Monotasking’ via The Atlantic Even when people are allowed to switch between tasks at their own discretion, the more they switch, the longer everything takes. Study after study has shown how detrimental multitasking can be but the feeling of productivity that it provides is just to alluring. This is day 34 of 100 Days To Offload.
They have engaged the stove and the temperature will begin to rise imperceptibly for now. I’ve been thinking about this since Microsoft made changes regarding Copilot fees but the price hikes are here. Vendors will want to keep the pain small so as not to spook anyone but they have to move toward profitability. This is in reference to the Boiling frog for the uninitiated. This is day 33 of 100…
General # Applied to a few jobs. Had the final interview so now I am just waiting to hear the verdict 🤞. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Spent more time on C chord transitions and playing along with some songs. Getting better at transitioning from a G to a C and back and forth from C to D. Completed the PMP exam application and was approved. I joined PMI and now I have to…
Have you ever bought a door? I would venture to guess that most people haven’t and don’t really know where to start. That is why it is really important to make the quoting process in the electronic retail catalogs as simple as possible. There are two recurring personas that get brought up to help us think about who is the intended audience of these catalogs. First, we liked to ask if your grandma…
First of May by Jonathan Coulton via Jonathan Coulton Post your Justin Timberlake memes and whatnot but I’m going to be listening to this song. This is day 30 of 100 Days To Offload.
I went ahead and created a new post type on the site for “project.” The goal of this post type is to allow me to tag posts that relate to work related projects. Obviously I am not disclosing any sensitive information but I would like to document some of the things I have accomplished professionally. This has been something I have been thinking about since starting the site but never committed to…
Project Objective # The objectives of the project were to create a tool within the companies ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system that would parse orders received from retail customers out of electronic catalogs and create orders using the ERP’s product configurator. Then use that tool to build the relevant mapping to ensure at least 50% of orders are entered automatically without error.…
General # Applied to a few jobs. Scheduled a final interview next week and I am going to spend some more time next week preparing. Provided my schedule last week but did not hearn anything this week about a different position. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Spent more time on C chord transitions and playing along with some songs. I am narrowing the list of songs to learn. There…
I’ve been looking for a job full time for a little over a year now and it is very rarely when I come across a posting with such poor quality control. I feel like I’ve just stared into the face of Boe. I am not naming names or pointing fingers but this series of questions could really do with another pass for quality don’t you think? I get that “n” and “b” are next to each other and you’re busy but…
Dance Yrself Clean (Theme from Twin Peaks) via Kottke Sometimes you see a mashup that seems created for you and this was exactly my reaction to this project. I love both of these things and they’ve been combined in a way that is somehow true to both and simultaneously its own thing. This was initially shared by Kottke which I recommend following if you’re not already. In the comments someone left…
Saw a couple people mention this post and it did not disappoint. Well worth the read. Productive friction really stood out to me.
A recurring theme returns with yet another website update. This time focusing on legibility and professionalism. I made a point setting out some specific goals to ensure progress is made in an intentional way. First, I wanted to increase the legibility of text on the site. This is achieved by swapping fonts. The font Hatori Hanzo font face is replaced by Libre Franklin. Increasing both the size of…
General # Applied to a few jobs. Interview on Tuesday went well and I am hoping for a positive follow up. Had a phone screen Wednesday and will be scheduling some time this upcoming week for a follow up. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Spent more time on C chord transitions and playing along with some songs. I am narrowing the list of songs to learn. There are limited options…
General # Applied to a few jobs. Interview on Wednesday went well I have a follow up interview next Wednesday. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Full song practice got a bit derailed by the C chord. Some of the practice I changed to this week involves that chord a bit more and I’m working on my transitions. More progress on the site rework but it still has a way to go. Not yet in…
General # Applied to a few jobs. Onboarding information is not coming and the position may now be on hold. So that’s disappointing. Interview on Tuesday went well I have a full interview on Wednesday. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. I’m going to start working on a full song this week in addition to exercises. Though I would be done with the rework by now but I keep finding…
General # Applied to a few jobs while documenting them in Obsidian again. I’m waiting for onboarding information and will follow up tomorrow. I have another interview on Tuesday. Practiced guitar for at least 30 minutes each day. Spent a bit more time on days when Leah was at work. I’m doing it again. This site is getting another update but it’s significant enough I’ve created a new branch for it…
Based on the way some people talk about Arch Linux I may be a glutton for punishment. Fortunately for me though, this proved not to be as difficult as you may expect. If you are unaware the distro of Arch Linux has a reputation for being difficult to install. Add in that this was going on a Mac makes it a bit more complicated. This is not a tutorial and more of a discussion of my notes while…
General # Applied to a couple jobs. I realize I stopped logging them in my Obisidan tracker and I need to get back to doing that. It’s too easy to feel accomplished doing an Easy Apply or even powering through a brief form. These are less likely to be effective than tweaking my resume for the specific job. Had an interview that went well and I’m waiting for onboarding information. Took Tater to…
General # Applied to a couple jobs. Had an interview on Thursday that I think went well. Also spoke with some recruiters about a different job. Did at least 20 minutes a day practicing guitar. Played some Overwatch as per usual. Media # Watched the finale of season sixteen of Project Runway. They claimed the result was close but I don’t believe that for a second. The winner won by quite a bit I…
General # Applied to a couple jobs. Been doing at least 20 minutes a day practicing guitar. Moved on from just working on the A and D chords. I’ve now incorporated E chord practice. This is module 2 of beginner guitar on Justin Guitar . I also completed the 5 day challenge from Tony’s Acoustic Challenge . Played some Overwatch as per usual. Did a little extra cleaning this week with a deep dive…
General # Applied to a couple jobs. Been doing at least 20 minutes of day practicing guitar. Played some Overwatch as per usual. Did a little extra cleaning this week with a deep dive downstairs for the cat boxes. Media # Started season sixteen of Project Runway. Oh my gawd the twins are so annoying. That’s the full take so far. Watched the final episode of The Traitors US. I’m just impressed at…