Personal Projects & Interests is my sandbox for life outside the office—where spreadsheets, sensors, and code tackle real-world chores and passions. Here you’ll see data models guiding gear buys, DIY automations that make the house (and gate) smarter, endurance training logged like an experiment, and reflections that tie it all together.
My son was jumping around the neighborhood on his 2019 Men’s Stumpjumper ST Comp Alloy 29 and noticed his chain sticking on the back of his bike. He was jumping around and noticed that the rear gears and chain were binding. You can see this below: I took off the derailleur and noticed the notch […] read more
I’m a Christian and that defines my worldview and ethics. And I love art. Like Keats, I believe that good art is both beautiful and useful: Beethoven’s symphonies inspire awe; Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov explores themes of suffering, faith, and free will; It’s a Wonderful Life inspires hope and encourages selflessness; Shakespeare’s plays blend humor […] read more
It’s a question that has likely crossed many minds: Won’t heaven be boring? When we read Revelation 4:8 about beings who “day and night never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,'” it might sound like a monotonous loop of endless repetition. Doesn’t anything done forever sound exhausting? But this modern […] read more
Plato is an unexpected architect of progressive thought, but his name has come up as the bad guy in some conservative circles lately. This is partly because at the heart of Plato’s political philosophy lies the concept of the philosopher-king, a notion that resonates with progressive governance and control. The philosopher-king concept fundamentally assumes that […] read more
Our gate is the most important motor in our home. It’s critical for security, and if it’s open, the dog escapes. As all our kids cars go in and out, it’s always the gate opening and closing. It matters. The problem is that we have to open it and we don’t always have our phones […] read more
In today’s educational landscape, the concept of tolerance has become a foundational aspect of many school policies and curricula, aimed at fostering environments where all students can flourish regardless of their background. The intent is commendable, as it seeks to promote respect and understanding among students of various cultural, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. However, […] read more
So, is it a good price? With my oldest daughter heading off to college soon, we’ve realized that our family car doesn’t need to be as large as it used to be. We’ve had a great relationship with our local CarMax over the years, and we appreciate their no-haggle pricing model. My wife had her […] read more
Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are valued teachers and they generated many of the ideas bumping into each other in the culture today. Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and social critic who is known for his contributions to the field of existentialism. He believed that the individual’s relationship to God was the most […] read more
Lauren was using her desk for art and computing. She sketched out a design and I quickly drew it in sketchup. We decided to use an existing top from Home Depot. I probably won’t do this again. The quality is really poor. I had a to gouge out lots of loose wood and we used […] read more
“If love is the essence and totality of the good demanded of us, how can it be known that we love?” Karl Barth We think in groups and live in tribes. It’s hard to believe anything that doesn’t align with a big group of folks. The historical struggle between economic classes is shifting to a […] read more