So I committed. It is probably worth noting that I have never made chili the same way twice. Every time I make chili, I “eyeball” it and throw in whatever is laying around the kitchen or that I find interesting at the grocery store/farmer’s market. I should also add that I don’t like chunks in my food, and I don’t care for beans at all. When I eat chili, I’m interested in the hamburger and tomato-based, spicy sauce in which it sits, and that’s really it.

Keep reading for ideas. It’s been over a year, but hopefully I can remember a number of them to get you started on planning your own event.

About a half-second later, new butterflies appeared as I thought about devoting myself to uiNNOVATIONS and taking our business to the next level. So, this is it, I'm committed: soon I'll be able to work outside on a nice fall day, and be challenged to push Movable Type beyond what it can do. I'll also have to do less fun things like pay taxes and participate in conference calls, but I think it will all balance out.

We've been doing things like organizing the office and working on the business plan to prepare for this. While I am still a little insecure about making the jump, I feel about as ready as I possibly can.

School (for teachers) starts on August 28th, and students will arrive after Labor Day. Curriculum includes the cell, human body, food preservation, and ecology- all excellent topics!

If you have stumbled upon danandsherree.com due to a Google search for classroom materials or you are just interested in seeing my work, please feel free to check it out!

As many of you know, I began my student teaching assignment at DePaolo Middle School in Southington, CT. So far, it has been going well. The kids in that school are great! There was a winter storm in Connecticut last night (I think they called it Christopher) and it was predicted to drop 8 to 15 inches of snow. I think that we only got about 6 inches, but it was enough to close school in most of the state. So what did I do with my free time, you may ask? I did housework that I was too lazy to do over the weekend. I also have some paperwork for school to catch up on after lunch. Fun times!

• Starting at 7:30 am is tough--I used to not wake up until about 7:30! It takes about an hour to get there, so I've been getting up at about 5:30 to get ready.
• I'm in a non-permanent tiny cubicle. They're expanding and people will be shuffled around, including me. After the move (in late November) I'll have a more permanent and larger cubicle. But still, it's a cube--nowhere near as nice as an office!
• It's nice to be using a large (22") monitor again. I'm using a non-permanent computer, too; I suspect I'll get the real one after moving into the new cubicle.
• On Monday I went through the InMath tutorial, Tuesday and Wednesday I did a bunch of searching-and-replacing of fonts and characters, and today I dove into some "real" work of typesetting equations and annotations. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's work wasn't much fun, but today's was.

Then Joel mentioned something about "having a website" and I realized I should put these here. So, in 1995 early-web fashion, here's a page of photos of the people I work with, along with a brief description. All of these people work in the graphics/production area.

From my point of view, the problem is simply that I'm too good at my job: two years ago, I spent a few hours every day solving some production problems. They're all solved now, and I probably don't even spend two hours a week on new problems. Similarly, last year's Handbook CD took about four weeks to complete--I rewrote most of the install and autorun routines. I did a good job, too, because for this year's disc I didn't have to rewrite anything; the project took about 1-1/2 weeks. In some weird way it makes me feel good that I'm being let go because I've solved all the problems.

And so, I'm looking for a new job. I keep fiddling with my resume to try and improve it, and I've registered with many of the job search places on the web. I enjoy working in the publishing, printing, and prepress field and that's the kind of job I've been looking for. I've enjoyed being the higher-level technical support for the ARRL production and graphics departments, and I'm sure I don't want to do any first-tier technical support. That said, I think I'd enjoy getting back into web development again--though my programming skills are far from stellar. For better or worse I have a rather varied skill set, making me a "jack of all trades, master of none." If anybody knows of any job leads, I'd appreciate a quick e-mail!

2005/06/01 Update: A few more photos have been added.

I'm getting everything packed up now. Most of the equipment will be leaving today--driven out--and I'll be arriving Thursday morning with the rest of the ARRL contingency to get everything set up.

Sherree e-mailed this photo of her in a hard hat and safety glasses to me as she was getting ready to go visit some of her coworkers on a job site.

Nearly two months ago I was asked to take a photo for the 2005 ARRL Handbook cover! The initial order for this book is going to be 20,000 copies and it's possible a reprint will be needed later in the year. More can be read about the handbook on ARRLWeb.

At the right you can see the original photo I shot; below that is the Handbook cover with the photo integrated. A larger view of the cover is available if you'd like to read the text.

Taken with my Nikon Coolpix 5700 digital camera. The circuit board glows because I shot it on a light table. Strobes light the top of the board.

When I showed my Dad the column he responded the same way--he laughed. Every First Class rank Boy Scout can tell you how to simply measure the height of a tree or other structure. My Dad wrote a letter to the Doctor explaining these techniques and I supplied a drawing of one of them. Our letter was published in the August 2004 issue of QST.

You can read both the original question and answer (from June's QST) and our response (August QST) in this PDF file (274 kB, requires the free Adobe Reader).

On a related note, in May QST is an article about Joe's visit to the League. In the article is a photo showing off the back of my head. You can read the article (PDF format), if you want.

Today was a big day at the ARRL: Joe Walsh (along with his manager and Bob Heil) came for a tour and to operate at W1AW.

We had a short opportunity to get photos and autographs, so I got my copy of The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over DVD signed. Joel, a coworker who took these photos, included his autographed QST magazine with my DVD in the photo at the right. Below are two photos from the photo/autograph "event."