“It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that.”
–G. H. Hardy
I know, I know. It’s the same tired old excuses when it comes to the time between posts. I’m busy. I forgot. Other things are more important. None of those are really good enough for what has been happening these days. It’s true that I’ve been busy: I’m traveling more than ever. It’s also true that there are more important things than the internet going on: I’m building a house. However, it’s rarely true that I forget about this forum. I maintain a daily Twitter account, but I always think about topics I should expand on in this place. We circle back to the same thing and I realize that most of the things I want to talk about fall down the priority list and don’t get discussed to their full extent.
To talk about that traveling more than ever, I’ve already topped last year’s travel responsibilities and we’re only in August. There are still several more trips planned for this year, and I’m sure that many more will present themselves before the year is over. I’m also still working on creating a new position that will allow me to travel much more frequently than I currently do. It’s a role that I hold very dear to my heart and believe that it will benefit our customers in a way they’ve never realized. Whether my company feels the same way will take a bit of time to figure out, but I expect more details on that in the near future.
It is interesting to note that a very high-ranking development lead at the company was recently relieved to know that I was part of a customer unhappiness trip to attempt to smooth things over. The fact that someone (whom I wasn’t sure knew my face by name) was impressed enough with my skill that he was comforted by my presence says a lot about my reputation. Perhaps it is naive of me to assume that in nearly 5 years I haven’t made a name for myself, but I still feel that I try to hide among the shadows enough that this kind of recognition catches me by surprise. It’s no where near a bad thing, but it surprises me when it happens.
For those of you that weren’t swayed by that small sidebar. Yes, I’m building a house. It’s been something I’ve talked about for a while now, but it’s finally happening. The current projection is that it will belong to me on October 25th of this very year. For those of you in Madison, it’s in a subdivision known as Cardinal Glenn. For those of you outside of Madison, suffice to say that it is in Madison, WI. Until this point in my life, I’ve been weighing the benefits to staying at my current company versus moving on to something else. It’s true that Epic may not be the highest reaches of my dreams, but I thoroughly enjoy what I do there. Even when days are hard to finish out, I can’t see myself somewhere else. Whether that means I’m destined to stay there is another topic entirely, but for now it means I’ll be looking at permanent residency in the city of Madison.
For those of you that truly know me and have seen the plans/location for this house know that it’s not my true dream house. I’ve accepted that it will be a temporary home. The things that it will offer me far exceed the potential loss that will be presented to me when I decide to rid myself of it in a few years. The biggest positive that it has (aside from the wasted money on an apartment) is the workshop space it will afford me. To this day, I’m already planning the spaces and what tools I’ll need for some of my first projects. A Kickstarter program has already given me a versatile CNC machine to put in my garage. (The next big purchase being a 3D printer.) The CNC machine will begin my arsenal of tools that allow me to build nearly anything that I want. However, it’s interesting how much time I’ve spent researching techniques for hand-building many projects over the last few months. While CNC will produce a product much quicker and with much more exacting results, I feel that I want to do a few projects by hand anyway. I suspect the first few project will be a mixture of these techniques.
Regardless of where my hobby-heart tells me to go, it’s important to note that the next stage of my life is about to begin. I’ve already owned a house once in my life, so this will not be entirely new territory to me. I know where I need to focus my attention and where I can hire out the expertise. I already know that I hate lawn care and thrive on interior work. Because of this, I’m already setting up a permanent lawn care crew and making plans for what I’ll do to the basement area to increase my livable space.
In short, I’ve not forgotten about this audience and am actively building on my future in this city. I know many people are happy for the next stages of my life and what they will bring me, and I’m excited for the opportunities this will create in my world.
August 19th, 2013
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Man is the only creature that dares to light a fire and live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned to put it out.
–Henry Jackson Vandyke, Jr
I had a conversation tonight about they way we interpret certain events as signs. My position being that events happen all the time, but only in their proximity to other larger events do we put emphasis on them This led me to consider the phenomenon on my drive home. I determined it should be called “Retroactive Prophecy”, a form of the “Self-fulfilling Prophecy. A google search of that phrase returns the wiki page for Postdiction. It doesn’t quite line up, but we can start there. Linked from that wiki post, I found the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy wiki page. I really think this is the key. It’s different than the typical hindsight in the way that we use events from the past to try to explain why something else happened. Hindsight just tells us that “yes, that happened and we should have foreseen it.” My theory of Retroactive Prophecy is just a way for our brain to re-imagine the small events that happened before a larger event. These small events are seen as more important than normal. They have helped the larger event happen.
Religious people (or even those who believe the universe itself controls destiny) often look for signs that they should or shouldn’t do something. I often see people re-interpreting their life after they’ve made a choice and telling me “I should have done X because this sign Y happened.” If that’s the way you see the universe, who is to say I’m right? I don’t have better answers than anybody else. This is just what my delusional mind sees on one Saturday night.
July 7th, 2013
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If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.
– Edith Wharton
When something is working great, it’s always a risk when you try to make it better. Often, you end up tearing apart that thing that you liked so much. That decision to change the status quo ends up altering things in a way you never thought possible. Once that change is made, there’s no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. The future is changed in a way that can’t be undone. However, there are those rare occurrences when shaking things up results in unexpected changes that you couldn’t imagine living without.
Those rare moments are what we all strive for. We live for the thrill of finding that pivotal moment when our lives change forever. Every one of these forks has its own sense of majesty and excitement, but when that moment of chance pays off there’s no greater feeling. When you get the reward you’ve been searching for there is no better way to describe life. You get to show the endless bits of randomness that you’ve finally overcome them and transformed yourself into a purposeful being. Tell them that they’ve been wrong all these years. Once you do that, nothing will stand in your way!
February 10th, 2013
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“The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way.'”
–Grace Hopper
As a perk of doing what I do, I have a 2013 Mustang convertible at my disposal this week. The convertible portion of that sentence isn’t of importance this time of year, but the Mustang part definitely is. There is very little in life that doesn’t melt away when you bury your right foot into the go-pedal of a machine that very much wants you to make it go… faster. Granted, that can cause other problems, but you take what you can get these days.
Beyond that, life is going rather well. Some interesting things are developing at work. We’re in the discussion stages right now, but if this pans out that way I hope then my stress level should decrease significantly while my productivity and job satisfaction skyrocket. That’s not at all to say that I’m dissatisfied right now, but I’m excited to see where this new path leads. In many ways, this led me to the title quote. The things I do these days are stepping a bit outside the normal duties of my role and it’s nice to belong to a company that understands and believes that it’s OK.
November 6th, 2012
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“To me, there is no greater act of courage than being the one who kisses first.”
–Janeane Garofalo
Life is a constantly changing scenario where you never have all the answers, even when you might think that you do. Life’s most recent curve ball spins with an interesting dynamic. It breaks down into a couple parts. One such piece is how others perceive you. I’ve been losing a lot of weight recently. It’s interesting doing this the way that I am. I’m doing it slowly so those close to me haven’t really said much about it. I’m at the point where those that see me infrequently notice that something is different but aren’t sure enough to say anything. When I mention it, they instantly recognize the difference. That sort of thing is motivating me to push it beyond this point.
Pieces of this process renews my sense of importance. It’s in no way related, but I feel like it’s making people notice me again. Things have been picking up at work recently. Not only do my project seem to be going well, but I’m also picking up important projects from elsewhere. There’s talk of moving me up in the ranks as both a technical coordinator and maybe even a team leader. Both areas are new and interesting to me so I’m very curious to see how this plays out.
And now for the title quote… I met someone new last month. Like always, I’m taking things slowly. Not because I’m scared, like normal, but because I’m unsure. Overall, life is going so well right now. Introducing a change on that magnitude right now is just asking for chaos. But maybe chaos is exactly what I need right now. But even that doesn’t seem to be the whole story. I keep asking myself what it is that I really want. Could this new connection be that thing? I suppose only time will tell. For now I’m enjoying the journey and am waiting to see where the path leads me.
September 30th, 2012
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“The follies which a man regrets most in his life are those which he didn’t commit when he had the opportunity.”
–Helen Rowland
A close friend of mine is leaving Madison in a couple weeks. This is a problem I have more frequently than I like. It’s a sad thing, but it’s one of those inevitable things I always expect to happen. While this makes the transition easier, it limits the quality of life I get from friendships because I now tend not to invest as much of myself in relationships. There are rare exceptions where do I try to put myself out there more than normal. This was one of those times.
One of those times indeed.
Expanding on that idea; I’m 27 now and I’m not sure I have a best friend anymore. Actually, I don’t know if I’ve had one for a long time. I feel like that ship sailed sometime during college. High school friends all explode into different directions and connections just kind of fall apart. That’s not to say that I’m lonely. I have lots of people in my life. Most of them are coworkers but I don’t think that discounts the relationship in the slightest. That just means we have more in common, right? Most of my friends know that I’m basically married to my job. Some days it’s an abusive relationship, but the vast majority of the time we’re the best companions.
I’ve been looking at some land that I could build a workshop on recently. I think if I had some kind of creative outlet like that I would be able to smooth over these bumps in life more easily. For now I just bury myself deeper in work and wait for the next hit.
So life doesn’t always work out the way you want. To paraphrase Helen above, you have to try anyway.
July 19th, 2012
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Originally submitted at 4 Wheel Parts
Fits 2011 to 2012 JK Wrangler, Rubicon and Unlimited;2 and 4-door models;Black powder coat;16-gauge steel;21,195 cubic inches of lockable storage space;Mounts in Jeep with or without OEM subwoofer;Mounts in 2 and 4-door models with OEM hard or soft top;Includes all mounting hardware required and do…
Security Deck Enclosure
Well designed but lacking a little
By
Nic from
Madison, WI on
7/15/20124out of 5
Pros: Can Withstand Use, Sturdy
Cons: Fastener Quality
Best Uses: Summer, Security
Describe Yourself: Truck Enthusiast, Casual Driver, Auto Enthusiast, Mechanic
Installed this in my 2011 JK Unlimited Rubicon. Overall installation was pretty easy. The bigger pieces were just a bit difficult to work with alone. An extra set of hands would really help out. I also did it with the doors off, which helped tremendously. Recommend that.
Other reviews online mentioned shortcomings with the fasteners in the kit. They’re standard medium grade bolts (Grade 5, if I recall correctly). Because I had to adjust the deck several times to get the back door to close properly, I had one of the bolts sheer off. I’m going to completely replace all of the bolts with Grade 8 in the coming weeks. It’s a bit overkill, but I have to replace one already so why not.
The deck does clear the stock subwoofer. I was worried that the complete enclosure around the subwoofer would muffle it, but it still sounds pretty good.
The whole assembly mounts on top of the rear tub rails. If you have a hard top it sits on top of the lower lip of that as well. That adds several steps to adding/removing the hardtop. I haven’t attempted it yet, but it looks like it will take a bit of disassembling just to get the top on and off. I looked at building a spacer for the rest of the tub lip so that this whole assembly could fit under the hardtop but I think that messes with the clearance on every other piece. The front top pieces would be more prone to leaking with the extra gap. Not sure what the doors would do, they might be able to handle it.
With the back plate installed, you still have a few inches of space behind the rear seats (in the Unlimited, anyway). See the second picture with the hat for size reference. It’s enough for emergency blankets or maybe even an off-road jack.
I’m a bit disappointed that there isn’t any kind of lifter mechanism to assist and/or hold up the deck when you’re accessing your goodies. When loading/unloading you have to prop up the deck with one shoulder which can make it difficult. You could probably fabricate a latch for the upper pins to slide into, but I’ve not given it any design thought yet.
The packaging could have been a bit better. It came packed in polystyrene foam which rubbed off quite a bit on the black powder coat. It would have been nice to see the metal pieces wrapped in plastic to keep them clean. I took the pictures before wiping everything down so you can see what I mean. It cleans up fairly easily, but it’s the small touches like this that would make it even better right out of the box.
The product is designed very nicely and looks mostly professional. The bright bolts on the black powder coat do look a bit homemade, but not overly so. The powder coat is high quality and is fairly resistant to scratching. I did manage to scratch it the first day. I had a rock stuck to the bottom of that 30 pound tub you see in the first picture and I slid it across the lid.
In all, it’s a very nice addition to the Jeep’s security. It’s not completely impenetrable, but it would take someone skilled several minutes to get into it far enough to get something out. The optional security bolts they give you would help, but only by a few more minutes for that really skilled thief.
View from back of Jeep with deck closed
Tags: Using Product, Picture of Product
Space still available behind rear seats
Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product
(legalese)
July 16th, 2012
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“The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.”
–Red Auerbach
Since I’m currently traveling and people have asked for this in the past, I decided to do a “what’s in my bag?” post. This is what I brought on this trip (and most other recent trips).
What's in Nic's Bag?
Epic Laptop Backpack
Toshiba laptop and charger
DoubleSight USB monitor
1st generation iPad with Booq case
2 bottles water
Ziploc bags
Aleve-D Cold and Sinus caplets
Advil tablets
Caffeine tablets
Chewing gum
Breath mints
Toothpicks
Wireless USB mouse
Wired USB mouse
Keys
2 pens
Pencil
Eraser
Chapstick
USB hub
120v to USB charger
Wired headset for phone
Apple USB cable
3.5 mm male to male audio cable
Apple earbuds
Eyeglass micro-cloth
Airline audio adapter
MicroUSB to USB cable
Cat-5 Ethernet cable
HDMI cable
Zippered Leather portfolio containing:
-Business cards
-Notepad
-Netflix DVD
-Calculator
-Travel rewards cards
I think I need to cut some stuff out of it.
November 30th, 2011
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“The key to someone’s heart is never lost: It’s just that the locks were changed ’cause you’re some sort of psycho.”
–Jean Sorensen
So it’s been just over two months since I’ve had the Jeep. All through that time, it has been amazing. For those that don’t know yet its name is The Bad Mango, or just the Mango for short. In classic Jeep fashion it seems unstoppable, though I’ve only been able to take it off-road once. There are occasions when I miss the Diesel, but they are rare and I get past it. There have been two occasions when I just missed the fact that my vehicle didn’t have a large bed on it for cargo. One of those times, we fixed it by making two trips. The other has yet to be remedied. I’ve got some tricks I think I’ll use, but it’s not been a big deal yet.
I’m also starting to do some work to The Mango. The first thing I did to it was install a new front bumper. It’s an XRC Stinger from Smittybilt. So far, as expected, it looks pretty bad-ass. I’m excited. I’m still deciding which winch needs to be paired with it, but that should be the next purchase.
Speaking of that time I was able to take The Mango off-road, that was this weekend. On a near-whim, Page, Caitlin and I decided to drop everything for the weekend and go meet my dad and brother at the cabin in the North Woods of Wisconsin. It was a 5+ hour drive after work on Friday and when we got there, the power had gone out from a storm. We sat around by flashlight for a while, then went to bed. Saturday is when we did normal cabin camping stuff like hang out at the lake and take the Jeep off-road through the woods. Overall, it was a tremendously exciting time. I realized a few things while I was up there staring at the lake and fire, and maybe it will fix some things around here. Sitting in an environment like this really clears the mind.
In other news, I’m working on starting some new hobbies. So far the results are cool and it is good at relaxing me, so I’ll post more details the next time I get a chance.
July 5th, 2011
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“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
–Stephen Leacock
As always, a lot has changed since I last posted. That is probably more a factor of the long intermission time and not due to things rapidly changing all the time.
Regardless of the reasons, the big news right now is that I’m selling my truck. Readers from a past life know that I currently drive a 4×4 2006 F-250 Super Duty with the 6.0L PowerStroke Turbo Diesel. It is a massive and iconic vehicle. There was a lot of opposition when I first announced this vehicle would no longer be mine. I’m positive that I’ll miss this truck. At nearly 3 years, I’ve had this one longer than any of my previous ones. In that time, I did quite a few customizations to it. The diesel engine is an amazing piece of technology that allows for unbelievable amounts of additional power. I modified mine so that it output an additional 240 horsepower.
So what could I be getting that would pull me away from something like the Diesel? In fact, it’s even pulling me away from my generations of trucks. I’m getting a Jeep Wrangler. Also for the first time in my life , I purchased it brand new. So new, in fact, that the manufacturer had not built it yet. There was initially an 8 week estimated delivery delay, but it arrived 4 weeks ahead of schedule. I was out of town for work last week when it came in so I’m scheduled to pick it up tomorrow at 5pm. I’m quite excited for it. I got the top of the line Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with nearly every option (all the good ones, that is). I opted to keep the manual transmission which is going to keep me very happy, even with the lower power from the engine.
I’ll be sure to post pictures and first impressions this week once I’ve driven it a little.
May 1st, 2011
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