Submitted by Don Doman Welcome to the world of the Internet of Things (IoT). That means connected products delivering fantastic services AND reasons to worry. “Smart” products use the internet and report back to their home database. For example an smart electric circular saw might report back to the manufacturer when your blade needs to […]
Tacoma
Down Under and Above Board
Submitted by Don Doman We donated a special Name That Tune night to our Tacoma Rotary auction. Politician Jake Fey won the bid and was the only person we knew at the evening of fine dining, talk, and Name That Tune with me at the piano. My wife, Peggy was the sole judge and jury. […]
Exercise a Teenage Mind and Compete – Science Olympiad
Submitted by Don Doman Writing in an article entitled “The US is falling behind academically” the World Economic Forum writes “Recently released data from international math and science assessments indicate that U.S. students continue to rank around the middle of the pack, and behind many other advanced industrial nations.” An earlier report in 2015 noted […]
Show Them the Money – My Favorite Negotiating Technique
Submitted by Don Doman An old Eagles Hall used to be our studio in downtown Tacoma. We shared offices with a non-competing video firm. They did a lot of dupe work making VHS copies of 3/4 inch video masters. I would occasionally pass through their control room while copies were being made. I was walking […]
Hiring Others to Do Your Job
Submitted by Don Doman I grew up in a mom and pop motel. I did everything from washing linen to renting rooms. Making repairs, moving appliances, painting, and mowing was all just part of my chores. I began renting rooms when I was in the seventh grade. As an adult, my wife and I owned […]
A Celebration of Yard Art
Submitted by Don Doman Yard Art is generally a term for “any man-made aesthetic experience occurring in a private yard or garden.” However, I like to go a little broader and add murals and almost any artistic display you can see while driving by a yard, a building, or other structures including commissioned pieces of […]
Davy Crockett and Me
Submitted by Don Doman Most people today don’t know about the big craze of the mid-fifties, Davy Crockett. There were five one-hour episodes shown on the Disneyland television series. They ran on ABC from 1954-1955. The series stared Fess Parker as Davy Crockett, who later also starred as Daniel Boone; and Buddy Ebsen, who later […]
Madrona Deer Park – Sculpture
Submitted by Don Doman It all started with a Deodar cedar, which is native to the Himalayan Mountains of northern India. Unfortunately, it was growing in our front yard at the southwest corner of our home. It pollinated twice a year and covered the deck, the driveway and the cars with golden pollen. On the […]
It’s the Little Things That Count
Submitted by Don Doman For our twenty-fifth anniversary someone gave us a little silver set. It was really nice, but it didn’t mean anything to us. I don’t think we ever used it. While an earlier gift (wedding or anniversary) from my uncle who operated a gas station gave us a set of serrated steak […]