Don't Fuck It Up Homie

While attending school I work in the engineering department Hydraulic Power Company in Portland Oregon. This is a Family company, and I have been giving an incredible learning experience while studying Computer Engineering at PSU. I have been sparingly helping a senior engineer on the research and development of a Energy Monitoring service offered by our company. The engineer gave notice last week that he is leaving our company; this has gave me the opportunity to take the lead on a lot of the most immediate tasks. This is EXTREMELY exciting because we are using a lot of the equipment and technology I study in school! This is also an opportunity for me to show the company what I am capable of doing as well as how I can execute under Pressure. My cousin, who works for the company and is a rock star of a salesperson gave me the best advice ever:

This is your moment! Don't fuck it up Homie.

New Direction

It has been a few weeks from my last post so here is an update. We have decided to move back to the Seattle area after school instead of moving to Boulder. Seattle has a great innovation and business environment, our family is there as well as our mentors. My wife is beginning her interior design business, she is leaving her design job to go out on her own- I couldn't be happier! She has 6 projects on the books for the next 6 months so this will be an extremely busy time for us! We are in the process of developing a website on wix.com with the idea of getting a professional website built in within the year.

I have signed up for two courses on coursera.com; I am a CE student, but I love to learn about the CS field when I can!

I am getting more familiar with my raspberry pi and am currently working on a voice activated/touch screen video display. I will update on this as soon as I get a working program.

The next post will be about my plan for Business!

Change of Direction

It has been a few weeks from my last post, and we have had a Change of Direction in our plans. My schooling got set back 9 months. My 373 class was cancelled this summer due to lack of enrollment, without this class I can't start my senior project. We have decided to make the best of the situation and will take 2 classes per quarter instead of 4, focus on outside projects and take on my responsibility at my job (junior engineer at a Power Systems company). We had a plan to move to Boulder, but we believe we are going to move back to Seattle. Our family lives up there, and Seattle has an amazing tech/entrepreneurship vibe! I am going to start to work on a project that allows parents to monitor the cell-phone use of their kids while they are driving....more on this later!

Get Off Your A$$

It is the Tuesday after my finals and although it feels good to kick back and relax, its time to get off my A$$! One thing every self-made success person has is common is the fact they get the most out of their time( I will touch on this topic later). These 9 days are a perfect time to work on new projects, explore new topics, and catch up on some reading (more on this topic later). A lot of people  wonder how people become successful, and the number one reason is they GET OFF THEIR A$$.

The plan this week is to work on the Raspberry Pi.
Read "Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy is Wrong"
Start a workout routine
Start Reading for Summer Quarter Classes
Watch interesting topics on TED talks

So, turn off your t.v.
Don't go out at night.
Go to bed late, wake up early.
Get off  your A$$ and do something!

Tale of Two Cities

Over the next 3-6 months we need to make a decision on where we want to move to after graduation. We have narrowed it Down to Seattle or Boulder.

Seattle is where Family is. We group up there. We love the area. We hate the weather; October - mid June. Seattle has a very innovative culture. We love the water in the PNW

Boulder has a vibe like Silicon Valley. It has four seasons a year; 300+ days of sunshine. It is considered by many people a Meca for Engineering and Venture Capitalists. The downside is our family won't be nearby.  We love to ski, and it would be amazing to ski the Rockies for a few years.

The question we are struggling with is: What environment is the best for us Professionally and Personally. Is it better to be around family for support, or our on your own?

I would love to hear from people in both locations. We will be making a few trips in the fall and winter to boulder to get a better feel for it.

Stay tuned....

The Better Half

The Better Half to this equation is my wife Sonia! Sonia has her Master Degree in Interior Design and Architecture; her thesis was on Feng Shui and Sustainable Design. She is flat out a Brilliant Designer. Her Portfolio includes Seattle Waterfront condo's, Corporate Offices, Vacation homes, Residential property, etc. She is beautiful, smart, creative, and very talented.

Sonia is in the process of developing her online design company with a launch date of September 2012. Keep tuned for a link to her site and blog.

One thing is true about every "deal", one side always gets the "better deal"; I definitely got the better deal!

Raspberri Pi

I just received my Raspberry Pi! I am very excited about this computer!! I have a few product idea's I want to create with the Raspberry Pi. One is a ignition control system for your car.
I highly suggest checking out Raspberrypi.org!
I will update this blog on my progress with the learning and developing my project!

I would love any suggestions and stories of projects other people are creating!!

Cheers,

Adam