Author: Josh

After deliberating for a few days, I finally decided to commission my own blood to paint the three little birds design that I wanted for my first longboard.

[flv]http://www.janicek.com/video/20110324_Painting3littlebirds.flv[/flv]

It was supposed to be 47″, but due to some plywood overhang, I had to scale it down to 46″. This video is of me transferring and rough-cutting the design shape. Thankfully my neighbor, Charles came over and told me about hollow ground jigsaw blades, otherwise I probably would have splintered my deck.

[flv]http://www.janicek.com/video/20110316_longboard_shape.flv[/flv]

[flv]http://www.janicek.com/video/20110315_Longboard_Press.flv[/flv]

Last night Maly and I went out for dinner at the neighborhood restaurant. Nothing fancy. Nothing out of the ordinary. She had the burger with a side of fruit. I had the tortilla fried catfish and shared some of my fries and coleslaw with her.

Shortly after we sat down she asked, “Daddy, can I go play on the jungle gym?”

“Sure, but stay where I can see you. And don’t be gone too long; our food will be here soon.”

I kept an eye on her and noticed a few things during my subconscious observations.

My daughter and I haven’t gone out for dinner by ourselves in a long time.

I didn’t feel compelled to keep a hawk’s eye on her as she played. She’s almost 5-years-old and if she falls or hurts herself, and she has the capacity to do so, she’ll come running back to me at our table. If she gets hurt badly enough, I know her whimpers, cries and screams well enough to where I can hear them through the sounds of a busy restaurant and a playground full of screaming and laughing children.

She looked alone. She would come back to our table every couple minutes for a sip of her milk or to color in a few lines on her kid’s menu and then make her way back to the playground. Each time she’d leave our table, she’d do so in a hesitating cadence while she surveyed the landscape and the other children. It seemed like every other child out there was in the company of friends or siblings.

As she would cross the miniature suspension bridge or climb up and slide down the slide, I’d catch her watching for me out of the corner of her eye as I sat at our table. She’d tilt her head to the right and sneak in a bashful smile. And I’d reciprocate as my heart maintained it’s butter-like form.

At the time, I think I was indifferent. Thinking about it now, I think I was sad. I was sad because she’s old enough to where she can go out to the playground by herself and I no longer have to stay within arm’s reach to catch her every fumble or fall. It’s yet another sign that she’s growing and doesn’t need Elise or me all of the time. I was saddened by what I observed as her loneliness. She didn’t have a sibling or a friend with her like all of the other children. I was sad when when she came back to our table at one point and said, “Daddy, a little girl came up to me and said ‘you’re in my way.’ The girl didn’t even say ‘excuse me.'” I was sad when I told her that she’s going to experience little girls like that for the rest of her life. I was sad when, after I’d paid for our meal, I asked if she wanted to go back out to the playground with me and she said she wanted to go home instead.

As we were leaving the restaurant she said, “Daddy, I’m cold.”

I picked her up and held her close to my body. She put her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder as we slowly walked back to the car.

That made me happy.

A few weeks ago Adrian and I were having dinner before attending a funeral. As we were paying at the cashier stand, I pulled my iPhone from my pocket to have it slide out of my grip and land, from a height of approximately 4-feet, on the tile floor. I picked up the phone and quickly inspected it to find it had a little fracture in the upper right corner of the glass face. The phone worked as normal and I didn’t mind the minute cosmetic damage.

Fast forward a couple weeks and I’m getting up from the couch on Saturday night to go to bed. As I’m getting up, the phone slipped out of my pocket and fell the 15-inches to the hardwood floor and must’ve hit just perfectly because the glass face spiderwebbed.

After living with my cosmetically mangled iPhone for a couple days, I decided to look into trying to fix it myself. I found an iPhone 3GS replacement digitizer kit on Amazon for next to nothing. I excitedly waited for my replacement kit to come in the mail. In the meantime, I started studying up on how to replace my phone’s digitizer.

And at last, today was the day that the replacement digitizer was delivered to our mailbox. I’d made a run to the grocery store after work and before I stopped to get the mail. When I got home, I had the mail in-tow, with the bubble wrapped package containing my iPhone digitizer replacement kit. I hopped out of the Jeep and put the mail on the garage floor so I could bring the groceries into the house. Elise had to run a quick errand so we were two ships passing in the night. A couple minutes later, Elise came back into the house to inform me that she’d accidentally run over the mail. My bubble wrapped package containing my digitizer replacement kit was included in the carnage.

What are the odds of that happening?

When I decided to grow the Chelsea Lawn, I thought it would be cool to do a time lapse because, as I’d recently discovered with our little Santa rye grass pot, rye grass grows quickly.

This is my first photographic time lapse and, although it’s not as cool as I was hoping it would be, it was still a fun and relatively easy project. All I did was setup our Canon Rebel XT on a tripod, hooked the camera up to my computer with a 10′ USB cable and set OS X’s Image Capture (I don’t know why Apple doesn’t tout this little handy application) to shoot a frame at 5 minute intervals. I’d click ‘Start’ in Image Capture at around 8 a.m., go about my day and then click ‘Stop’ around 5:30 p.m. Then I simply dragged that day’s photos into iMovie to build up my movie comprised of over 1,000 images over the course of 5 days.

A few things I learned that are worth noting:

1. A photographic time lapse of grass growing probably only requires a frame every 10-30 minutes. On my first two days, I’d set Image Capture to shoot a frame every minute. It wasn’t until the 3rd day that I changed it to shoot a frame every 5 minutes.
2. This time lapse probably would’ve worked better had I shot in landscape versus portrait.
3. If possible, connect the camera to an external power source if the shot sequence is going to extend beyond the capacity of your battery or batteries. The shifting of the frame from day to day in this video is due to my having to move the camera to swap out batteries.
4. Manually focus on the subject of the time lapse for a consistent focal point.
5. Rye grass grows quite a bit overnight.

Watch the video here:

For Christmas, Joanne sent Maly a little Santa head pot with a little package of rye grass seeds. A few days before Christmas, Maly and I planted the seeds and were able to watch the seeds turn into bright green blades of grass. Maly got a kick out of it because she was able to see the “fruits” of her labor, and she likes to give Santa a haircut every couple days. I enjoy looking at the vibrant green blades of grass on our kitchen window sill. The growth and life are refreshing, inspiring and invariably puts a smile on my face when I make my morning coffee.

Last night I was inspired and decided we needed a little rye grass lawn in our house. I ran over to the HoPot this morning and picked up a bag of rye grass and some scrap lumber to make a planter box. I built a little 2-foot by 4-inch box about 2-inches deep, slapped some leftover trim paint on it, put down a layer of combination peat moss and potting soil, a heavy layer of rye grass seeds and another top layer of soil. Then I went outside and poured a cup full of rain water from our rain barrel to water my new lawn. Hopefully in a couple days we’ll have a cool little planter box with some lush & vibrant green grass growing.

More photos of the Chelsea Lawn to come…

1/11/11 UPDATE:

After 1 week, and after becoming a bit discouraged and on the verge of dismissing the project, I came home this morning after getting a haircut to find bright green sprouts rearing their little heads:

1/12/11 UPDATE:

1/13/11 UPDATE:

1/14/11 UPDATE:

1/15/11 UPDATE:

1/16/11 UPDATE:

You can watch the 5 day time lapse video here.

I just got off the phone with a corporate recruiter and, well, I just feel like venting about the conversation. I’d venture to say that 50% of the hiring managers and recruiters are not much unlike shoppers. To me, there are 3 types of shoppers:

1. the impulse buyer: you “want” something, or you think you need something, and you buy that something half-cocked. In a short time span it is realized that the purchase was a mistake, or you truly didn’t need it and it was probably a waste of time and money because you didn’t do your research or you bought on a whim.
2. the researcher: this person researches their pre-purchase ad nauseum. They may or may not know what they want. If they do know, they do their research before going into the store or clicking the ‘buy’ button. They know the value [to them] of the product or service, and they know the fair price.
3. the quick buy implementor: you know what you “need” and you just go out and get it. You might pay a little bit more because you didn’t do the same research that the researcher did, but you bought it, it does what you need it to do and the purchase is done. Over with.

I received a call from this recruiter early last week. When she told me who she was with, I immediately knew that I didn’t actually want to work there. I’d sent my resume to them because 1) based on the job description, I knew I could do the job and 2) it’s always good to practice interviewing skills. I went ahead and scheduled the call with the hiring manager after making it past the “pre-screening.”

I seriously thought about just blowing off the interview that was scheduled for last Friday. I thought about doing the courteous thing by calling the recruiter back, just being honest and telling her, “I just don’t really want to work at your company” [note that this is a large, corporate entity and I am not a corporate guy as I abhor meetings, meetings, meetings, Powerpoint, meetings, red tape, politics, meetings, bureaucracy, egos, meetings, name badges and meetings]. Instead, I decided to keep the date. I thought, “who knows, maybe this is the best job in the world and my preconceptions might be completely off-base.”

The hiring manager called me at 1 p.m. sharp on Friday. He was the first of countless interviewers who called me on time. That alone spoke volumes. The interview lasted a good 45 minutes and I really enjoyed the conversation that I had with my potential boss. He didn’t ask the “explain a situation where you took criticism and implemented that feedback in a constructive fashion” or “explain a time where you disagreed with your supervisor” corporate questions. He asked about me, my previous and current work experiences, my ambitions and about how I could use those experiences and acumen to help him do the job that was advertised.

The hiring manager and I talked a lot about a little business I started 6 months ago. This business sells a simple Windows-based desktop application that compares two sets of data (in this case email addresses) and returns a sub set of data (matching addresses or non-matching addresses). Everyone that I speak to, especially in interview scenarios is really interested in my business; not so much the business itself, but how I built it from the ground up in a month’s time, and how I set it up to run itself and generate passive revenue with very minimal involvement from me. It’s worth noting that this business is outlined on my resume, the same resume that I sent to this particular company as well as every other company who has advertised a position for which I’ve applied.

Fast-forward to today. I was outside, watering the yard (yes, 4 days before Christmas – it’s Texas!) and my phone rang. I let it go to voicemail. I came inside a few minutes later to listen to the message. It was the recruiter. She said, “Hi, Josh. Just wanted to touch base and provide you with some feedback from your interview last week.”

“Provide you with some feedback” does not equal “I wanted to schedule an in-person interview.” Elise was curious about the feedback, more so than me. I already knew I didn’t get the job based on her voicemail, but curiosity was kind of getting to me as well. I called the recruiter back and the feedback was, “the business that you’re currently running would be a conflict of interest in what we’re doing.”

That’s when the conversation got interesting. I asked her if the company engaged in data cleansing, data encryption, de-duplication, or deploying emails on behalf of their clients. Dead silence. I said, “hello?” and she said, “uh, I don’t know, I’m just relaying the feedback that I received in this email.” In her defense, perhaps it’s not her job to know what her employer does. Hell, I couldn’t tell you what her employer does. I think their tagline is something like: “We do innovative things to innovate innovation. Oh, and we streamline things, too.”

Even knowing it wasn’t going to get me anywhere, I defensively told her about how interested the hiring manager was in my business start-up and operation process (again, not the nature of the business itself) and how I found it interesting that there was never word of there being a conflict of interest.

Really no big deal to me but the frustrating part is that it was just a big waste of time for both parties (more so for the company). They could have saved a lot of time and money by being a “research shopper” first. They should have looked at my resume and, after just a smidgen of research, would have realized that there might be a conflict of interest. That company probably lost $500 in processes and resources to have a 45 minute conversation with me. That could have been completely avoided. My little company would LOVE to have that $500!

It could have happened at any company of any size, but it seems like it’s always the larger ones, or the ones who are getting “too big for their britches” that are so wasteful with their resources. And that’s the #8 reason why I avoid the corporations.

Pretty straight-forward process. I guess there’s still a part of me that’s used to things being more complicated or cryptic when trying to do something simple on a PC.

Here’s how to print address labels on your Mac using Address Book.

First, select the contacts in your address book (you can create a new Group, or just Command+click to select multiple contacts in your address book):

Next, click File > Print:

Lastly, select “Mailing Labels” from the Style menu, select your address labels from the “Page” menu and click ‘Print’:

After successfully making traditional apricot and prune kolache yesterday, I decided to try something a little more creative and sweeter today. While crème brûlée might seem intimidating, if you look at core ingredients that makeup the creme fraiche, it’s really just cream and sugar (same as ice cream). Add egg yolks and you’ve got crème brûlée!

I used my [now] handy kolache recipe and instead of fruit filling, I made the crème brûlée and, after it baked, stirred it up with spoon to dollop into the kolache.

Bohemian crème brûlée
1 pint pumpkin ice cream (room temperature)
5 egg yolks

Mix yolks and ice cream
Bake in water bath (ramekins, baking dish, etc. – I used a 8″ oven-safe loaf pan) at 375° F for 30 minutes (or until custard firms)

* If you want to make traditional crème brûlée, allow custard to cool, then generously top with granulated sugar and slooooowly caramelize with a torch. [Rule #2 applies here: “You can always add (heat). You can never take away.” Don’t burn your sugar].

And it never hurts to have a 4.5-year-old pastry chef in your employ to do your kneading.

[flv]http://www.janicek.com/video/20101211_ZombieEaterDoughKneader.flv[/flv]

In my opinion, Apple’s notebook designs are usually flawless — except for the plastic MacBook whose palm rest has a tendency to crack. And the cracking and breaking is caused by normal wear (i.e. having your palms on the palm rests). It happened to my first MacBook, and it happened to Elise’s MacBook as well. Of course, she’s dropped hers a couple times, so her MacBook’s palm rests had a little bit more cosmetic damage.

I recently upgraded her MacBook with 2 GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive, which were relatively inexpensive upgrades, and easy to do after having upgraded the Mac Mini.

While I as at it, and since we were going to take Maly to the mall to see Santa Claus, I scheduled an appointment at the Apple store to inquire about getting Elise’s MacBook’s palm rest replaced. The salesperson told me it was “around $80 for the part and $30 for labor.” In unison, Elise and I sang, “no thanks.” She then said, “Hang on and let me see what I can do.” After some poking around on her iPad, she asked if the MacBook’s data was backed up and if we could leave it overnight. Elise had some photos that she needed to work on, so we couldn’t leave it. The salesperson told us we could bring the laptop back within 30 days and they’d take care of it for us.

When we got home, Elise put the photos she needed on an external hard drive and I scheduled another appointment at the Apple store first thing the next morning. I had to go back to the mall anyway because Maly had left one of her toys at the mall.

I got to the mall at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. By 9:30, Elise’s MacBook was looking good as new. And for free. It’s almost too good to be true how Apple operates their online and retail business as well as customer service. I just don’t think it’s possible to be so pleased by any other computer manufacturer.

The only time I’ve been upset with Apple is when I find myself in an over-crowded retail store. But that’s okay. I want those people to buy, too.

After finally figuring out how to smoke a brisket, next up on my culinary bucket list was to learn how to make kolache (koláče is plural). After a quick search, I decided to try the recipe from the Homesick Texan.

Be warned that they take a while to make (proofing dough 3 times), but on my first attempt, I think they turned out pretty damn good. I followed the recipe verbatim, however, the next time I’m going to make a couple modifications (which are already incorporated into the recipes below) as Elise and I agreed that the dough wasn’t quite sweet enough, and I like my posypka a little thicker, sweeter and crumblier.

So this is my kolache recipe:

Kolache dough

1 package of active dry yeast

1 cup of warm milk

1/4 cup sugar

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 eggs

3/4 cup of melted butter

1 teaspoon of salt


• 
In a large bowl, combine yeast and warm milk and let sit for 20 minutes. [photo]
• Slowly incorporate sugar and one cup of flour. Cover and let it rise until doubled in size — 30-60 minutes.
• Beat together eggs, 1/2 cup of melted butter (reserve 1/4 cup for brushing on the pastry) and salt.
• Add egg mixture to yeast mixture and mix thoroughly by hand with large spoon or spatula.
• Stir in about two more cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time. The dough should be soft and moist.
• Knead dough for about 10 minutes on floured countertop. [photo]
• Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise covered until doubled in size (about an hour)*. [photo]
• After dough has risen, press down and pull off approximately 1/3 cup-sized pieces (recipe should make 18 kolache). Roll into balls and then flatten to about three inches in diameter. [photo]
• Brush with melted butter.
• Place flattened pieces on a greased cookie sheet, cover and let rise again for 30 minutes. [photo]
• After proofing, use your fingers to gently make a large indentation (do you like fruit in each bite?) in the center of the dough and fill with a heaping tablespoon of fruit filling (recipe below) and sprinkle with posypka (recipe below).
• Bake in oven at 375° F for 12 to 15 minutes until dough begins to turn golden.
• Brush with melted butter and top with more posypka
 if desired.



Kolache filling


1/2 pound of dried fruit such as apricots or prunes.

Sugar to taste

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Lemon zest




Reconstitute dried fruit by simmering in a pot with enough water to cover the fruit. 
 Add sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon. Puree in blender, boat motor or mash with a potato masher until you have a puree.



Posypka


1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoon butter

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients until crumbly.



Yield: 18 kolache

* I proofed my dough by covering and putting in the oven and keeping the temperature around 90° F.

Now that I’ve successfully made “traditional” fruit-filled kolache, I’m going to try something a little more adventurous in the next batch(es).

Photos can be seen here.