This is my place for tracking what I’m currently doing as a way to share what I’m up to with others.
This was last updated: 8 August 2025
Doing
Summer Break – Made it through the school year and now halfway through summer. Looks like there will be fewer people and more tasks next year at work, but for now, time to focus on Maker Projects and travel (see below)
Work at Renton Schools – This school year is about to start again. Due to budget cuts, I’m now a facilitator for high school chemistry, physics, middle school science, and middle school art in addition to robotics, engineering, and high school art that I had last year.
Learning
CNC Desktop Milling – I’ve started cutting custom PCBs on a Bantam Desktop Mill. I’m not yet getting consistent results but some of the boards look great. Now looking at using FlatCAM to help.
Chemistry – See above. relearning chemistry and lots of information regarding chemical safety and chemical hygiene. Learned how to properly dispose of Asbestos. I have an interesting job
Making
Pu-erh Brown Porter – After emptying the kegs of cider and kolsch within a day of each other, I refilled the cider keg with last year’s scrumpy. That left my keg empty so I started a new beer for fall. This is based off a previous porter recipe I’ve brewed but this time I’m planning to add pu-erh tea when I get to kegging it.
Digital Egg – We run Egg Drop challenges at several of our schools. This year, with eggs being more expensive, I’ve restarted work on a digital egg to replace the traditional ones. This “egg” will be Arduino-based, have an accelerometer to measure the impact, and a screen to display whether the egg broke.
Power Line Art – During the Bomb Cyclone that hit Seattle at the end of November, we lost part of our tree. It managed to miss all personal property but broke the power pole across the street. When they replaced it, I got the wires and insulators they were going to throw away. Now to turn them into interestingcreatures for the fence. UPDATE – The parts have been turned into a jellyfish.
Running
2025 Running Streak – Twice before I’ve decided to run everyday for a year. This year I’m doing it again. I’m now half way through with at least a mile a day. I’m having some minor pains but doing a lot more miles than I have in recent years. Overall it’s going well.
2025 Boise Greenbelt Relay – About 6 weeks before this 45 mile race, I emailed my Birthday Bash run buddy to ask if he wanted to run the full 45 miles with me. He pointed out that we could do it as a RELAY and might have more fun. Over those six-ish weeks, I went from a long run of 8 mile to 25. We took second in our division which was much better than I expected.
Exploring
Coastal Redwoods Road Trip – Camping at Elk Prairie while exploring Redwoods National and State Parks during the second half of July. So far we’ve seen plenty of elk and so many huge trees. Heading back up the Oregon coast soon and we taking five days to get back to Seattle.
Teardown 2025 – This was such an amazing event. It was very strange to host a conference at a dying mall (Lloyd Center in Portland), but it felt perfect while there. So many great presenters and projects. I now have way too many ideas for projects to work on before school starts again in the fall.
Seeing
Banana slugs everywhereOne of the elk in Elk PrairieReady to ride at Teardown 2025Zoom meeting on Bike Everywhere DayWe went to see the Issaquah Troll. This is the fourth of six NW Trolls we’ve seen.
Summer Break – Most of the break is behind me now. I’m attending a conference in Spokane soon which is the unofficial start of the school year. Next year is going to be an interesting school year with only half the support staff in my department but we’ll see how that goes in two one month. I need to finish up any summer projects soon.
UPDATE on Catching a Swarm – The swarm of bees we caught in May seem to be content and sticking around
Learning
Lockpicking – I recently picked a Master Lock 410 LOTO for the first time. I’ve now done it again, but still not consistently. I’m working on improving my picking for a session I’m presenting at WA-ACTE Summer Conference called “Lockpicking and Other Mischievous Way to Learn Engineering”
Making
Rebar Ladybug – Adding more metal bugs to my fence and practicing my welding.
My Honey’s Kolsch – This is a kolsch recipe I’ve made before and really liked. I got the ingredients today. Now I need to transfer the 2023 Dunlap Scrumpy into a keg so I can get this fermenting. UPDATE: The cider is in the keg and the kolsch is fermenting
Homemade Root Beer – I got the ingredients for another batch of root beer. Now I just need Avery (currently 7 years old) to decide she wants to make it with me. UPDATE: Root beer is now on tap.
Lock Impressioning Tool – Also for the WA-ACTE Summer Conference, I 3D printed a case to hold clay to make an impression of a key. I then poured liquid pewter in and waited for it to cool. On my third attempt, I got a working key
Running
2025’s First Mistake 5k – For a few years, I’ve been interested in organizing a running race. I’ve had thoughts about different ultras, but the logistics always seem too daunting. I looked at organizing a flat 5k and realized that’s not my style so we’ve got the First Mistake 5k with about 600′ of climbing. It should be a wonderfully terrible race.
2024 Downtown Holiday Light Run – Rainier Beach Run Club’s annual tradition happened Monday. We ran through Downtown Seattle to see all the lights. Many wore costumes, some of us celebrated Solstice with “Shortest Day, Shortest Shorts”. Such a fun run.
A Runner's Ramblings 