When I woke up this morning I realized that it was the last day of a very interesting year. You see for me 2011 has been a year of change and discovery.
2010 was a year of endings. I ended a 25 year career on December 27th and retired. I was tired of the work I was doing and needed to have something to look forward to that was positive and rewarding. So I just went down and put in my retirement papers. My lovley wife Sonya was a gem about the whole thing and has been a constant source of support and encouragement. Sonya is very good at getting me to focus on difficult decisions and then supportting me once I have made them. For that I will continually be greateful. Sonya insisted that I take a year off to Find out what I wanted to do.
I had no idea what I wanted to do in 2011. I mean I had a whole lot of choices which is rare. I had done some writing for Robot (a print magazine) and was planning to do more. In fact a week after I retired I hopped a plane and went to the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to provide coverage for Robot Magazine. For me going to CES was like taking a trip to a Candy store with a pocket full of money. I got to see all the high tech crap before it got out to the public, which is a real Geeks dream. I met lots of cool people there like Bre Pettis (Makerbot Ind.) and Trevor Blackwell (Anybots). It was a trip of a life time. I got to meet Dan the man who made the DeLoean for Back to the Future and R2D2.
Ford Fliver at the Henry Ford Museum
After I got back from the CES show I began writing up the CES article and decided to partner up with some friends to build a Makerbot Thing -O- Matic for a series in Robot Magazine. We discovered a lot about rapid prototyping and for the first time I really took an interest in electronics. I was really not an electronics guy even thought I had built several robots and over 500 R/C model airplanes, but I found my taste changing. Suddenly I couldn’t learn enough about electronics. Thanks to this project I discovered the Arduino boards.
Getting started with Arduinos really was a game changer for me. I was a programmer but never really understood how elctronics worked. The Arduino made the connection for me at last. I was able to get the Arduino to do things fairly quickly. Seeing a light blink or hearing a speaker tweet may seen simple to some but for me it was magic. About taht time Minibloq for Arduino came out and made it even easier for me to make electrical projects. I got to be friends with Julian da Silva the author of Minibloq and he has helped me quite a bit.
It’s funny but just before I retired I heard an internet radio program with John Asaraf and Murray Smith talking about the law of attraction. It clicked for me, again I don’t know why. Anyway I ordered their book and read it and a strange thing happened. Before I tell you what that thing was, I just want to say I never in my wildest dream thought I would read or believe in a book like THE ANSWER, I am skeptical by nature so when things started going my way I was shocked. For a period of about 6 months nothing I tried failed. It was during that time that I decided that I wanted to build a website and a blog even though I had never read a blog before. The truth is, I just felt like writing.
In the months that followed I did some things that don’t sound like much but were big accomplishments for me. I set up a webpage and started a blog. I bought a video Camera and learned how to use it. Designed a CNC foam cutter. Joined a Hackerspace, Started a Business Mastermind group. Bought a second website and started work on it, Went to the Detroit Makers’s fair, visted the Henry Ford Museum, Bill Clinton’s Library ( I was in town), traveled through 18 states with my son Ben, Upgraded a Minimill, designed & built a new Z axis for my CNC router, Built a 3D printer, took the kids to see Bruno Mars, Met Bill Cosby, wrote a business plan, wrote two books, built two model airplanes, two desks and got mentioned in the #1 podcast for Internet Business (Internet Business Mastery #144). Volunteered hundreds of hours for HOBY youth leadership program, discovered Twitter, got two job offers… Whew.!!!! I can’t wait to see what 2012 is all about.
Cosplay at the Detroit Maker
The only downside I have had during this year of exploration is the passing of my Mother Ruby at age 80. Mom was an amazing women and I will miss her more than words can express. My Mom always believed in me and quietly pushed me to try harder at what ever I was doing. Her calm steady hand on my shoulder was all the encouragement I needed to try something new. Mom, I love you and miss you. This will be my first year without you here to encourage me, but I can still feel your hand on my shoulder encouraging me. I hope I alway will.
I wish each of you a joyful year full of new discoveries. Thank you for your support and for taking the time to read my rambling posts. I really have enjoyed learning what blogging is all about and I hope you will let me know what you think. If you have something you would like to chat about please leave a comment. I always answer back.
Happy New Year.
