June 2022: Custom NetSuite Commercial Invoice

As we know, NetSuite is woefully inadequate when it comes to international shipping forms. Yes, depending upon your shipping integrator, NetSuite does offer a few options for generating and printing commercial invoices, but they're typically either out of date (e.g. UPS still uses the old NAFTA format instead of the new USMCA forms in place since 2020, etc.), or display limited fields.

However, I've been able to create my own customized combination Commercial Invoice and Certificate of Origin form that incorporates the individual item's weights, value, origin criteron, etc.

August 2021: More SVG

Although my first stab at an SVG page (Arpeggio Generator) did in-fact utilize the "vector" portion of that acronym, I didn't design it with scalability in mind. However, with my second project (Circle of 5ths), I wanted to test the waters and see how coding for scalability could benefit users of various screen sizes, etc. Instead of designing the page in a single SVG window, I decided to keep the "control panel" portion in a fixed state, while allowing the user to adjust the remaining elements by simply changing the window size or aspect ratio. It's probably not the ideal layout (viewing on a small tablet or phone would be somewhat challenging), but again I chose the particular layout more as an experimental tool for myself more than any practical reason. Although it's a pretty simple design, it is functional and (IMHO) serves a useful purpose. In the coming months I'll likely add a theory of operation guide (or at the very least, a user manual) in order to complete the process.

Winter/Spring 2021: Buried in NetSuite

Not a lot of personal projects during this period - I was hard a work (at work) transitioning my company's ERP system from Fishbowl to NetSuite (tons and tons of prep work for the data import process, followed by tons and tons of configuration tasks). Needless to say, I put in a lot of late evenings and weekends during that period. Really a lot of fun in the process, but again I had little time for other personal-growth projects with regard to software.

August 2020: Depression

Not trying to whine here -I know there are a ton of people that've lost their jobs and potentially even lost family members to the pandemic. So, I should be ecstatic that (for the most part) my friends and family haven't been subjected to those horrible events. However, with the current political environment and an administration that doesn't seem to want to implement any sort of national policy to help curtail this plague, I do have to confess that I find it difficult to find joy and stay motivated on even the simplest projects and tasks most days. Don't read too much into that statement... not going to do anything drastic - just venting a bit (thanks for listening).

March 2020: COVID-19

Nuff said?

January, 2020: Released (sort-of) HTML Version of Arpeggio Generator

So I guess everyone knows about the limitations of using HTML for app development - you have to compromise on so many things (display, latency, inability to efficiently access the user's OS API, etc.). But I can say that I did (somewhat) replicate and port the features of my previous client-based Arpeggio application to the web. It has some browser-base limitations (currently only works well with desktop Google Chrome, etc.) but does look a bit more aesthetically pleasing than my client app (as I've leveraged SVG). Now the challenge is (with everything else that's going on)to see how motivated I am to want to continue to improve it.

October, 2019: Toying with Angular js

Okay, I know I said I probably wouldn't package and commercially-deploy my arpeggio app (C#), I have this burning desire to port it to the web. My experience with web-based apps is pretty limited to HTML, VBScript, JavaScript and those (to the best of my knowledge) don't provide an elegant way of displaying the graphic-intensive elements I think I'll need for my app. Sounds like it's time to learn some new tricks. I did some investigation into several frameworks (Vue, React, etc.), but settled on Angular JS for a couple of reasons;
1. It seems to have the most resources available on the web.
2. Angular was used by my previous company's dev team during the creation of their 3rd-generation pharmacy-automation system.
So here I go... The syntax appears to be familiar, and the wealth of samples available (Plunker, etc.) are very helpful. Wish me luck!

December, 2018: Delving Back into C#

Although I'd familiarized myself with C# during the development of the UI for my company's prototype drug-dispensing kiosk a couple of years back, I really didn't have any home projects to keep my engaged. However, after unsuccessfully searching for a commercial arpeggio generator, it occurred to me that creating my own would be the best way to stay somewhat familiar with the language. Over the next 8 months or so I was able to complete that tool. Although I'm actually quite proud of it and use it weekly, I'll likely never package it for commercial distribution. I'll save that for the next project...

November, 2018: Better Half Elected to Our State Legislature

After spending several years learning and supporting a great congressman, my wonderful wife was successfully elected to our State's Legislature. Trust me... she was made for this gig!

May, 2017: Grandson's Birth

Yet another prideful moment. Can't say much more here as I've been asked to keep the postings private (... but he's so great!).

December 27, 2015: Daughter's Master's Degree

Another prideful moment... My daughter brought over her newly received Master's Degree diploma (in Supply-Chain Logistics) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Immensely proud!

August, 2015: Built My Own Guitar

Always wanting (but never finding) a guitar that fits my needs, I assembled my one-of-a-kind custom guitar.
The story can be found here.

August 1, 2015: Great Time at SeaFair

Had an awesome time with my brother Paul, his wife Xiu, and my sister Barb. We (along with six-million other people) visited the Museum of Flight in the morning. -Very cool... witnessed the Blue Angels take-off for their subsequent airshow over Lake Washington, took photos and toured some awesome aircraft. The best thing was being able to sit in an Elio vehicle they'd brought to the event to show the public. I was excited to try out the seating in the car because (thanks to my very-generous brother who'd placed the down-payment on my behalf -seriously... who does that?!), I'll be taking delivery of my own Elio next year! Can't wait!

Following the MOF visit we returned to my brother and sister-in-law's house near Lake Washington and relaxed and chatted while we watched the remainder of the air show and hydro qualification. Man, can my sister-in-law, Xiu cook! Had a fantastic time!

June 12, 2015: My Son's College Graduation!

Can't explain the pride! Also, can't imagine the amount of hard work he had to put into it, but today my son graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Computer Science. Nice work, son!

October 21, 2014: Implemented AudioJS Player

Looking for a bit more flexibility and improved aesthetics, I decided to investigate alternatives to the resident audio players embedded with IE and Google Chrome. After experimenting with several methods, I ultimately chose to embed AudioJS. It’s an intuitive script that doesn’t include a lot of bells and whistles which might intimidate some users on the client side. It’s simple and is easily adaptable to any webpage.

May 25, 2014: Another House Flood

Woke up this morning to the sound of running water (I believe I was dreaming that I was I the shower). Unfortunately, my first step out of bed was into an inch of standing water! Rushed into the master bathroom to find the cold faucet feeder line had broken and had spewed a ton of water – and likely had been doing so for at least a couple of hours. Long story short, it took nearly two months to restore the upstairs bathroom, bedroom and hallway, along with the entire downstairs rec room, portions of the downstairs bathroom, hallway and garage. The good news... it forced us to finally decide to re-carpet and re-floor the entire house. Glad that episode is over!

January 24, 2014: Trying to Learn the Guitar Nuances of Jazz Fusion

Up till now I’d focused on learning the blues – primarily mixing the minor & major pentatonics with a bit of mixolydian & blues scales, etc. Although I’m still not very good at it (poor rhythm & timing, lack of improvisational originality, etc.), I thought I’d move on to something a little different. I’d listened to several smooth (fusion) jazz tracks over the last twenty or so years, but still couldn’t understand the scales & techniques used to replicate that distinctive fusion sound. However, after finding some useful sites on the web I discovered the use of slide-in’s from “neighbor” notes, and the gratuitous use of the Dorian mode (following the chord method). I’m encouraged by my progress to this point, but still suffer from the same things that plagued my blues playing (poor rhythm and playing from my head instead of my fingers, etc.). I’ll keep working at it.

9/7/2012: Cheap Speaker Cab

Being somewhat of a neat nick (and very cheap) I decided to consolidate some of my materials and build a guitar speaker cabinet out of a spare Gator case. I purchased a relatively inexpensive 12" Emenence speaker and trimmed a piece of MDF to fit my 10U Gator case. Using the circle cutout attachment on my Dremel tool, I cut an opening in the MDF to accommodate the speaker. Next, I drilled 8 holes to facilitate the mounting screws to attach the MDF to the case, painted it flat black, performed the final assembly and voila!

8/10/2012: More Guitar Instruction DVDs

Today I ordered the 50 Must Know Blues Licks DVDs, along with the companion backing tracks and tabs from GuitarZoom.com. At $49 bucks I figure I can't go too wrong.

6/6/2012: 30th Anniversary

Had a great time with the wife last night! My son and his girlfriend drove us to the Canlis restaurant last night. One of the best meals I've had in a very long time. The view overlooking Lake Union was also spectacular. Hard to believe 30 years have come and gone. I'm a very lucky guy indeed.

5/31/2012: Guitar Instruction DVDs

After being sucked in by an email I received, I purchased the SoloFire guitar improvisation DVD set from Dan Denley on the web. We'll see how disciplined I am at setting up and following a regimented learning routine!

2/19/2012: Thank-You You Tube!

It can get pretty boring playing the same tired scales and licks over and over again. Also, my timing & rhythm haven't improved much in the last few weeks either. If only I could play alongside some decent rhythm progressions... Hello You Tube! I discovered a ton of videos (simply audio really), full of backing tracks. Most are in keys allowing me to easily learn to improvise on the fretboard. What a great find. Why didn't I think of this before!

1/10/2012: Workin' on the Blues

Thirty years ago, I stayed in my comfort zone -pretty much a rhythm player, with little or no interest in playing lead. Also, I had a tendency to stay locked into a single genre... Jazz-Fusion. So now that I've got a new drive to re-learn how to play, I thought I'd try and step into some uncharted territory. So, what better way to break-out than to get into the blues. The chord progressions are pretty simple - usually just I - VI - V, or variations using altered (diminished, augmented, etc.) chords. And although the standard blues scales (including the venerable major & minor pentatonic) are extremely easy to memorize and master, it's my lack of improvisational technique and rusty timing. I'm sure both will improve with time and practice however.

1/10/2012: Guitar... part 3?

So that funky Strat knock-off just wasn't doing it for me. I spent a few bucks and essentially bought the same guitar I had in 1976... It's a sunburst Telecaster Custom. Wow, I can't tell you how much more comfortable it is to play. I think the real improvement is in the neck. The Tele has a solid maple neck (very smooth compared to the Strat's rosewood) and I've got the action set just where I want it.

12/26/2011: More on the Guitar Front

Don't really know how he knew about it, but my son got wind that I was practicing again. For Christmas he gave me a very cool gift - It's a Line6 POD Farm. Using an external (via USB) interconnection device, it models and mimics several different amp and effects combinations. It's very cool indeed. Its yet another reason to keep practicing!

12/16/2011: Rediscovered my guitar

It's been about 20 years or more that I spent any time playing guitar. I purchased an old Strat knock-off at a local pawn shop about five years ago, but never really spent much time with it. I never really liked the way I sounded, having not practiced in many years prior. So in the closet it sat -that is until a few days ago. I sorta made my mind up that I should put some serious time into practicing again. My theory was that if I spent enough time with it I would finally overcome that "I sound horrible" feeling and begin the "I'm getting better each day" mode. Well, I'm no virtuoso, but I don't think I that bad either. I've been playing several days now and I'm still encouraged and enthusiastic about practicing.

11/3/2011: I Want an Arduino...

When I was younger I did a lot of tinkering with discrete digital circuits and even a couple of surplus microcontrollers. In those days there wasn't a lot of hobbyist literature available and I felt somewhat intimidated by the commercial technical specs -so I got frustrated easily. That was thirty years ago. No that almost everyone has a PC, smartphone, tablet or other digital gizmo, there seems to be several players in the market that caters to would-be computer scientists and hardware geeks.

One product I plan to play with is the consumer hobbyist-geared Arduino microcontroller. These are available just about everywhere (even RadioShack claims to sell them -just don't try to find it at your local store, as the clerk will simply give you the deer-in-the-headlights look when you ask where it's at... You can get them at RadioShack.com however).

There's at least a couple of varieties of these puppies out there. The Uno is based on the ATmega328 microcontroller and has enough I/O channels to get most enthusiasts enough headroom for their starter projects. As you would guess, the Mega 2560 is a bit more robust and is based on the... yes, the ATmega2560 (go figure).

If you'd like to take a crack at this cool technology you can get just about everything you need at arduino.cc

9/16/2011: Come On HTML5!

The pending adoption and release of HTML5 looks like it will please a lot of folks (including me) but piss off several others. Those that have spent considerable time and effort learning and using the traditional object-oriented languages may view the coming of HTML5 a catch-all, dumbed-down method of bringing apps (particular web-based apps) to the masses. Thus, making their own investment somewhat reduced in value. I however see this as a new potential to bring the discrete languages closer together and eliminating some of the deficiencies of those languages.

The same fears and concerns came with each successive release of Java, .NET, etc. It's a natural evolution.

When time permits, I be installing the latest HTML5-capable browsers so I can begin experimenting with its cool features. More to come! In the meantime, here's some good reading at Visual Studio Mag.

6/20/11: Tablet Dilemma...

So obviously the iPad is getting a lot of play. It's a known fact that I'm a non-Apple geek, so I'm not going to waver here. I trust that the Android-Honeycomb platforms will be getting stronger and gaining market traction, but that's still not where I plan to head. I really love my Samsung Focus -especially the Metro interface. With Microsoft's plan to port the Metro to their next-gen of Windows really has me clamoring for a Metro-based tablet. Yeah, I know they're likely a year or more away, but the current alternatives are less than exciting. As soon as MS releases their Metro Beta, I'll be all over it, ready to begin experimentation...

4/26/2011: Visual Studio Changes for the Better?

So the migration of VS has seemingly attempted to cover all of the developer's ground. I recently installed VS 2010 Professional and was blown away by the sheer power of this IDE. It contains support for Silverlight development (eliminating my need to retain my [free] installation of Silverlight I'd previously been using for WP7 experimentation), SharePoint 2010 (hopefully will become more useful to me when my company upgrades from 2008), Windows Azure and even contains a built-in WPF editor.

I technically made the jump from the dark ages (VB4/6) to the .net realm around 2006 when I installed VB.net Standard 2005. My budget didn't allow me to take the full plunge into VS at the time, so jumping into the latest IDE was almost frightening. However, putting away my fears and (doing what I always do... ignored the help resources and tutorials) began poking around on my own. I instantly felt that I could tackle any development requirement. Afterall, who hasn't had the need to complete a client app that also needed ASP support. It's great to be able to begin a desktop VB ADO project that can be easily integrated with WP7 via Silverlight.

I definitely give Microsoft two thumbs up and a big thank-you for the great IDE. Can't wait to dive into this further!

4/24/2011: Finally Got the NoDo Update for my Samsung Focus

So I have to say that I really do like my WP7 phone even though it doesn't have nearly as much user flexibility/customization as my old Windows Mobile 6 (HTC) phone. But... I can honestly say that I really don't miss any of that flexibility. The only real disappointment I had was the loss of cut/copy/paste functionality... but that now is a distant memory now that MS has seen fit to push the NoDo out to me. Life is again good!

4/22/2011: The Most User Friendly Spreadsheet Tools?

I've historically coded my own spreadsheet import, export and graphing functions from within VB and/or MS-Access. But recently I've been feeling a bit limited by their available native resources. I plan on experimenting with the available tools from both SpreadsheetGear and GrapeCity Power Tools. The latter tools appear to be extremely comprehensive (and maybe even offer a bit too much for my needs), but I'll see how much flexibility they offer in their trials. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

3/18/2011: Don't Forget about Amazon!

So, I typically think of Amazon.com around the holidays when I don't want to face the crowds at the malls. My son (who seems to shop exclusively at Amazon) turned me on to the tremendous amount of seemingly obscure stuff they handle. A few days ago, I was looking on-line for an IDE to USB interface to allow me to quickly view some old hard drives I had sitting in a drawer. Amazon had this adapter (albeit from a third-party) for only $2.30. The same adapter was selling for $20-30 elsewhere! I quickly snatched it up, along with a couple of SATA data and IDE cables. Everything worked flawlessly when they arrived.

A few days later I noticed an external DVD/RW drive that was a companion to my Toshiba laptop was available. Again Amazon had it for less than half of what their competitors were charging.

Bottom line don't forget to check Amazon for even the most obscure cables, and other PC hardware items.

2/17/2010: My Brother is Back in his Home Again!

I know he's got a long way to go, but I'm really glad he's able to be back home again. There's somethin' about those familiar surroundings!

1/18/2010: Note to Self; Look into that USB Port on Your Receiver

I find it ironic that I used to considered myself somewhat of an audiophile when in my twenties. I was always very particular about the THD rating of my main amplifier and always dreamed of having a truly high-end system. But as time marched on and I found much more important things to spend my time on (family in particular), I seemed to lose interest in the quality of the music I was listening to. Even found myself listening to more talk (sports radio) than music in my vehicles (when did this happen to me?).

Although I've got a pretty decent 7.1 (only 5.1 used) home theater system, I typically don't use it to listen to music. That now is the duty of my PC/audio system in my home office (yes, I've sunk pretty low). Anyway, I happened to notice the USB port on my home theater amp today -I always knew it was there... I just never gave it a second thought. My Pioneer manual says it'll pass MP3 audio through it and display the metadata on-screen. Okay, I'm motivated. I think I'll either throw a couple of hours of files & play lists onto a dedicated jump-drive and re-introduce myself to some good old tunes. As a project, I may even dedicate an old IDE drive for this purpose.

1/15/2010: My Brothers Progress

...He's been transferred out of the hospital (yeah!)... to a nursing facility :( I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time.

1/14/2010: Are There any Better Support Tools...

...than those made by Sheridan and Infragistics? I think not! Okay, so I don't have a ton to say here, I just wanted to say that both of these companies seem to produce tools gadgets and tools that are useful in the real world. I still remember my great Sheridan Developer's Tool Kit suite (Data Widgets, Designer Widgets, Calendar Widgets) I started using back in 1998!

12/29/2010: My Brother

My brother had some complications with his surgery -I believe the nurse told me they need to keep him under sedation a bit longer to help him fight off some infection that've taken hold in his lungs. I plan to stop back by in a couple of days.

12/22/2010: Time to Integrate?

So, I may've mentioned somewhere on these pages that I'd created several (heavily VBA-leveraged) MS-Access database apps that are used on a daily basis at work. One manages the oral-sold/canister activities and histories, while another I created to produce custom-formatted labels for our dispensing canisters. Because the creation and maintenance of these databases were technically created in my "spare" time, and during different periods, they're not very well integrated (okay, they're not integrated at all), even though one database imports data from the other via a spreadsheet.

Yeah, I know... not very elegant, right? Since I've got some spare time on my hands in the evenings, I think this would be a good time to begin integrating the label formatting and processing functions into my primary database (CaniTrak). Again, not a very complex task if I would've done a better job managing the growth of CaniTrak. Unfortunately, my table and query structures are somewhat tangled and will require some care. I hope to have this task completed by early Spring.

12/10/2010: Good/Bad News from my Brother

Got an email from my favorite brother the other day describing his feelings about going into the hospital for cancer surgery later this month. I understand that he's somewhat relieved that his condition will now be treated properly. I know he'll be fine, but I'm having a hard time with the news. Wish him well.

11/18/2010: NAS is Up and Running Again

I had an old PC laying around that wasn't much good for anything due to its outdated hardware. I ultimately put it back into useful service by turning it into a NAS (Network-Attached Server) box for my home network. It had worked flawlessly for the last year or so, but (due to my careless tinkering) stopped communicating last week. All of the components including the NIC appeared to be in good working order, so I assumed an OS failure and subsequently downloaded the latest version of FreeNAS [0.7.2 Sabanda (rev 5543)] -I don't recall which version I was running at the time of the crash.

The install & configuration went smoothly and in about an hour my two drives were back online. Gotta love open source!