Author: kanno41

  • Goodbye 2024

    Another year is almost over. I have been experiencing life to the fullest this year. I have had so many highs and lows throughout the year that it’s hard to explain it without writing a novel. I want to summarize the year into the following categories: Adventures, Work, and Home.

    Adventures

    The first adventure of the year brought us to the Big Island of Hawaii. We flew first class and stayed for a week in a resort. The environments of the island varied so greatly that we initially thought the island we went to was an apocalyptic wasteland. The island was alive with an active volcano! It was not erupting when we there, but as of the time of writing, lava is currently flowing there. Val and I had so much fun on our first vacation without Alan.

    Our next adventure brought us to Thompsonville, Michigan yet again for the traditional Memorial Day fishing extravaganza. We flew the Tri-Pacer up early in the morning and it was smooth as could be. We caught a LOT of blue gills and ate well. Alan enjoyed catching fish as well with grandpa U. The flight back was the real treat. We went IFR to Grand Haven (instead of Jackson), then IFR back to KOSU. The controllers routed us around precipitation cells and we flew right over Lake James on our way back home. It was stunningly beautiful. It felt so satisfying being able to understand weather, plan safely, and fly safely to get back home.

    North Mrytle Beach came a few weeks later; we took a Spirit airlines flight down there, which is perfectly fine with a 2-year-old. An hour flight sure beats a 7-8 hour drive. We all enjoyed the beach together with our friends.

    Another trip took me to Aurora, Colorado where I got to learn all about class Piper aircraft restoration. It was a great opportunity to learn from Clyde Smith, the “Cub Doctor” about how to keep these wonderful aircraft flying.

    We took several trips out to the Shack this year as well. The family floated in the pond in the summer, and I went back in November to hunt. The Lord provided for me, and my arrow flew true-enough to take down my first-ever buck. It was an exhilarating experience. Our family will be eating well for the next year or so.

    The final adventure bled over with work, so let’s move on.

    Work

    I had the privilege of getting to go to DEF CON 32 in Las Vegas this year and work with the AI Cyber Challenge project. A ton of work went into pulling this off, and our team worked and worked up to the last possible moment to pull it off. They built a “city” to show off the challenge. It was so crazy cool to see a real-life visualization reflecting the work we did. Here’s hoping we can pull it off again next year without the overtime. It will be fun to see.

    Home

    Alan is now 3 years old. It has been so fun watching him grow up and learn and be a fun-loving kid. We love going to City Egg every Saturday on a daddy date. We started reading the Jesus Storybook Bible this year, and I’m hopeful we’ll get to finish it next year, and that he’ll start to understand it more and more. He did say that “Jesus died so that I can go to heaven” and that’s really sweet. My prayer for him is that he’ll really understand this more and more clearly. Something I really love about Alan right now is that he says “Thank you” a lot. I hope this continues! Val is continuing on her art journey. She’s an amazingly gifted artist, and I can’t wait to see what this upcoming year brings for her.

    A lot of things didn’t go the way we wanted them to this year on a personal level, but we did stay close together and fought through challenging circumstances as a team. I am so thankful for a partner to share life with, and for that to be the example that Alan sees of a loving marriage. Thank the Lord.

  • 2023, full of adventures

    This year brought about tons of adventure for our family. We took trips to Wolf Run State Park (to camp), South Myrtle Beach, Oshkosh, Lake James, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. And nearly all with a 1–2-year-old. Whew! We had a ton of pictures and memories that were made on these trips that we will never forget. One thing that I can note — we go hard. As an example, we flew Alan to Toledo, spent 3 nights at Oshkosh, flew back to Toledo, then drove to Lake James for a week of vacation where we rented a Ski Doo. We go hard, we took a 1-year-old to Europe and survived in record-setting heat. We certainly enjoyed all these adventures, but they are way more work than the previous sets of adventures due to keeping a child happy.

    It has been a real joy to see Alan grow up and learn how to use words to express himself. He went from practically 0 words at the beginning of the year to well over 100 at the time of writing. He’s running around his grandparent’s home and generally quite a happy kid. I can’t wait to see how he develops even more dramatically over the upcoming year! I am confident that there will be many great family memories to come.

  • 2022, a year in review

    As I sit here on the couch, I am reflecting on the wondrous joy it is to be a father. Watching Alan running around the house exploring brings joy to my heart. There is not anything special about what he is doing, but the mere experience of watching him learn makes me happy. We have gone through so many milestones compared to last year! Last year around Christmas time, he took like 4 naps a day and wasn’t sleeping through the night. Thankfully he’s been sleeping through the night for a while now. I am grateful to get to support Valerie and am so grateful for her hard work as a mother while I am at work. We have a great family, and we have wonderful grandparents who love us and Alan so tremendously. It gives me confidence in moving forward as a parent knowing that we have so much support. We have babysitting and can go on dates together. Of all the things going on, having my family life in order makes me excited for the future. God has been very good to us. A few other things of note happened in 2022. I went hunting with my father-in-law and was able to take down a button-buck with a cross-bow. I will never forget how beautiful the sky looked after we got out of the hunting blind. So far we’ve eaten deer tenderloin and it was amazingly tender, and the rest is in the freezer.

    We took a few trips this year, to Lake Norris, Lake James, Boston, San Antonio, and Ft. Lauderdale, all with a baby! I’m glad we have been able to have fun experiences and vacation even with the challenge of hauling a baby around. We flew the Tri-Pacer up to the Shack and mostly around the Columbus area. It’s been hard to find time to fly, but thankfully not too hard! Inflation knocked the gas prices through the roof for the earlier part of this year. Alan has been flying in the Tri-Pacer and on an airline and seems to handle it well enough. He really doesn’t want to sit still, but he does love looking out the window.

    This year has been such a blur, going from sleep-deprivation to chasing around a curious, and now walking, child. We still get to go on adventures together, and that has been a great thing to get to experience. Perhaps as a reason of, or motivation from sleep-deprivation, my coffee setup has been taken to new heights with the new Fellow Ode grinder and V60 pour-over. I’ve gotten to take a lot of time off at the end of the year and finally unwind from everything. I am grateful to get time to relax and look forward to jumping back into the fray in 2023.

  • 2021, my son is born!

    This year has been one of the most joyful and life-changing of my entire life. My son was born this year in October. Val and I spent so long reading books, preparing the house, and going on adventures until the day of delivery. This post describes some of these adventures and how I have felt being a dad so far.

    Early in the year we got a positive pregnancy test and decided to go on tons of adventures as a “baby-moon”. We went to Zion National Park and then stayed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I really would not have taken myself as someone who takes “outdoor national park” vacations, but since we went to Acadia last year, we got the itch. We hiked up Angel’s Landing and saw some of the most beautiful geography. The Overlook Pass was also a fantastic experience to look over the small town of Springdale. We had such amazing food at the King’s Landing Bistro after a long day of hiking. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a Memorial Day weekend.

    The next adventure for me was flying to Oshkosh with my dad for the weekend. We had some special moments sitting under the wing of the airplane drinking coffee and reflecting on life. At 78, he’s slower than he used to be, but boy did he have a blast just being there. It feels like a great gift from God that we got to go there together. We got to park next to 50 other short-wing Pipers! We had a grand time and a safe flight with beautiful weather. What more could you ask for? We went on a few more trips during the summer, including Florida (to fail to watch a rocket launch), and to Michigan for an Urbanik family vacation. We had all the adventure we could ask for prior to the adventure of bring a baby boy home.

    I remember when our son was born, I was in tears. It was so miraculous to witness, I can barely put it into words. I was so happy to finally meet him. I was happy that he was healthy, and mom was healthy. Whew! I love him so much. I remember sitting in the hospital room cuddling him on my chest and just talking, saying whatever was on my mind. I am a different person having gone through this. I feel more able to be raw with my true feelings and want to share my whole self in love for my son. I’ve been learning some really interesting things about God as well. I love my son so much with a deep burning love. God loves me that much and more. I understand that in a tangible way that I haven’t before.

    He’s 9 weeks old now and we’re about to start many more adventures in the coming year. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

     

     

  • 2020, the year of working from home

    This year started off hopefully. Val and I were going to go to Cambodia to support Fountain of Hope. However, in March, COVID-19 shutdown everything and sent our lives into Work From Home mode. This was two weeks after we planted into Omaha.

    It’s been a tough year for the entire world. It is difficult to change the way we live life. Masks, no indoor dining, not seeing my parents much or hanging out with friends or co-workers. The vaccine is coming in 2021, hopefully everything will be back to normal by next year.

    Flying the Tri-Pacer is still lots of fun! We did at least get to go on a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. We had absolutely perfect weather as we flew down and as we flew back. I will never forget how beautiful it was flying south of Norris Lake. It is a great privilege.

    The exciting things have been in spaceflight. The first humans launched on Falcon 9 rocket this year, and the Starship SN8 prototype flew for the first time. SLS is almost ready to go.

  • Farewell 2019

    The end of the decade is upon me. It’s crazy to think back over the last 10 years as to how different my life is than I imagined it. I imagined being a world class game developer, being single until I was 40, and never leaving the safety and comfort of the basement with my suite of video game consoles.

    Although those things didn’t work out how I expected, I’m glad that they didn’t, ultimately. Being married is a sweet gift. Having friendships and community is a sweet gift. Some things haven’t changed. I still get to fly and go on adventures, and I have a partner to share them with!

    We had an interesting adventure going to Oshkosh this year. It was totally soaked in the Vintage area. Vintage is almost never closed and almost always has open parking. As we arrived up in Wisconsin, we ended up diverting to the Fondulac airport and camping there for a night. The next morning we flew into Oshkosh, and we got parked right on the end of a row, as though we were a show plane (of course we always get attention with the Tri-Pacer!). Many old friends stopped by to say hello, and our whole family gathered under her wing for shade, coffee, and conversation. We are all EAA Lifetime members and got to enjoy the benefits during the airshow. This year’s show was one of a kind. It is a great privilege to get to experience.

    This year involved a lot of growth in my personal security before God. I notice this in cases where I can more readily say ‘yes’ to being involved in social situations. I can say ‘yes’ to more family time, whereas I was prone to shy away. It’s cool to be in the same experience a year later and realize that you are a different person from a year ago. My friends are also different people, in the best possible ways. My wife, the same way. There is so much richness to the soul and to personality. We even see it in the youngest of babies. Anyway, it’s cool to reflect on a year of changes. I started at Kudu Dynamics, LLC this year, and it’s been really cool to finally get out of the basement that I used to love to dwell in.

  • 2018 is almost over!

    Another year is almost under our belts. This year brought forth adventures, trials, and joys. We went to Oshkosh in the Tri-Pacer and had plenty of maple-bacon ice cream. This is one tradition that I hope will not fade away. That ice cream is delicious. It’s been fun to get to fly as much as I did this year. Val and I flew to Thompsonville, Michigan amongst a sea of trees and deepest blue lakes. With the afternoon sun glinting off the lake, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the scene. Flying to Sylvania during the sunrise casting its long shadow over the ground was also such a memorable experience.

    Having these experiences are awesome, but it is even better to have someone to share it with. My mind is up in the clouds, and it is a great privilege to get to share that with other people. We went on a cruise earlier this year down to the Bahamas and Key West during the middle of winter. That was a smart move. I hope we do something like that again.

    Every year there is something exciting, and this year is no exception. I get to help out with Friends of Fountain of Hope and continue to support the Christians in Cambodia. The other exciting news is that we bought a house! We got to put a lot of equity into it already with a new water line, furnace, AC, thermostat, garage door, and garage door opener. Whew! It was the first house we put an offer on. We didn’t get it initially, but the previous buyer fell through.

    Nothing is more awesome than following God alongside my wife Valerie. I am so grateful to have a partner! I am so grateful to get to use our house to serve people. It is time to hibernate for another winter.

    I am thankful for time off work around the holidays, and it feels like I have time to be clear minded and rested. This time of rest certainly restores me to come back and hit the ground running into the new year.

  • Married!

    This is my 10th year of annual blog posts!

    I am married! Marriage is such a great privilege. Valerie and I had a fun wedding on April 8th and then we jetted off to Maui for our honeymoon. We are living in Clintonville and enjoying quiet apartment life. We saw Hamilton in New York and got to fly to Oshkosh together. I feel so glad to get to be involved in spiritual community with fellow Christians. I do not deserve it at all, but I am grateful for it because nothing else in the world is quite as satisfying to my soul as loving those that God has put in my life. I’m still involved in Robotics with team 1014 and working alongside Saaj and Isaac in discipleship! Joy exists in my soul by God’s grace.

    I can’t wait to see what further adventures are in store for us!

  • A great year

    This year had more excitement and adventure than I expected! I went to Cambodia on a mission trip to support Fountain of Hope. I got engaged to my fiancee Valerie. I had the incredible privilege of learning and teaching the Bible. I taught our college home church and high schoolers in New Albany. Nothing can match the joys and trials this year has brought forth.
     
    The airplane has been in the maintenance hangar for over 5 months. My dad and I recovered the elevator in our garage, which turned out to be the adventure. A week before my Cambodia trip he had a stroke. I am thankful that He is recovering well. It was a scary time for sure. We finished the elevator then found out that there were 3 cracked cylinders on the engine! Ahh! The GPS still isn’t working, but the plane is ready for flight.
     
    I am 26 and overwhelmed with how much knowledge and experience I have. I am also overwhelmed by my minimal knowledge I have in these areas.
  • A technology nightmare

    It’s an incredible world we live in today. There are so many services to help us manage our lives and data in ways that we could not have imagined twenty years ago. However, I have a major problem that is starting to become quite burdensome.

    Here is my dilemma. I use many different services to manage my digital life. I use services from Microsoft, Google, and Apple along with a few others on a regular basis. This did not particularly happen by plan or by choice. I used to develop a lot of software for Microsoft platforms. I had a Windows Phone that uploaded every picture to OneDrive automatically. I went to a developer conference where they gave everyone 100GB of cloud storage for life! In 2011 Google Docs was far more advanced than Office Online, so I ended up storing most of my documents in Google Drive. Gmail also integrates with Google Drive. Four years ago I went back to iOS and bought a MacBook to do game development. I also use an app called ForeFlight for use while I am flying that only works on iOS. Apple’s iCloud synced all of my Photos between the Mac and iPhone seamlessly. iCloud also offers a shared calendar that syncs between our family which works through the iOS Calendar app, but I have a shared Google Calendar that doesn’t sync with the default calendar app. The last piece of the puzzle comes from taking notes/reminders. I had been using Microsoft OneNote. I switched to the Notes app on iOS. When I initially setup Notes, they were stored in iCloud. Now they are stored with Google through Gmail. I am currently trying out Evernote, which has been okay so far. The default iOS Mail app doesn’t support push notifications for Gmail. Trying to share a photo through the Photos app to an email doesn’t offer the Inbox or Gmail app! Arg! It is so frustrating! Everything is separate and isolated. I have notes stored in four different places!

    Each service has things that I like. The greatest schism comes from Google. I use Google Chrome and Gmail. They do not integrate well with Apple’s ecosystem (Calendar, Notes, Mail), yet they are superior products on the web. I love using these services. I want to consolidate all of my data, but where should it live?

    I believe the key problem here is with platform ecosystem loyalty. If I pick one platform, and all my friends and co-workers use that platform, I believe that all my problems will go away. These companies want to force us into that. Not only do these services fail to work together, they purposefully design their services to be isolated from one another.

    How can we solve this?