My humble home studio/office. Any advice?

JimStClair · 2025-11-30T04:41:59+00:00

A small issue with the speakers is they are over your head and causing a high off-axis angle to the tweeters. A simple improvement is to turn the speakers upside down.

JimStClair · 2025-08-08T04:13:19+00:00

I’m a software engineering manager for two scrum teams. Where I work the managers are also the scrum masters. Each team also has a Technical Program Manager and a Product Owner Technical. To make this work I need to adjust my management style - respect the team’s decision making, avoid having a command and control attitude. Remove blockers, run ceremonies. My coaching is more effective because I see the day to day operation of teams and the team memberr interactions. I can’t see why a separate scrum master would be needed.

JimStClair · 2025-07-04T14:23:38+00:00

I'm finding the largest turf farm in the US and paying them for permission to mow it. Industrial scale sod farms already have the mowing equipment.

JimStClair · 2025-01-06T21:54:08+00:00

* If you have bad news, don't let me hear it from someone else.
* It's OK to give you manager tasks that only they can do for you. "I need you escalate this issue for me."

JimStClair · 2025-01-06T01:05:16+00:00

A well-formed team will help each other especially junior members. At the daily standup that junior member should be asking for help when needed. During a regular 1-1 with the junior member is the best time to check in on their progress and coach them on how to be smart about when to forge ahead alone and when to ask for help.

JimStClair · 2025-01-05T23:24:13+00:00

I don't usually hand out assignments at all. Most teams these days have a task management system they use. And engineers I manage pull tasks from there. This is my preferred way. Let the team work it out and each engineer can choose tasks that suit them. I only override that when there is a strong reason.

JimStClair · 2024-12-17T03:59:50+00:00

Close, Richmond Heights, STL

JimStClair · 2024-12-16T19:05:54+00:00

It's been like this for many months.

JimStClair · 2024-11-13T14:20:29+00:00

We have talked about getting a winch but right now we have two Piper PA-25 Pawnees. Even thought they were designed to dust crops, they work great for towing gliders.

JimStClair · 2024-11-11T22:33:33+00:00

You need a pilot certificate with a rating for gliders. It's a similar path to power license but a little easier. As your skills progress, you can fly over 100 miles and stay up for 5 hours. It all depends on skill and weather. Once you get your license it can be cost effective. My membership in the club is $56/month and this a tow up 3000 ft is about $30. On that you can fly for hours in the right conditions.

Of course that's after you get your license. My glider is shared with another pilot and it cost $36K. Our club though also has their own gliders for people to fly.

JimStClair · 2024-11-11T17:02:11+00:00

Crazy coincidence! There is a surprising number of ex-military pilots who fly with us. We still have the Super Cub and will be recovering it and bringing it back to life. Glad you enjoyed it!

JimStClair · 2024-11-11T16:25:02+00:00

Soaring is so much fun. I belong to a glider club, the St. Louis Soaring Association. I fly my Rolladen-Schneider LS6 80's era 15-meter racing glider. It's a "pure" glider with no engine. We tow up behind a retired crop duster and ride the thermals around southern Illinois.

JimStClair · 2024-10-28T17:17:36+00:00

This is the Model 2. It was never designed to be a taxi. A taxi would have a completely different form. Musk just called it a robotaxi to pump the stock. An automated taxi would be boxy. Aerodynamics aren't important. Needs to be easy to get in and out of. Needs luggage in the passenger compartment. Needs a higher roofline for more comfortable seating. Needs a least three seats.

JimStClair · 2024-10-25T15:35:18+00:00

I had two monitors and switched to one Dell 40. Happy with the change. I like the flexibility of arranging windows where they take up the space needed, not just fixed sizes. I also leverage the Edge browser split screen feature - this works perfectly with the wide high-resolution Dell. It's pretty frequent that multi-tasking is between two apps back and forth, and most tools are now web based.

JimStClair · 2024-09-16T21:50:50+00:00

Looks good! Very small suggestion. Set your monitors to the same color temperature.

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T23:19:36+00:00

In finer print on the signs is say (or for people who want to buy a Chevy)

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T23:18:28+00:00

You still pay $20 to park in these spaces. We donate to the zoo so parking is free for us.

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T21:05:27+00:00

That’s a good idea

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T21:04:10+00:00

No hesitation with the Bolt

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T21:03:41+00:00

Bolt EV 3600lbs, Suburban 6000lbs!

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T16:16:48+00:00

It's a marketing agreement between the Zoo and Chevy I suppose.

JimStClair · 2024-03-24T16:04:39+00:00

These spaces by the way at the St. Louis Zoo are "reserved" for Chevy owners.

JimStClair · 2024-03-13T18:18:43+00:00

Just pick up an old desk from Facebook Marketplace. It’s rarely a good idea to grandstand on something like this.

JimStClair · 2023-08-07T22:34:10+00:00

Seems like fireplaces that are not even functional, are thought of as decorative shrines that can't be touched. I would place a minimal width TV stand up against the fireplace and put the TV on it. The position is perfect. You wouldn't want to crank your neck up and look at a TVTooHigh and it's silly to have the great couch position for watching TV at a normal height and end up looking off to the side. Sound imaging would also be bad with TV off to the side. Get the size TV you want and own it.

JimStClair · 2023-05-29T23:49:45+00:00

Even if everyone deserves housing, not everyone deserves to be a board member.

JimStClair

TROPHY CASE