Weekly Wednesday Update #22

Goal Update

As predicted, LASIK knocked me out of commission for a few days; WORTH IT. Seriously, only regret I have is not doing it sooner. It is still surreal to that I can wake up and see 15/20 (better than 20/20) without the need of glasses or contacts. Again, once I get my life back into order, I will begin the marathon training to reach that sub 3 hour marathon goal.

Weekly update

Miles Run: 6.25 [448.49]

Tacos Ate: 17 [426]

Miles Biked: 12.41 [973.2]

Things I worked on

Does beginning to organize all the shit I have, packing, unpacking, doing one load of laundry and then repacking count? Literally though, I have been doing a lot of travel, not a lot of work on things. But hey, I have spent a ton of time with family and friends over the past week which in my mind is the most important thing anyways. Over the next two weeks I will be doing work on a lot of projects as it’s become a now or very-difficult-to-complete-in-foreseeable-future type of thing…

Favorite Podcasts of the Week

The School of Greatness - #478 Kyle Cease: use Humor to Overcome Fear

“Kyle does incredible work in supporting people to overcome their biggest limiting beliefs – while allowing them to laugh about it and have fun. I love this about his approach since so much of transformational self-development work is so serious and lacks humor.”

SPI 263: Laddering Up: How to Build a 7-Figure Business by Building a $7k per Month Business

"Clay Collins of LeadPages returns to the Smart Passive Income Podcast for another incredible, value-packed (and potentially record-breaking) episode. This time, Clay is dropping serious knowledge on building a seven-figure business, step by step."

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week

"The only thing that is constant is change" - Heraclitus

“Everything I'm scared of loosing will have to be taken away from me to make room for what I really am.” - Kyle Cease

Random of the Week

Remember how last week I said my parents were correct and hard work pays off? Well if getting a job offer at SpaceX and then accepting it was not exciting enough, I found out this on Thursday of last week.

Last check box I needed to complete in order to become a Licensed Professional Engineer! Well, at least in Michigan, I will have to transfer the license to my future home in California! And if that was not enough excitement, I then saw my best friends over the weekend, got LASIK surgery, and now have 15/20 vision. Next stop, Louisiana for my brother and future sister-in-law’s engagement party!

Time to write post: 32 minutes

Weekly Wednesday Update #21

Goal Update

This past week I was in Arizona and traveling around the southwest, unfortunately my mileage suffered a bit. Fortunately it was a recovery week, but it was still light to my liking. The runs last week were amazing, and I biked up a mountain on Thursday. That was fun!!! This next week will be a bit light as well as I will be getting LASIK done on my eyes and be out of commission for a few days. I guess a little extra recovery and some focus on flexibility will be good after 5 solid months of training. Once I get my life back into order, I will begin the marathon training to reach that sub 3 hour marathon goal.

View from the top of the mountain in Phoenix, AZ 

Weekly update

Miles Swam: 0 [2.89]

Miles Run: 5.01 [442.24]

Tacos Ate: 19 [409]

Miles Biked: 49.92 [960.79]

Things I worked on

Vacation was well needed and unfortunately I am still adjusting back to the eastern time zone so shop work has suffered. I am currently working on making some more of my almost famous minimalist wallets, which will allow me to pump these out relatively fast.

Minimal Wallet Production

Engagement Gift for a Friend

After my PE exam, I did purchase a smoothieboard for my 3D printer / laser engraver machine that I am planning to build. Some design work has been completed, along with research on how to set up the smoothieboard for wireless printing. More details to come at some point.

Favorite Podcasts of the Week

The Art of Charm #611: Jim Kwik - Kwik Brain

“Are you the kind of person who can’t remember the name of someone who just introduced themselves ten seconds ago? Maybe you can’t get somewhere you’ve been a dozen times without the help of GPS. Perhaps you’re just easily distracted and have entrepreneurial ADD. How do you cut through the clutter to focus and succeed in the 21st century?

Celebrity memory coach Jim Kwik shows you how to measurably focus and improve your memory to advance your career, increase your influence, become an expert in your field, and remember the people you meet every day. Listen, learn, and enjoy!“

TED Radio Hour - The Digital Industrial Revolution

“As machine learning surpasses human intelligence, where does that leave us? This hour, TED speakers explore ideas about the exciting — and terrifying — future of human-robot collaboration.”

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week

"If you're not progressing, you're regressing; so, keep moving forward." - Elon Musk

“If knowledge is power, learning is your superpower.” -Jim Kwik

Random of the Week

You know how parents always tell you to work hard because it will pay off? Well, they aren't lying...

Over the past month, I was recruited, went through multiple phone screenings and interviews that lead to an interview at my dream company, SpaceX. On May the Fourth, I visited the company headquarters just outside of Los Angeles, CA; easily one of the top five coolest place I have ever been. The interview process was one of the most challenging processes I have been through which challenged me in every way. It was very helpful to have just taken the PE exam, but I'm no rocket scientist… yet. I took this opportunity by the horns and gave it my best effort...

Last week, while on vacation I was offered a position as a manufacturing engineer at SpaceX. Yesterday, I officially accepted the position. Saturday I will be getting LASIK done. A week from Thursday I will be flying to NOLA for my brother’s engagement party. Two weeks from today will be my last day at HSC in Michigan. And June 19th, I will start work at SpaceX.

Kids, Dreams do come true!

Time to write post: 27 minutes

Weekly Wednesday Update #20

To be completed tomorrow... I'm was on vacation

Antelope Canyon - Page, AZ

South Rim of Grand Canyon 

Horseshoe Bend - Page, AZ

North Rim of Grand Canyon

Weekly Wednesday Update #19

Goal Update

Due to a lot of travel, this week has been really light. I guess the good news is I ran in 3 different states over the past 7 days, along with playing a round of golf with my best friends. Not mad about it; sometimes you just need to take a break.

Weekly update

Miles Swam: 0 [2.89]

Miles Run: 29.53 [415.07]

Tacos Ate: 14 [366]

Miles Biked: 11.59 [888.55]

Things I worked on

Traveling makes it difficult to get much work done, and I will be heading out for a much needed 10 day vacation in Arizona with the family starting Friday. Not much work will get done, but hopefully I can finalize some designs and get some much needed documentation completed.

For fun, here are a few teasers for future projects…

Favorite Podcasts of the Week

The Year of Purpose Podcast - Lost Tapes: Doug Sandler - Nice Guys Finish First

Author of Nice Guys Finish First, Doug Sandler shares some of his expertise on making connections, building relationships, and strengthening bonds with people. To be honest, I tried some of his suggestions out and they worked right away!

The School of Greatness #464 - Dave Asprey: Train Your Brain for Peak Performance

Always fun to listen to the host of another podcast you listen to talk on a podcast other than his/her own. Dave Asprey is the host and founder of Bulletproof radio/diet. Very interesting information on some of the most recent bio hacks he has been testing out and how to get peak performance.

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week

"Step out of the boat." - Chioma Isiadinso

"In order to fly, you've got to get rid of the shit that holds you down" - Cory Booker

Random of the Week

Now that I have a little more time to work on the things I love, (and as a present to myself for completing the PE exam) I purchased a new controller board and 3D printer extruder to build my upgraded 3D printer. After a lot of research, I purchased a Smoothieboard 5x from Openbuilds as this controller has a 32-bit processor, a lot of IO and features, a huge community of users, great documentation, and can be used for 3D printing, laser cutting, or CNCs. For a 3D printer extruder, I purchased the new E3D Titan Aero Extruder, which may not be much of an upgrade from the v6, but it is much more compact and looks great.

After spending some money on these things, I should really focus on getting the design done and start cutting out the pieces for this printer/laser engraver/cutter. My plan is to use a CNC machine to build a 3D printer; something that you don’t really see (there are many 3D printed CNC machines or 3D printers). Looking forward to building this machine and sharing the progress with you guys!

What are you working on this week?

Time to write post: 38 minutes

Weekly Wednesday Update #18

Goal Update

Its been a productive but busy month. Lots of rain this past week kept me inside as I didn't want to catch a cold with all the travel I'll be doing in the next few weeks. Now that I have joined the runyourbq team, I should be increasing my mileage a bit… because 100 a month isn't enough.

April Totals

Miles Swam: 1.25 [2.89]

Miles Run: 103.66 [385.81]

Tacos Ate: 81 [349]

Miles Biked: 200.35 [865.75]

Weekly update

Miles Swam: 0 [2.89]

Miles Run: 17.43 [385.81]

Tacos Ate: 18 [352]

Miles Biked: 46.24 [876.96]

Things I worked on

Unfortunately, I underestimated the time it would take to complete some projects, but hey I got some work done. Check it out.

Well the table isn't flat...

Skins to start

Add 0.5" MDF to top 

Add weight to glue flat

Time to make it flat...

DONE!

Fun Picture

The right most strip was from 0.75" MDF; gives me a straight edge to clamp against

And some fidget spinner fun

Favorite Podcasts of the Week

The Strength Running Podcast #20 - Author Matt Fitzgerald on “The Endurance Diet”

Another great podcast on the importance of diet, more data points to help me fuel my goals.

The Strength Running Podcast #21 - Nate Helming on Movement, Strength and dynamic Athleticism

I am really becoming a fan of the strength running podcast. The information I'm learning on here I have never heard of before even though I've been running competitively for 20 years and I'm only 27. Very interesting podcast on injury prevention, athleticism and running healthier and faster.

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week

"You become who you spend time with." - Aaron McHugh

Random of the Week

This past week I have spent a lot of time looking back at what I have accomplished, my future goals and what I am doing to accomplish those goals. The reason this post is late is because I stopped thinking about my next steps, I overcame my fear and I started making major steps towards those goals.

In the past week, I got approval from the board of directors of my company to procure and install the equipment for the major project I was working on for the past two years.

More to come... What have you done lately to try and accomplish your goals?

Time to write post: 4 days.... :(