2024-04-18 19:47
Still more good things are happening with our GRIME Lab research team at University of Nebraska. Troy sent me links to two articles that were published yesterday. The first is an UNL gen… Read More
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Chapman Kids Blog
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A blog about all levels and types of education, homeschool, Christianity, technology. Focus areas: Skipping high school, CLEP testing, the mind/brain problem, technology, volunteer contribution of engineering services
2024-04-17 16:51
Troy took this selfie of he and I while we were standing in the hallway waiting to enter the arena at University of Nebraska–Lincoln for the graduation and hooding ceremony (notice… Read More
2024-04-15 22:18
Back when we lived in Oregon, we would sometimes go to a Mexican restaurant in downtown Newberg. The restaurant was run by El Salvadorans. They served fairly good Mexican food, but they… Read More
2024-04-14 23:27
I am finally trying to get back on the weight/exercise/health wagon and get my program on track. To that end, Lorena cooked her first chicken shish kabobs of the season. Last week she di… Read More
2024-04-12 21:57
Lorena took Christian’s Honor’s Mathematics certificate he earned from North Carolina State University down to Michael’s to get it framed and then added it to the &ldqu… Read More
2024-04-11 21:11
One of our favorite things about living where we live is that we are only about 20-25 minutes from one of our very favorite restaurants of all time. Baked Bread and Pastry Co. has quite… Read More
2024-04-10 21:37
Lorena did a no-look cell-phone capture of the total eclipse and this is what she got! Notice the star (or planet–might be Venus) down and to the right from the sun in the image. I… Read More
2024-04-10 15:06
Lorena had her annual medical check-up yesterday and it came out great. She continues to work out HARD four days per week and that was manifested in her results. The doctor told her that… Read More
2024-04-08 19:15
That is little spot at the edge on the sun at the edge of the moon is not a smudge on the lens, but literally a sunspot. My buddy John S. took that picture and sent it to me. Lorena a… Read More
2024-04-07 22:45
Lynn sent this picture of the upper azotea of the first house we bought in Mexico. The mountains are the same ones we can see from the front of the house we bought further up the hill, b… Read More
2024-04-06 15:57
I started blogging in Albany Oregon on April 6, 2004. It is hard to imagine that 20 years have passed since that unauspicious start. Kelly was in finishing fourth grade, Christian was fi… Read More
2024-04-04 19:57
We get lots of cool images from the cameras we use at University of Nebraska for our image-based water level measurement research. This latest one is new for me. My understanding is that… Read More
2024-04-04 03:24
Lorena found this in a file box today when she was looking for some tax documents for me. It reminded me of how proud we are of Christian’s hard work and dedication throughout his Bach… Read More
2024-04-01 21:38
We went all out yesterday for Easter. When I saw “we” went all out, I mean Lorena went all out and I helped, but mostly just got in the way. We cooked a ham–Lorena made… Read More
2024-03-31 17:44
I bought one of these long-sleeve t-shirts for everyone in the family and gave it to them when I graduated. I had never worn it and even forgot that I had it. This morning, I dug deep in… Read More
2024-03-30 23:31
Lorena is the most amazing cook in the world. This morning we ran down to McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin breakfast after which we ran across the parking lot to HEB to get some meat… Read More
2024-03-29 19:22
The weather here in our part of Texas has turned just about perfect for gardening and working outside. Lorena is in a near nirvanic state. When the weather is like this and she has some… Read More
2024-03-28 22:31
I just got notice of approval to become an adjunct professor at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It is not official yet, but it appears that all the required approvals have come thr… Read More
2024-03-25 22:15
We found out today that the grandfather of Omar, one of our most dear friends in Mexico fought in the Mexican revolution as a Carrancista. If you do not know what that is, it is okay. Yo… Read More
2024-03-24 17:48
Lynn sent us a ton of great pictures of the final touches being applied to the basement apartment. He has been showing the apartments to potential buyers for a couple of weeks, but th… Read More
2024-03-22 21:24
My PhD adviser, Troy, at University of Nebraska just sent me an image from a new camera he put up for some research we are doing. I actually have quite a few updates about the work I am… Read More
2024-03-19 22:35
This is the stream/drainage ditch that runs beside our house. It only fills up when we have a big rain storm. Those storms are semi-frequent events during parts of year in our part of Te… Read More
2024-03-16 23:16
Lorena ran down to the Spring Market in our town to buy a few things and fill the tank up with gas. She came home all a flutter with the really big news that the gas kiosks where we get… Read More
2024-03-15 19:24
Lorena went with me to my annual lab test appointment. There was a lady there who had a Dobermann Pinscher service dog. He was nothing short of spectacular. His owner gave him her busine… Read More
2024-03-14 21:11
This is the view from the lower azotea (there is one up higher) in the first house we bought in Mexico. He has some finish work to do, but it is easy to imagine the setting for carnes asadas… Read More
2024-03-13 21:11
Lorena makes me a big salad (in the spirit of the Big Salad from Seinfeld) every night we eat at home. Lorena makes an olive oil and vinegar dressing for it that is fabulous. I LOVE my b… Read More
2024-03-12 18:48
Yesterday we learned that we need to do about $700 worth of work on our irrigation system. That was after our 8-year old dryer’s motherboard went out and we had to buy a new dryer… Read More
2024-03-09 21:55
I am putting this image up for future reference. Tío Lauro took the picture before the front of the house started changing. We should get some great new pictures within the next c… Read More
2024-03-09 20:58
Christian was given one of the coolest challenge coins ever for some of the research he has accomplished in his job. He got one from his professor when he was getting his PhD, but this s… Read More
2024-03-08 20:57
Aunt Julia is the absolute best person. She promised to send me something from Grandpa and Grandma Jenkins house and, yesterday, it arrived in the mail. It is the Cottage Grove High School Y… Read More
2024-03-07 19:30
Well, shoot. We just found out our dryer is kaput and it is only eight years old. The repair guy was just excellent, but we all decided (he, Lorena, and I) that it made a whole lot more… Read More
2024-03-07 18:33
There are big culture and spiritual things going on in our lives right now–many of them to do with just getting older and the kids really “owning” their own lives, but… Read More
2024-03-06 23:06
Lorena and I are embarking on an effort to read through the whole Bible together today. We have been reading through the New Testament 3-5 nights per week with Grandma Conchita over Skyp… Read More
2024-03-05 21:01
I was in a really good place, health-wise, just a couple of months ago. Then, after the graduation and the holidays, I gained a bunch of the weight back that I lost (maybe 60%). If one s… Read More
2024-03-03 20:40
Lorena and I have been living according to an ad hoc schedule since when I finished my degree back in December. We have been at loose ends trying to figure out what to do next. We have finis… Read More
2024-02-28 21:49
Even after finishing my PhD at University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), I continue to work there as a volunteer. We have collaborative projects with the ITESM University system in Mex… Read More
2024-02-25 20:32
Lynn is putting the final touches on the apartments and potential buyers have set appointments to come seem them. The top picture is the base for the stairway leading from the main az… Read More
2024-02-23 21:46
Since I started posting back in 2004, I have written almost 4000 posts. There are a handful of guest posts, but the vast bulk of them are mine. By the time I hit the 20 year mark, God wi… Read More
2024-02-22 02:53
Lynn’s construction team should finish putting one of the final touches to the apartment construction: the stairway to the second azotea (roof entertainment area). It truly is turn… Read More
2024-02-20 14:14
Grandma Conchita, Lorena, and Tío Lauro visited a restaurant owned by Conchita’s first cousin in Allende, Nuevo Leon, not to far from Lauro’s atelier. The whole family… Read More
2024-02-19 00:09
Toda la perrada fueron a ver las casas, la foto arriba y lo de abajo a la derrecha del mero abajo estuvieron tomados por el hueco que va a estar el balcón de la primera planta de… Read More
2024-02-18 21:26
Lorena is having a great time in Monterrey hanging out with her mom, her brothers and their families, neighbors, and other friends. Last night they went out for cabrito. After church the… Read More
2024-02-17 13:42
Lynn is working with Lorena on the financial aspects of our little remodel projects in San Pedro and, today, she is going to do a walk-through of both of them. He sent us this picture of… Read More
2024-02-16 14:09
Tío Lauro took Lorena and Grandma Conchita to visit his atelier in Loma Prieta yesterday. They are having entirely too good of a time for me to not be there with them. The image on th… Read More
2024-02-14 22:19
Almost everywhere we put our GaugeCam cameras, raccoons show up. They are amazing little animals. They have been particularly prominent at the KOLA location in Kearney, Nebraska. They are to… Read More
2024-02-14 18:49
My wonderful bride is headed off down to Mexico to visit her mother who is having some medical issues. She and her brother Lynn are going to go over all aspects of their construction bu… Read More
2024-02-14 02:29
Lorena is taking a framed copy of the picture in this post down to Grandma Conchita. We would like to say it is for worthy reasons, but the reality is that it she has more things to brag… Read More
2024-02-11 23:35
I finished reading “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus–Volume One” by Michael Brown just a few minutes ago. It covered what Dr. Brown titled “General and Histo… Read More
2024-02-11 23:18
Lorena is on day 2 of her watercolor painting ambition. It is kind of amazing that this is only her second watercolor. She plans to go through this same video tutorial a couple more time… Read More
2024-02-11 02:12
Lorena has wanted to start painting watercolors for a long time. Today, at long last, she started. She did not want to start too big so she ran down to Michael’s and bought only a… Read More
2024-02-09 19:06
I went way too cheap by far ($26)–the writing is very small. I could read it, but it would be a painful process. I think I am going to give this to one of the kids and spend enough mon… Read More
2024-02-08 22:48
Congratulation to Professor Troy, Gilmore for the publication of his first textbook with co-author Kip Solomon. I am very proud to have gotten my PhD under his tutelage. It is great to b… Read More
2024-02-07 22:09
This is a nice view of the Huasteca from our house on the hill. The new Tesla plant is being built toward the left side of this photo and the large buildings right in front of the Huasteca… Read More
2024-02-06 00:25
Lorena and I drove a couple hours to a funeral today. We really did not know the person who had died, but I knew her sons really well. We had studied together at Texas A&M. It was re… Read More
2024-02-04 18:39
We have been in our current neighborhood for just about three years now. Our next door neighbor, Darrell was a good friend during our time here, helping us out with one thing or another… Read More
2024-02-04 14:02
Lorena and I have been reading a chapter of the Reina Valera (1909) Spanish version of the Bible aloud with Grandma Conchita via audio chat for the last few months. Our plan, God willing… Read More
2024-02-03 00:04
I think this video is at the core of why I am a Christian. It is a question that deserves an answer. I know why I am a follower of Jesus and this is a big part of it. I have the sense that… Read More
2024-02-01 23:34
The image to the left is of the street or front-of-the-house view (away from the spectacular valley view) side of the house. It should be noted that there is a really nice view of Cerro… Read More
2024-01-31 22:35
I am very proud of my buddy John S. who had his first PhD committee meeting at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I meet John in 2007 when I started a new job in Raleigh, North Carolina. We… Read More
2024-01-28 22:35
It is another beautiful day in the barrio in San Pedro. My brothers-in-law, Lauro and Lynn, took Grandma Conchita up to look at the house on hill and at the apartment building which is s… Read More
2024-01-27 18:53
I am working through the weekend to finish some algorithms for a demo one of our sales people needs to do on Monday. The purpose of the demo is to show that we can measure bacteria in im… Read More
2024-01-26 23:22
Puedes decir que quieres, pero la verdad es que Tejas tiene atardeceres sin par. Lorena tomó ese foto alrededor de Navidad con una luna hermosa y colores increíbles. Es una… Read More
2024-01-26 19:05
We have a big demo coming up at my day job that has to do with the ability to measure different types of bacteria and one type of fungus in an time series of images. Of course, I have on… Read More
2024-01-26 02:20
Lorena returned from her visit with Christian in Boston today and life is profoundly better now that she is here. It is just not as nice when she is not where she loves to be in her hous… Read More
2024-01-23 20:31
The one on the left is Tío Lauro’s etching titled El Científico. The one on the right is a picture of Christian that Lorena took from his apartment in Cambridge working f… Read More
2024-01-23 01:19
The volunteer Hydrology work I do with University Nebraska-Lincoln is starting to solidify now that I no longer have a formal position at UNL. Last night a researcher in Brisbane, Austra… Read More
2024-01-21 21:49
It always stinks to not have Lorena here with me, but if she is not with me, it is all OK if she can be with one of the kids. Christian and Lorena were going to take another shot at goin… Read More
2024-01-20 22:33
Christian and Lorena got tickets for the Trump rally today in Manchester, NH, drove up there from Cambridge (only about an hour drive), saw the massive lines to get in, checked the te… Read More
2024-01-19 20:11
Our insanely talented (and creative) friend Stacey knitted these two gnomes for our fireplace. They are PERFECT! We had no idea they would be so good. They had to be a ton of work and th… Read More
2024-01-18 15:44
Today is a travel day for Lorena and I. I am headed for a very short start in Portland to meet with my research team for my day job, spend a long overdue evening with my siblings and to… Read More
2024-01-17 14:51
Reading scholarship about the historicity of the resurrection, the veracity of the Biblical canon, the history and sociology of early Christianity, and to somewhat of a lesser extent, Ch… Read More
2024-01-16 20:10
The offering from official photographer for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 2023 Fall graduation arrived in the mail the other day. I was not planning on getting any more pictures, bu… Read More
2024-01-15 15:21
We woke up to snow on the ground with a temperature of 10° Fahrenheit and a wind-chill factor taking it down to -5°. The temperature was in the forecast, but the snow was not… Read More
2024-01-14 22:25
This little device arrived literally on my doorstep today and, marvel of all marvels and miracle of all miracles, it was delivered there on a Sunday by the venerable United States Postal… Read More
2024-01-13 21:29
I took my beautiful bride for birthday lunch at an exceptional restaurant in downtown Fort Worth named Istanbul just a block or two away from the building the exploded there a couple of… Read More
2024-01-13 02:34
60 calorie Dave’s Killer Power Seed Bread (made in Oregon with Red Mill flour) has been a staple of my weight loss regimen ever since we discovered it back when we were living in W… Read More
2024-01-12 20:54
It is supposed to be very cold on Sunday and Monday, but we have a full birthday weekend planned. We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and stopped at McDonald’s for decaf and pie for d… Read More
2024-01-11 17:30
I figured out a little bit of a medium term project to do now that I am done with college. I have wanted to build my self-hosted, open source video surveillance system for our house for… Read More
2024-01-10 14:39
I finished my tenth read through the Old Testament since I started keeping track of my reading on February 9, 2006. In my first read through the bible, it took me almost 3¾ years… Read More
2024-01-10 01:10
I find myself in an odd frame of mind of late. I am past the “normal” retirement age, but not all the way to the “maximum benefit” social security retirement age. I h… Read More
2024-01-08 22:49
Another book arrived today at the same time as my quarterly medicare payment. Maybe that was reminder that I should not be buying so many new books. I have plenty of reading to last me f… Read More
2024-01-08 20:29
The first “product” we developed when the GaugeCam project started back in 2009 at NCSU was called GRIM. That stood for GaugeCam Remote Image Manager. The name did not evoke… Read More
2024-01-07 19:24
I probably should quit qualifying the things I do with the adjective “retirement.” What was supposed to be a retirement PhD was wholly completed before I retired and, worse… Read More
2024-01-06 19:05
Lorena took this picture a little before 10 am this morning in Granbury at my favorite coffee bar. I had to wait a few minutes for the store to open while Lorena went antique shopping. W… Read More
2024-01-05 18:15
I quit watching my diet (on purpose) and exercise (had good intentions, but did not follow through so well) during the graduation and holiday travel and celebration. At my peak, I had ga… Read More
2024-01-04 19:35
The University of Nebraska merch pays off! Just letting you know, if you have it you need to wear it. We have had MULTIPLE people either stop us to talk and/or yell GO HUSKERS in Texas… Read More
2024-01-04 15:58
People are finally scheduled to move into the apartment building in San Pedro by the end of the week. Lynn is still fighting through the endless details. A hot water heater install, chec… Read More
2024-01-03 20:33
Lorena and I cooked a turkey on New Year’s Day because we had one in the freezer that we bought over a year ago. We were a little worried about how it would turn out, but boy ho… Read More
2024-01-02 23:37
I had all kinds of big plans for my first day of work after the new year, but got off too a very slow start. I finally just gave up at about 3:00 PM and took a two hour nap. I did get a… Read More
2024-01-01 17:13
The burros in the image live on the farm road that goes to Granbury from our house in Godley. They are part of a beautiful drive that we take often and for which we are grateful because… Read More
2023-12-31 22:26
We honestly think we are done now. We think this is the final form of the diploma wall.
A 1978 BS Oregon State University — Ken
B 1981 AE Oregon Institute of Technology —… Read More
2023-12-31 14:49
I have gone through the exercise of making New Year’s resolutions quite a number of times, but if I ever accomplished any of them, it was not by my own volition with the resolution… Read More
2023-12-30 21:44
I texted Lynn today to see if he was letting his workers have the day off since it is almost New Year’s Eve. He said no because he is about three days away from the first two rente… Read More
2023-12-29 23:49
I am off and running on the volunteer work I am doing for the GaugeCam GRIME Lab. I am now automatically downloading images from the USGS HIVIS KOLA camera site and plan to see if I can… Read More
2023-12-27 17:54
Now that my PhD schooling is complete, I have asked to stay on and continue the research that started at North Carolina State University back in 2009. Troy (UNL) and Mary (UNK) have posi… Read More
2023-12-26 23:18
Kelly got Lorena a new “Best Mom Ever” mug for Christmas this year. The old one was the only one she ever used. Even if there were plenty of clean and perfectly adequate m… Read More
2023-12-26 17:46
We returned home yesterday from all our graduation and holiday travels after getting up at 3 AM to catch a plane from Washington (DCA) to Texas (DFW). We had Christmas dinner at Jack… Read More
2023-12-26 04:17
Troy and I show up at around 32:00 and also at a little after 1:15:00 Read More
2023-12-25 20:12
We spent Christmas day traveling back to Texas from Washington, D.C. and ended up eating tacos and egg rolls for Christmas dinner at Jack-in-the-Box. That was the only place we could… Read More
2023-12-24 15:22
We just got news this morning that Lorena’s Tia Mina and Grandma Conchita’s sister passed away in Monterrey after a short illness. She is the second of twelve children (Conch… Read More
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