antisocial media – snand.org

got a job

so, posting here on snand has been slow lately, and I’m sure my audience is still arguing about my cleanup of old posts. well, I’ve been on a job hunt because cambria is a shit company with shit management; and so, I’ve been keeping a low profile.

it’s been hard as hell, this has been the most insane couple of months I can recall, at least in terms of of the world situation. I’ve been pretty bored between the job search, the housework and dealing with lots of relatives with health issues. I’m really glad to be going back to work, rejoining society,

anyway, just wanted to update, and hopefully get back to this being my social media replacement.

today for the first time ever

I removed a connection of mine from LinkedIn. Fuck that guy, seriously.

I’m so fucking tired of this..

at the Wayzata basketball game tonight. I volunteered that I had a flashlight on my keychain. they made me throw it away. good fucking policy, next time I’m hiding my deadly weapons.

update- seriously, doesn’t every single person in this arena have a cell phone with a flashlight already?

our first comment spam

aw, seems like snand is finally taking off, we’re heating up in the charts, to the point where we are starting to get comment spam:

So, if you need a VIP hairstyle, you know where to go!

WOW!

I stumbled across a youtube video called “The end of mechanical optics – the game changer.” normally these sort of hyperbolic statements mean I won’t watch it. this time though, introduced me to something I haven’t seen before. WOW! this is really amazing, had a little trouble understanding what it’s all about but some further sluething and I found this:

this is pretty astonishing.

I still don’t know how they are recieving the beam without optics (as shown in the original video) but since they control the emission, they probably have the bare sensor just picking up everything, and then filtering down to the specific wavelength that the beamform non-optic is sending out:

“Basically, you send the light, and you measure when it comes back, and when it comes back, you know exactly where everything is.”

Balancing Life’s Challenges While Job Seeking

Life doesn’t slow down when you’re in transition. As I search for my next professional opportunity, I’m also managing the complex realities of modern life—a balancing act that so many of us experience but don’t always talk about. I wanted to put my situation out there since I cannot imagine I am alone in these challenges.

Right now, I’m:

An Assistant Scoutmaster helping guide my three sons and their troop. One of my boys is spending five weeks working at Many Point, sailing off the coast of Florida, and was chosen as one of two troop representatives for leadership training. All three are working hard on their Scouting advancements.
Helping my kids build a musical future, with a house filled with music, saxophone, clarinet, guitar, soon-to-be trombone concerts, and the glorious cacophony of thieir practice, practice, practice.
Balancing sports, braces, schoolwork, tutoring, keeping the house clean and raising three good boys in this world. (My youngest is 10-0 in basketball!).
Caring for my elderly mother, who relies on limited assistance while the programs that support her are being canceled one by one by this administration.
Supporting my father however I can for our family, who recently lost my 103-year-old grandmother, and now helping my stepmother through cancer treatment (please pray for her, she is in the ICU right now).
Supporting my wife, whose esophagus is paralyzed from Achalasia, leaving her unable to eat.
Recovering from a brain injury less than two years ago—still putting the pieces back together (always wear your bike helmet, I was and it likely saved my life).
Rebuilding our basement—after a flood a year ago, I took on the project myself: framing, running electrical, installing flooring, adding a wet bar, and creating feature walls. Just as I was finishing… our water heater failed, flooding it again.

And in the midst of all this, I’m looking for my next role—a place where I can bring my leadership, experience, and process-driven mindset to a team that values collaboration and structured problem-solving.

Through all these challenges, I remind myself of the values I’ve built my career on—resilience, structure, and forward-thinking problem-solving. Whether in IT, Scouting, or home projects, I believe in being proactive, creating structured solutions, and showing up for the people who need me.

If you’ve navigated job searching while managing life’s curveballs, I’d love to hear your perspective. And if you know of a company that values experience, resilience, and leadership, I’d love to connect.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this transition—I appreciate it more than I can say.

this post was meant for linkedin but I’ve crashed through the character limit. I’ll downsample and post it.

at a crossroads

posted this to LinkedIn today. reposting here for posterity (since this is my social media replacement)

To my Linkedin friends and colleagues.

For the first time in my career, I find myself in uncharted territory. Since I was 14 years old, I have always had my next step mapped out—whether it was pursuing a new skill, stepping into a leadership role, or driving the next big infrastructure project. But today, I’m in a different position.

After several successful years as the Infrastructure Lead at Infinite Campus, I transitioned into an architectural role at Western National, drawn by the opportunity to take a more strategic position. Western National had a culture I truly appreciated—I felt valued and supported in ways that I still reflect on today. However, I hold myself to a high standard, and I never felt like I was able to contribute at the level I expect from myself. The biggest mistake I made was not having open conversations with leadership about my long-term goals. Instead of discussing my desire to get back to hands-on leadership, I assumed I needed to make a move elsewhere. That was on me.

My next step was a management role at Cambria, but unfortunately, the culture and expectations were not the right fit for my leadership style. This experience reinforced an important lesson: when you’re in an environment that values open communication, use it. Talk to your leadership. Advocate for your own growth. Because not every company fosters that kind of dialogue, and I learned the hard way what happens when that’s missing.

Now, I’m focusing on finding an organization where collaboration, structured processes, and operational maturity are truly valued—and where I can bring my leadership experience, technical expertise, and process-driven mindset to help a team thrive.

Beyond my career, I’m a father of three boys and an Assistant Scoutmaster to a big troop of incredible kids. Mentorship and leadership are core to who I am, and I’m eager to bring that same energy to a team that’s ready to evolve and grow.

If you know of an opportunity that aligns with my skills and leadership style, or if you just have advice on navigating this transition, I’d love to connect. Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey—I truly appreciate the support.

Lesson learned: If you’re in a company that values open communication, take advantage of it. Be upfront about what you need. Because not every workplace operates that way, and you don’t want to realize too late that you could have stayed somewhere great.

goodbye grandma

Grandma Bettye, what a life she had. I’m someone who’s had an obsession with stories lately, and how our lives are just the one that we’re each experiencing. What a story she had. My Grandma lived through a World War, multiple stock market crashes, I mean what hasn’t she seen at 103 (she almost made 104). Most importantly she has a story of family.

My Grandmother lost nearly her entire family in an automobile accident when my father was a teenager. She and him were the only survivors; and together, boy did they survive.

She later married a man who became my Grandfather, at least as far as I considered him. Bill McClain, a wonderful man, who brought with him a wonderful family. And so, she and my father were able to build a new family, and my father build more of his own, including of course me.

We’re all a little nuts, some of us a lot. But we’re all here, we’re all finding our way through this life, we’re all surviving. She was a Great-Grandmother to my children, but also a Great Grandmother. Our family was so sad to hear the news, many tears have been shed, but we are so glad she was able to spend her final days in the loving care of her son.

I love you grandma, I couldn’t be where I am today without you. I’m so glad you are at peace, your family will make sure you keep living on in our hearts, memories, and our stories. Your’s isn’t complete yet, it was just the beginning of many more.

update- her obituary.

progress

might as well stick with keeping it positive.. on a roll lately:

made a nifty lamp

projects galore!

she’s back?!?

one of the best youtube channels went dark a while back, the internet has been wondering what happened to her. to be frank, I’ve always suspected the channel is ultimately propeganda but it’s so beautiful that I can’t help but be mezmerized by every single video.

I haven’t even watched this yet but apparently there are two new videos. with the shit news in this world, I’ve been looking for something good. fingers crossed this captures the old magic.

I’ll update later once I have a chance to watch.