palmsolo's personal blog » Work

Driving the ship from after steering

palmsolo — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:06:59 +0000

Driving the ship from after steering,
originally uploaded by palmsolo.

Funky ladder on the ship

palmsolo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:49:30 +0000

Funky ladder on the ship,
originally uploaded by palmsolo.

This is a different stair arrangement

Drydock survey

palmsolo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:56:41 +0000

Drydock survey,
originally uploaded by palmsolo.

I made a quick visit in preparation for the deadweight survey.

I just added 3 more initials to my name, PMP!

palmsolo — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:38:42 +0000

Thank you to everyone who offered and prayed for me this morning. I just left the test facility and I PASSED! I now almost have more initials after my name than my first name, Matthew Miller, P.E./PMP. I was allowed 4 hours and finished in about 2.5 hours and thanks to your prayers and the comfort & confidence I felt from the Lord this morning I was not nervous at all and thought I did very well. All they tell you is pass or fail so I am not sure how many of the 200 questions I answered correctly, but passing was the goal and it was achieved.

The Lord is so good! All the time!

Prayer request for big PMP test tomorrow

palmsolo — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:49:53 +0000

I took an online course from Villanova University in the Winter and have been studying hard the last month or so as I prepare to take my Project Management Professional certification exam tomorrow morning. This test is 4 hours long with 200 questions and if I pass I will be a certified PMP. As my company grows it is important to establish a consistent program for project management and this is a big deal for the senior associates at our firm. I would appreciate any prayer that you may send my way as I take this long test tomorrow morning. The nerve racking part is that you take it on a computer and then find out your results within a few seconds after the test ends. I feel confident that I have prepared adequately, but I know I can do nothing without the blessing and guidance of the Lord. Thank you everyone.

Thank you Lord for another great year

palmsolo — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:14:22 +0000

I just received a bonus and a letter stating that I earned a healthy raise for next year and have to say all of my success is due to the blessings the Lord has provided to me. Without Him and His guidance, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I look forward to the new year and am laying out some of my priorities now that I want to focus on in 2008.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone and I pray the Lord blesses you as much as he has me and my family.

Rest in peace, Mr. Laible

palmsolo — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:32:19 +0000

The wonderful Christian man who hired me at my current marine consulting firm almost 7 years ago just passed away last night from a tough battle with cancer. He now joins his amazing wife who passed away a couple years ago and while I am extremely saddened by losing this mentor here on Earth I can rest knowing for sure that I will be able to discuss shipbuilding with Duane in Heaven. He was one of the most personable and friendly people I knew and always had a good attitude and glow about him. Everyone could tell he was a man of God, just through his actions. And then when you talked with him and learned of his relationship with Jesus, you also knew he was secure in the Lord. I loved Duane and will miss him today. It still seems like I’ll see him poke his head into the office and help me out with client communications, but sadly we will no longer. Thank you for everything Duane and may the Lord comfort your family today.

I thought I liked the Palm Foleo

palmsolo — Thu, 31 May 2007 14:50:29 +0000

Palm announced their Foleo mobile companion device yesterday and most every blogger I read over the last 24 hours does not like the device. I actually am thinking about it as a possible future purchase since I think it takes the Nokia Internet Tablet idea and makes it better with a larger display and a keyboard. With the integrated WiFi you don’t even need a smartphone to use the device, but the multimedia functionality is still an unknown. I think if it was priced the same as the N800 (US$399) it would probably sell quite well, but with a full retail price of US$600 then that may push it too far out of people’s comfortable price range.

I take my Stowaway BT keyboard with me and try to use the TV-out on S60 devices, but many times hotel do not have the ports available to turn the mobile device into a traveling computer and the Foleo would allow you to always have a display and keyboard with you. I think the device may be a good companion for the business traveler who needs to get some basic work done on the plane and needs a device that lasts longer than the 2-3 hour battery life on most all laptops. Granted, there are micro laptops out there with long battery life and good performance, but they cost 3 to 4 times what the Foleo will cost you.

I need to get a hold of one and see for myself. What do you think of the Palm Foleo?

UPDATE: After some more thinking about the device, I just don’t think there is a need for the Foleo as I stated in my ZDNet blog entry.

On the way home from Brownsville

palmsolo — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:24:28 +0000

I just spent the last couple of days crawling around a ship that is being prepared to be sunk as part of an artificial reef program. I had to measure the holes that were cut and verify the arrangements to create some drawings that show bulkheads, ladders, openings, etc. so the State of Texas can help with rescues if any diver gets trapped in the future.

I’ll be home tonight, then to work all day tomorrow, then off to Cabo for a nice vacation with my wife. Thanks to my wonderful wife and Party Lite for that upcoming vacation, which I really need since work has been CRAZY!

UPDATE: Well, I thought I was on the way home, but was delayed 3 hours in Brownsville and have now been in Houston for about 3 hours with no certain departure time in sight. I NEED to get home tonight or tomorrow for my trip to Mexico and kick myself for not bringing my passport when I could have just traveled over to Cabo from here. I’ll never travel anywhere without my passport again!

Coal carrier safely afloat

palmsolo — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:25:53 +0000

I mentioned a salvage case I was working on a couple of days ago and after working through many calculations and submitting a salvage plan that was then approved by the USCG, I am happy to report that the vessel was safely refloated this morning! As I talked about in my earlier post, this type of engineering is extremely rewarding due to the quick results you see. I have been a salvage engineer since 1997 (wow, 10 years now) and every case has been a success. Thank you Lord Jesus for continuing to watch over me and give me the abilities and resolve to perform my job well. Without Him I could not do this job.