I’m Ben, a regular everyday normal guy. I’m currently enjoying life in the South Eastern U.S. I am an engineer by day, and spend most of my evenings either renovating my house which we are about to sell, or shuttling children around town.
I like to spend my time working in the garage, making upgrades to my homelab, hiking/backpacking when the weather is good, and spending time with my family.
Work
I received a B.S. in mechanical engineering about 15 years ago from a small school in the great white North, where I’m originally from.
I spent the first 8 years after college in the Army as a 12A (engineer officer), spending most of my time in central Texas. I was a route clearance platoon leader, which involves driving large trucks and sometimes getting to blow things up. I got to go to Germany twice, for a few months each time to train with multinational partners (and be close to Ukraine to deter Russian agression in Crimea back when that first started). I then was a unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platoon leader, where we flew a RQ-7B to collect intel for friendly scouts, and to help observe/mark targets for friendly rockets and rotary wing pilots, depending on the day.
I spent 2 years as a battalion S4 (logistics officer) managing vehicles, maintenance, property transfers, real property and facility upgrades, food/water/ammo, etc. I got to go to Korea for a year during this time, which was also pretty great (the hiking there is magnificent), minus all of the DPRK “weather balloon launches” which seemed to happen bi-weekly. I then attended the captain’s career course, and stayed on station in Missouri for another 2 years or so, working as the deputy chief of staff for the engineer regimental headquarters.
I then separated from service, to pursue a career that actually lets me use my degree. I currently work as a Sr. Systems Engineer for a large DoD contractor, and advise the government on technical dealings of an air defense program. Essentially being their engineering advisor to make sure they’re getting their (and your) money’s worth, because the DoD has trouble keeping subject matter experts on staff in some places.
This blog
I do a lot of small projects around the house that cover a wide range of topics. Sometimes I have issues remembering things. E.g. where are the studs in that wall, where did I run the electrical lines? Why did I choose the thickness I did for this part? How exactly did I renew this digital certificate, I only have to do it twice a year…
I also am used to keeping an engineering notebook, with drawings, notes, etc. But I’m not organized enough in my personal life to keep track of all of that paper coupled with dates I completed tasks, and photos on my phone. So this helps me capture my thoughts before they escape me, and also allows me to share projects that people ask about, because they want to do the same thing at their house.
Fun
Right now we’re about to move so that my wife can start medical school. So I’m tying up lots of loose ends around the house. Improving insulation and weather proofing, fixing dilapidated fence, renovating a kitchen and master bathroom, and replacing flooring in our entire downstairs.
Normally, when things are less crazy, I like to go hiking on long weekends in the hills around us. Sometimes, although rare lately, we go caving. Sometimes I go mountain biking on local trails. Once a year or so we take a roadtrip to national parks, and hike/camp our way across the country to show the kids the world outside of the SE U.S. before they go to college in a few years.
And as always, I enjoy trying to DIY improvements to anything and everything, as is the namesake of this blog. Whether it be fixing up a motorcycle that’s older than I am, and adding modern features. Upgrading my home network to be more performant/reliable (and more complex). Or adding components to one of our cars to make it better/faster. I can’t just leave well enough alone.
I certainly won’t be teaching a master class in any one topic, as a lot of people recommend (your blog should focus intently on one topic, and find your core audience). But I will try to keep it interesting.