AKDragonFish3D

Soon, in roughly two weeks, a new adventure will come my way.  This adventure comes by way of a new job in a new field involving Information Technology.  I'm nervous but excited at the same time.  One one hand, there is already a LOT of drama going on in my life with regards to my family/kids, and on the other hand I'm excited because of many reasons. The many reasons I'm excited are: ** I'm moving away from the Industrial sector into an Education sector with regards to IT.  This will bring some new and fresh challenges my way that I believe could motivate me further in my field. ** One of these said challenges is cross-platform integration.  I haven't had a chance to work cross-platform, however going forward i'm going to have to learn these other platforms really fast to succeed. ** With all of my current struggles, this change might be the catalyst my family needs to screw their heads on straight. A few of the reasons I'm nervous are: ** My family is goin...

 It's getting that time of the year when Interior Alaska starts to experience break-up.  As the ice melts, the fish will begin their spring spawning, and with spring spawning come all the fishing of the year.  However, why should the spring spawn matter to a fisherman?  This article will talk about some reasons why, as well as pass along some useful tips to make your Spring Fishing successful. "But Mr. Jon, why does the Spring Spawn matter?"   There is a lot of things going on in the water under the ice.  As the ice begins to melt, the fish begin to slowly move toward the surface, adjusting their depth to their preferred water temp inside the water column.   Once the Spring Spawn happens, and not just for fish but for all aquatic life such as bugs, each of these species will migrate to that preferred temp.  As well all know, fish will eat their own.  A school of tiny fish is just a platter of food to a much larger fish.  At tha...

Today's Random Word is Lead, courtesy of one of my coworkers thinking she could stump me.  I asked her to clarify "to lead a group of people" or "the metal lead."  She said the latter, knowing that I work with my 3D printers on the regular. As always, I will follow my Random Word format where I define the word, then discuss how the word applies to tabletop gaming, fishing, and 3D printing. --------------------------------------- Definition of Lead, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, within context of the giver of the word: Lead Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster lead noun (2), often attributive \ ˈled  \ Definition of lead (Entry 4 of 5) 1: a soft, heavy, metallic element with atomic number 82 found mostly in combination and used especially in alloys, batteries, and shields against sound, vibration, or radiation — see CHEMICAL ELEMENTS TABLE ----------------------------------------- Lead in tabletop gaming isn't  as hard of a topic to discuss a...

Today, I happen to be associating with other departments during a few work-related tasks and I asked one of them to give me a random word.  Today's word is DOWN.  As always, I will briefly define the word, then discuss how that word applies to tabletop gaming, fishing, and 3D printing. There are many definitions related to the word down.  I will use the first one from the Merrian-Webster Dictionary.  Down is defined as: Definition of down (Entry 1 of 8) 1a(1): toward or in a lower physical position, Don't look down.  Pull down the blind. (2): to a lying or sitting position.  Please sit down. (3): toward or to the ground, floor, or bottom.  burned the house down.  fell down Down Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster ------------------------------------------------------------------- When it comes to tabletop gaming, getting in a "down" position can mean multiple things, both positive and negative.  It would all depend on your perception o...

Survival News:  I recently read an article about a teen who had gone missing in LA County in California and I feel inspired to write about Outdoor Safety regarding this.  Outdoor Safety and Survival is always paramount in my mind anytime we leave Fairbanks city limits for any reason. It gets a bit annoying to my wife, but she understands. The Story Goes As Such... according to the news post below:  a non-verbal teen (meaning he can't speak) got lost in the wilderness in LA County in a heavily wooded area.  The Search and Rescue Team found him because he was clanking rocks together to get someone's attention.  This happened in Crescenta Valley Park (google map of the park below).  The Search and Rescue Team found the teen in a steep canyon and only found him because he was clanking rocks together and the sound echoed in the canyon.   Non-verbal teen lost in L.A. area woods found after clinking rocks together, alerting rescuers (msn.com) Nonver...

Family v. Alcohol - A personal experience/advice/guidance from a friend helping a friend with alcoholism. The past, and my regrets until now My friend, we will call him Dan for the sake of this article, has been drinking a lot, to the point where everyone has noticed that it has migrated beyond just "i like booze" to an addiction, or alcoholism, or however you want to put it. I've seen it coming since he moved back from the other side of the state for work.  I do not know what happened to him on the other side of our massive state, but something has pushed him over the edge and into a bottle.  I have mentioned it to him, my family has mentioned it to him, his family has mentioned it to him, and yet Dan just treats it as normal behavior and moves on.... but it's not normal. My regrets are not speaking my mind about this until now.  I had a chance to speak my mind last year, and the year before when he got back from the other side of the state.  Now things have escalat...