Between the Lines

Starting 24

Today is my anniversary of joining Autodesk from being an Autodesk customer and ended up moving down to the San Francisco Bay area. I had thought a couple years leaving industry as a mechanical designer using Autodesk software would be for a couple years improving the products I used and then back to the design, fabrication and construction world I would go, but I stayed at Autodesk. What kept me was the amazing colleagues, great company, the best customers, and... Read more →

Happy New Year - 2021

Like most Autodesk employees I have just returned from our annual week of rest and holidays, plus a bonus few days this year courtesy of our leadership wanting employees to relax after a challenging 2020 which felt like never ending Zoom meeting and unpredictable situations in life and work. I'm grateful that Autodesk thinks about the challenges of their employees and those that have been cooped up for months with many challenges as well as the mental exhaustion and feelings... Read more →

Thank You cough cough

My heart goes out to all of my fellow western united States residents dealing with the concerns and fear due to unknowns and unsubstantiated conspiracies circulating on the internet, and some experiencing the loss of homes and life due to the unprecedented wildfires. I wanted to thank those that read my previous post about the fires including one that was 1.5 miles from my own home and several sending private offers of assistance and a place to stay if evacuated.... Read more →

Vacation and NW Fires

I took last week off of work to drive from Oregon to see my 3 adult kids that live in Utah, including one that is attending the University of Utah as a senior in engineering. I also got to see my cute sweet granddaughters. Due to Covid 19, I haven't seen my kids and grandkids since January. We had a couple dinners in parks socially distanced with masks since my daughter in law is currently pregnant. It was so good... Read more →

Saturday Cooling Off

I got away on Saturday this past weekend escape my house, 104 degree weather in Portland (rare we get that hot) and go hiking on the Oregon Coast which was also unseasonably warm but was only 82 degrees and the water a chilly 55 degrees. It was an easy choice at 5am until the crowds arrived in the afternoon as I was out on a stand up paddle board. After that I packed up and headed back into the furnace... Read more →

SE Washington and NE Oregon Social Distancing

Last weekend, I explored the Walla Walla Valley and enjoyed time outdoors on the water an the country roads. The region is well known for being a wheat belt, famous Walla Walla sweet onions, and the award winning wines. There are also amazing outdoor adventures from bike rides, stand up paddling boarding on rivers and lakes and the geography from warm temperature dry lower valleys to the Blue Mountains with their temperate forest and amazing small wild strawberries. These wild... Read more →

The Weekend – Forest Therapy

With the forest and some county services opening where I live, I am once again taking off into the forest this weekend.I hope you too find something that clears your mind and makes you smile. This photo was from the famous Pacific Crest Trail “The OPCT” last Saturday near Little Crater Lake in Clackamas County Oregon near Mount Hood. Some photos of nature seems like a well needed and perfect way to end the week. Looking towards Timothy Lake via... Read more →

Poor Mervin Learns an Important Construction Safety Lesson

An Autodesk colleague Justin Taylor spent time teaching his 6 year old son the importance of construction site safety using a small tomato named “Mervin”. “I combined work and home schooling with my 6 year son today – the topic this lunch time was safety on the construction site. I showed him: The importance of proper site planning The importance of PPE How to capture an incident on a phone And how useful kitchen roll is for cleaning up accidents” Read more →

Evil Scammers – Be Aware and Be Vigilant

Be aware there are many scams out there trying to take advantage of the challenging COVID-19 and economic uncertainty and confusion with very convincing phishing emails to get you with a fake Amazon or bank email to give up your login and passwords on a fake sign in page. Another scam is criminals taking advantage of the overwhelmed unemployment system as I found out when some criminal fraudster filed a unemployment claim using some of my details. I have had... Read more →

Thank You

Thank you to all the medical first responders doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and researchers battling the COVID-19 pandemic head on in a heroic effort. I worry about my friends who are doctors and nurses every single day. Also a big thank you to store workers and delivery people that without them so many would not be getting things they need to get by. So many good people out there helping so many with their hard work and risk. To my... Read more →

Volunteer Design and Make Projects to Help People Breathe

Yesterday an acquaintance I know Gui Cavalcanti was recognized for participating in a volunteer open source effort to design breathing ventilators for those that may need them due to the COVID-19 virus. Its a blend of makers and engineers creating mechanical designs and the 3D printing parts. The Futuristic Solutions the Internet is Crowdsourcing to Cure Coronavirus – Newsweek “A Facebook group called Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies, which consists of over 13,000 members, is trying to find solutions to... Read more →

Digital Happy Hours – We Must Stay Connected

We held a Digital Happy Hour via Zoom last evening with 6 amazing people. This is just something of an experiment to connect and support each other and raise a glass and laugh. It was good and we all needed to laugh, share what was going on in our lives, and interact while most are working from home isolated and keeping social distances in real life. In the end it was unanimous to hold it again and several indicated others... Read more →

We All Need a Happy Hour – You In?

With so many working from home or feeling anxious and isolated due to COVID-19 uncertainty, I thought it might be a good thing to get together at least digitally to talk about tech, life, laugh, summer plans, and just socialize. We must not get isolated and sad and instead find new ways to reach out and connect and support each other. What do you think, would you join a free Zoom video call to connect? It would be a Happy... Read more →

Tips and Tricks for Working Remotely

Many of us out of caution by our employers may be finding themselves working from home, and need a support group with tips on how to effectively work from home and perhaps the social isolation that creates from colleagues. The Autodesk community has started a thread for people to share their tips and tricks and it might be a good resource for you. Having a community helps in challenging times. “Tips and tricks for working remotely https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/the-community-room/tips-and-tricks-for-working-remotely/td-p/9374553 Hello Autodesk community!... Read more →

Thank You Bill Adams

Bill was a rare human that no matter what was going on, Bill made you smile or laugh. Bill Adams has been a longtime smiling Revit BIM and Star Wars loving Autodesk community member at AU, AUGI, the Internet (yes the entire Internet) and honestly everywhere where he could. He was always, and I mean always the first to wish this blog a happy anniversary even making a cake at 7 years or wishing me a birthday especially since he... Read more →

Happy 161st Birthday

Happy 161st Birthday to my beautiful Oregon! Here are a couple of my favorite photos I have taken of Oregon. Read more →

Be Mine

Happy Valentines Day Read more →

Psychedelic Sunrise in Portland

This morning was amazing with the sunrise in Portland Oregon. My jaw dropped seeing it at my house and in all the posted photos. Here are photos I captured from my home as I left for the office. Here are two amazing photos from a local friend and former colleague now at Nike. Ritza Garzia captured it best with her sweet pup. wow… I want this each and every morning! Read more →

Snagit Magic

I have used Snagit for over 20 years as a customer on an almost daily basis for work and images for this blog. This software is one of my most essential tools and I am always finding out powerful features all the time. Today I learned I can replace areas of an image much like Content Aware cut and paste in Photoshop without the big price tag and large install footprint. Sometime you just need something to do your basic... Read more →

Join the Autodesk Inventor Team in Portland

We’re hiring a senior software engineer for the Autodesk Inventor Platform team. This position is based in sunny Portland, Oregon in our awesome award winning building. Autodesk Portland is One of the Best Places to Work in Portland Oregon The key requirement is really C++ programming experience (7 years+ with a bachelor degree) and passion for what you do and make. Interested, Read more and apply Here Read more →

Happy Holidays

Its that time of the year for many Autodesk employees to spend time with their families and friends for the holidays and take our annual week of rest off. I will be back to work January 6th after my time with friends and family including my new granddaughter Brook an my other granddaughter Charli. Have a very safe and joyous holiday season, and a happy and healthy new year! -Shaan Read more →

Autumn Colors in Portland

Just a quick post on the amazing colors in Portland Oregon currently with the sudden onset of Autumn. Yesterday I went to the Hoyt Arboretum especially my favorite of the Maple Loop and then hiked the Wildwood trail to Portland’s prized treasure the Portland Japanese Garden. It was amazing walk with the beauty of Washington park and the park changing colors for fall. Read more →

Fall is Here

I love the fall and today is the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) for those of us in the northern hemisphere. I love the end of the summer heat and the beginning of crisp mornings, garden harvests, the fall rain and fog, the wine harvest, Halloween, and most of all – the fall colors of all the leaves. I love change, and the change of seasons is a good one. In NW Oregon we should be peak leave fall... Read more →

My Office View the Past Few Days

I took off to the Mt Hood National Forest to camp, enjoy the beauty, disconnect from screens, spend time with my girlfriend and her young kids, breathe in the fresh mountain air, escape the heat wave in Portland this week, as well as reboot my brain. Now I'm back and have so much to do this week and next. Shaan PS: Did you know it is the 20th anniversary of Autodesk Inventor in just two weeks? Read more →

Weekend Adventure Rewind – Timberline to Paradise Park on Mt Hood

This weekend I did some solo adventure hiking up on beautiful and iconic Mount Hood, an extinct volcano with an elevation of 11,161 feet. My route in the 58 degree cloud covered weather was from Timberline Lodge to Paradise Park Loop and then the Paradise Park Loop at 14.5 miles and 5900 feet elevation climb. I got rained on but mostly covered in clouds and cool temperatures, but still amazing and without the sun and heat it limited the sunburn... Read more →