Between the Lines

Camping at Diamond Lake

Last week I went tent camping with my girlfriend and our two dogs to the Crater Lake National Park area at Diamond Lake Oregon. Mosquitos were out in force, but manageable. We didn't get into the National Park due to the historical amounts of snow this Winter, Crater Lake North Entrance and the rim drive were closed until they can get roads and facilities plowed for tourists, but we still had a blast and rode our bikes the 12 mile... Read more →

Epic Roadtrip Bend Oregon to Napa California

What a magical trip last week for the Memorial Day holiday weekend! My girlfriend and I embarked on a road trip that I can only describe as an epic adventure. Our journey started in sunny Central Oregon’s Bend, Oregon. We drove to Napa California in the San Francisco Bay Area, and then on the return trip back up the iconic Pacific Coast Highway101. We crossed picturesque landscapes, beaches, and vineyards, that culminated in a three-day immersive musical experience at the... Read more →

Recent Adventures

I am still traveling and visiting with family, but soon will be back and ready and reviewing future opportunities and adventures. This Between the Lines Blog will remain my blog, as always, and be back to an active cadence, although less Autodesk-centric and more wide across-industry and technology-focused as well as my fun personal posts and photos as I have for 18 years and no plan to stop. Some photos from recent Mexico, backcountry snow playing in Oregon, and Vegas... Read more →

Spring Break on the Oregon Coast

I just returned refreshed from disconnecting and enjoying the beautiful Oregon Coast for spring break. The time was restorative with sunny fresh ocean breeze days watching the ocean waves, exploring tide pools, adventures, and watching sunsets. I also received my COVID first vaccination yesterday. Cheers, Shaan A low tide hike into the Devils Punchbowl. I love sunsets. 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 →

Amazing Scandinavia

I'm currently on a brief couple day trip for some meetings in Copenhagen Denmark and Gothenburg Sweden. Being of Danish heritage it was an amazing experience even if briefly to be in Copenhagen among all the amazing culture, food, people, architecture, Christmas markets, and Danish design. Did I mention food? Luckily I will be back in Copenhagen in February for the AEC Hackathon. Axel Towers by Architect Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects in 2017 I’m now at the Autodesk Gothenburg Sweden... 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 →

The Biggest Welcome Flying Back Home to Portland

It is the view of Mt Hood welcoming me home when landing. I get excited viewing it our the aircraft window seeing all the trails, lakes, and memories of adventures I have had there, and those I will have in the future. Read more →

Last week

I took a road trip last week from Oregon to Utah to visit my kids and camping along the way. It was a good way to clear the head and also catch up with my kids. Here are a few photos of the beautiful and dramatically contrasting landscape in the western US. I camped at Clear Lake Oregon in Central Oregon where the water is of course crystal clear, but really cold due to being fed by a natural spring... Read more →

Are You in the Washington DC Area and Want to Meetup

I will be in Washington DC next week Thursday and Friday March 28 and 29th and would love to meet with DC area based customers, partners, and people. I have held several casual meetups over the years to meet with readers and see friends and make new ones over a beverage. I can also meet privately with you. Just let me know if you are interested! Email Me I’m also looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms on the National... Read more →

Weekend in the Islands

Its Monday and a gloomy overcast winter one here in the Autodesk Portland office, but the past weekend I finally visited a place in the Pacific Northwest I had been wanting to go to for awhile and thought I would recommend you do the same if you visit Washington State. I drove up to Washington's San Juan islands and then down the beautiful forested Olympic peninsula. The islands are not tropical and can be cold especially in the winter, but... Read more →

Sweet Layover Last Evening

On my flight back to my Portland Oregon home from Toronto I had a 55 minute layover in Salt Lake City. My kids live near there including my youngest, my amazing 17 year old daughter. My sweet daughter drove to the airport and waited outside security just to see her dad. Awe, that made my week. Sadness is the 3 bottles of fine Canadian maple syrup in my carry on baggage that I wouldn’t be able to carry back through... Read more →

See You this Week in MaRS Toronto

The Accelerate with Autodesk event is this week in beautiful Toronto for those interested in the future of design and manufacturing. The location is the MaRS Discovery District which is the world’s largest urban innovation hub and also where the new Autodesk Technology Center is located. We can say with all honestly that we are going to MaRS this week. Explore the future of design and manufacturing This year's event will focus on the convergence of design and manufacturing technology,... Read more →

Back Online

For the past week I have taken some time off while traveling to our Sheffield UK office for Autodesk Design Night Sheffield and some Autodesk customer and partner meetings. I spent a couple days in Iceland on a stopover finding out I could save the company over half the airfare doing so and then spending some adventure time exploring Iceland and staying in yurts on my own personal dime and taking in some amazing geography for photography and some hiking.... Read more →

Weekend Flashback

Those who know me well know that I love getting outdoors on the weekend and time away from the job. I also love to share them and show off the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. On Sunday I got up to the Mount Hood National Forest and did some hiking, photography, and also some fun UAS practice flights to keep my skills up for the next project. Snow and big old growth trees. Locations: Oregon's White River SnoPark and the... Read more →

New Year

I'm back after just returning from my extended annual week of rest vacation. I spent my vacation snowshoeing a weekend in the snow up on Mount Hood then escaping away from the computer in sunny warm Mexico SCUBA diving with friends and seeing maker space\s and beaches. It was an amazing experience and a tradition to spend New Year Eve there I may do every year now. More details on the trip later as I need to go chip my... Read more →

Back in Hawaii for the 75th Anniversary December 7th Remembrance

I am in Hawaii to attend the 75th anniversary of December 7th. The event is not a celebration of the event or war, but to remember how bad war is and how we must never repeat this as well as honor all those that on that Sunday morning died or were forever affected. We had expected and hoped President Obama would be attending but it appears he may not be able to attend and cancelled his speaking events. I do... Read more →

First Day Back in the Saddle err Office

I have been on sabbatical since mid-June and returned to the Autodesk Lake Oswego office this morning – a little too bright and early. I absolutely love working for Autodesk and truly appreciate that they still believe in giving employees a real disconnected break every four years to rejuvenate and reflect and come back with a reinvigorated energy. I feel rested, relaxed, and ready for many great products, projects, and events and of course more blog and social media information... Read more →

Beautiful Mt Hood

I absolutely love seeing Mt. Hood on my flights back home to Portland Oregon. I took this photo Sunday evening with my iPhone after returning from surprising my mother in Idaho on her 70th birthday. If you look closely you can see Mt. Jefferson in the background. Read more →

Got Trashed in Bali

It’s not what you think, I promise. What I did was spear trash and recycle it in rural Bali. I am currently working in Bali Indonesia on a special project with an Australian colleague Brett Casson and a few other people, and not on a vacation unfortunately. We are working extremely long days on a tight timeline in the heat and on Saturday we took a break to meet the amazing and energetic designer John Hardy at Bambu Indah for... Read more →

Long and Memorable Weekend in Utah

For the past four days I have been enjoying a trip to Utah with my girlfriend Amy to visit my mother, my 3 kids, and some friends. It was so great to visit with friends and family but also get to show Amy around a place she had never visited. We did so much in 4 days including lunch at my favorite Mexican mole spot The Red Iguana,haunted house fun, Park City, Brews and Blues festival at Snow Basin to... Read more →

PDX Carpet Designs in AutoCAD DWG

I will never forget many years ago flying into Portland International Airport and seeing the iconic and sometimes visually loud carpet. Over the past 20 some odd years flying into the airport I always felt fairly nostalgic when seeing it and actually looked at carpets in airports around the world and nothing compared it. This last Spring I remember flying into PDX and doing the ceremonial photo of my feet on the carpet. It was that very day I knew... Read more →

Wind Flooding Crocodiles Corals Training - Amazing

I have been traveling a fair amount recently and about to enjoy some Summertime with my young daughter. I just returned from a work project in Mexico helping to train artists and scientist using Autodesk Memento to digitally capture corals and sculptures in 3D. While in Mexico a big storm hit the day after I arrived bring high winds and flooding leading to power outages and preventing me from some work related SCUBA dives on the worlds second largest barrier... Read more →

Be Safe This Weekend

It is Memorial Day weekend in the United States which kicks off Summer. Sadly it also is the start of more traffic accidents and many related to long holiday drives while tired. Please, if you are driving long distances this weekend stop and take resets and arrive alive. The photo was taken by me this week from a UAV Quad Copter a rest area along Highway 26 between Portland Oregon and Cannon Beach. Read more →