Kaiser's Blog

Chess.com

Although I have been VERY busy lately, I sometimes can find time to do a little bit on Chess.com. Not only is this site free, but it has dozens of articles and news to keep you updated on the important happenings of the Chess world. It also has hundreds of thousands of other players who one can communicate with and discuss strategies. In addition, this website has special tools to help chess players enhance their skills. In order to raise funds, they have upgrades you can purchase with a small monthly fee and unlock more lessons, tactics, and other info to improve your chess skills. Though I am not even a club-level player by far, I still have enjoyed pitching my wits against other similiarly experienced players. If you play on chess.com, you can contact me via my username: Seattle_Slugger!

Lane Community College

Sure this school is liberal and has its problems, but for the most part it is actually not that bad. If it wasn't for LCC I would not have been able to code this website! I have enjoyed all but one of my class there and have learned SO much. I am part of the CIT (Computer Information Technology) Department and have already taken tons of classes learning C#, C++, HTML/CSS, .Net framework, computer science, and database management to name a few. On my own time, I continue to learn coding and programming languages such as Python and Java Script. I have also enjoyed learning high-level math and physics.

University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is nothing like Lane Community College. Rough classes, lots of walking, party-heavy peers, safety breaches all the time, and general problems in administration make my stay here challenging at best, but through it all, I have learned patience and careful monitoring of situations. As I am in one of the toughest programs/majors at the University of Oregon, I have had to bring my A-game just to pass classes which has also been challenging. With God's Strength I hope to finish out my years at UO somewhat smoothly.

DOWL Engineers

I was super busy the summer of 2018, but doing what?! I applied for an "intership" at my dad's engineering firm (OBEC Consulting Engineers) and was accepted along with another highschooler! My job was to scan their paper documents into digital files so they don't have to store all that paper. Despite the simple job description, the job came with its fair share of challenges - forcing me to be thorough and learn the workings of industrial-sized printers/scanners. I enjoyed learning about what my dad actually does and gaining insight into the structural engineering world. During the summer, I worked with another high-schooler named Shengmei(she is in the picture), but when school started my older brother, Kent, took over her position for a few months and helped finish up the job with me.

Currently, OBEC has merged with DOWL and now is now under the "DOWL Engineering" name. After nearly two years of work, I completely finished scanning all of the miscellaneous documents for the company and providing assistance in several odd jobs around the office. My job there provided me with valuable resume experience, and I am very thankful for the opportunity that they gave me.

Buck General Contracting

The summer of 2019 started off with a bang - literally! In order to help a neighbor with her rental house's remodel, I was hired on as a temporary employee of Buck Contracting Inc. My job was to do "house demolition" with another employee. I ripped out carpet, base boards, sheet rock, ply board, secondary board, staples, nails, roofing, skylights, and a myriad of other objects. Also, I was able to watch other subcontractors like electricians and sheet rockers do their jobs. This job has provided me with valuable experience in how buildings are constructed and remodled.

Elegant Elephant Baking

The summer of 2020 saw me working full time as a dish washer at Elegant Elephant Baking Co. A completely gluten free bakery that specializes in just about everything! The employees, management, environment, and job was all lots of fun, and I got to make some cool friendships. By early fall, I finally obtained my food handlers license and was promoted to flour mixer. I will continue to work part time as a dishwasher/flour mixer there as the school year progresses, and if you ever get the hankering for a little something - feel free to stop by at our storefront!

LEGO!

If you know me fairly well, you know that I love LEGO. Here are some pictures I found of an old LEGO theme that I loved (and still love).
FYI: You can't actually click on the images to find out - LEGO discontinued the rock monster character quiz a long time ago. Sorry.

2018 Highlights

Tons of stuff happened this year. To begin the year, I started winter term at LCC attending four classes: HTML/CSS, Beginning C# Programming, Communication, and Introduction to Computer Science Degrees. After a delightful winter term except for Communication class in which I learned how NOT to communicate, I had a short spring break where I crammed in as much yard care as my body could handle and then began Spring term with Math, Intermediate C# Programming, and Economics. My math teacher I had during fall term of last year and I really liked him and his teaching style; he made math really fun. In addition, C# was fun thought the class wasn't anything exceptional. My economics class was great because I had an amazing teacher who played Chess on Chess.com with me. Around this time, I also got my driving permit. I feel like I picked it up fairly quickly(due to hundreds of hours of playing racing games on my computer) During the early summer I crammed more yard work and put together my first resigme and cover letter and applied for an internship position at my dad's engineering company; I was accepted!!! You can read more about it here. This winter, I have continued to work at OBEC which has now been merged with DOWL (and now is officially called DOWL), but only part-time because I am now back in school. This term I am learning calculus, Advanced C# Programming, and Micro Economics. It is tough, but fun at times as well.

This year has also been an emotional roller coaster for me. In January and February two of my family's hamsters had a batch of fourteen babies, just before the father(Timmy) and our other adult hamster(Coconut) died. We loved those hamsters so much and it was a bitter blow to me. However, every baby survived including the mom(Katee). We couldn't keep all the babies(of course), but we found loving families and a pet store for the excess. A month later, one of the male babies that we kept escaped into his sister's cage and we ended up with another batch of 16 babies. We found families and the same pet store for all of the babies and are now left with just Katee and three of her children: Cupcake (reminds my family of Coconut), Prince(a very small and well-trained boy), and my hamster, DJ(the most playful, gentle hamster you could ever meet. Her ripped ears are a result of fights she had with her bigger sisters when she was smaller, but now she is the biggest hamster we own). Our very old bunny is almost completely crippled but still living, which is a big blessing that God has given us.

2019 Highlights

Winter term was a very hectic term as I was taking 18 credits and kept very busy. I learned C++ really fast, and accelerated my Spanish learning! I also finished my second term of calculus which was integral calculus. I enjoyed learing calculus, but it also introduced me to the world of math that starts getting tough. Spring term was crazy with me taking four classes. I learned a lot of basic Computer Science concepts, became an expert on Cold War Era history in the U.S., learned how to live a healthy lifestyle, and finished up a very interesting series of economics. I felt like my economics class helped me to understand the complexity of our economic system and that it is not so cut and dry as some may assume. The government actually has a very tough job... During summer term, I just took one class - Writing 227 where I learned to right formal documents such as reports, resumes, cover letters, and proposals - stuff that will prove valuable for my career. You can download my Resume that I created here. For fall term, I took Computer Science 161, Math 231 (Discrete Mathematics), and Physics 201. The physics was really tough with all sorts of new concepts and formulas that challengde my intellect while my mathematics came on hard and fast. Intensive amounts of dedication were required to finish the term, and I took a big sigh of relief when it was over. During the summer, I was able to travel with my family to the Oregon State Fair. My youngers sister, Kirsten, was partipitating at a Child Evangelism Fellowship booth (telling young children and not-so-young adults about Christ) while the rest of us wandered around for a while and got very hot. I also had my homeschool graduation in which I saw many friends and family and celebrated my graduation from highschool. (My actual graduation from highschool according to the government will be next summer along with my graduation from Lane Community College) Also, Kent showed up for my graduation which was a very pleasant surprise. (He is now working at Disneyland in California, and I do not see him very much).

This year was the year of deaths. So many people and animals died, that I have lost count and my heart aches for all of those that I have lost. It started off with Chiggles, my family's very sweet, lop-eared bunny that we had for at least 7 years who died early on in the year. Eventually, we were able to get rid of our large bunny hutch, since we were not expecting to get another bunny. Then, during the summer, Grandma Slocum died. It was not terribly sudden, but it was certainly sad, though her death meant that all my cousins, uncles, and aunts visited - some of which I had not seen in quite a few years. Then, the season of fall hit. My favorite kindergarten teacher at Sunday school died, a wonderful brother in Christ and evangelist died, a life-long friend who had I done yard-care for several years passed away, another life-long friend and neighbor passed, and another family friend passed away in Colorado. Then, on top of all that, four of our hamsters died, one of whom was my best friends (as weird as that sounds!). That was it; I could not take it anymore, so I cried... and cried some more. I am still recovering, so I am very thankful to God who has helped me through the mourning process. (Quick 2020 update: Grandpa Slocum just passed away - creating a lousy start to 2020.) On a slighly brighter note, at the end of February we had a crazy snow storm that took some big branches off our Dogwood tree in our front yard. However, due to some careful pruning we were able to keep it alive, so we will see how it does in the years to come. There also was enough snow that I was able to do some snow shoveling and built a snow tower that was about 8-9 feet tall wtih some neighbors and Kirsten. During November, I took my SAT test, but have not gotten my results yet. After two years of dedicated work at my internship at OBEC/DOWL, my job came to a close - simply because I had done such a good job that I ran out of work. Also, I got a chance during the summer to work for Buck Contracting in renovating a house. I learned lots of valuable carpentry skills and worked a lot of muscles and body parts. I am quite thankful for the experience I gained there. During the fall, some of my family and I took a trip to my mother's parents' house. I got to talk with them, go on a walk, and pick grapes and apples there which was a lot of fun! Then for Thanksgiving, I went back up to my mother's parents' house with my family and a few friends, and I got so see my younger cousins.

2020 Highlights

Despite the arrival of the virus known as COVID-19, this year was surprisingly uneventful. I believe this to be because I simply did not travel or leave the house much. Perhaps the greatest events was my graduation from my charter school, Lane Community college (with four degrees!), and transferring to the University of Oregon without ever setting foot on campus! I am very grateful to Lane Community College and Baker Charters School for giving me this opportunity to further my academic career in such a productive environment, and I hope that the University of Oregon can be just as good. I believe that the highlight of 2020 was climbing South Sister with my dad. It was a grueling two days (including camping part way up the mountain), and my perseverance was definitely tested, but reaching the top of the mountain and gazing down on all that I had climbed was a huge blessing. I'm not sure that I'm built for mountain climbing, but it was a cool experience, and I certainly don't regret doing it. Here's to hoping that 2021 will see the ending of COVID-19, and the re-opening of school, church, restaurants, etc.

2021 Highlights

This year brough the beginning of in-person classes at UO, and a summer that was composed of me working at Elegant Elephant Baking Company and also working security at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Fields. We ended the year with a rare, large amount of snow that seems to correlate with the intense heat experienced during the summer. Classes at UO, were very interesting to say the least, but I eventually was able to develop a rhythm to get everything done.

2022 Highlights

I guess you can say that the theme this year was “firsts” as I did more major “firsts” than several past years combined. So yeah, it’s been a crazy year. If you aren’t aware, I moved away from Eugene, Oregon (where I have lived all my life) this summer (early July) and embarked on an epic journey to St. Paul, Minnesota for my new job. I first flew by myself for the first time on a plane to Centennial, Colorado (first time in Colorado) where I spent about three weeks for job training (first time in a hotel room by myself, first time riding a light rail) and then moved over here to Minnesota (first time in Minnesota) where I work as a tech member on the tax software that the state of Minnesota uses (and no, I do not do taxes, I’m just working on maintaining and upgrading the software). This is my first full-time, non-intern job, and it is going as well as can be expected, and thankfully all my coworkers are super nice. In fact, one of them invited me over to his family’s thanksgiving (first time not attending a Thanksgiving dinner with my family) which I did end up going to! I had a few misconceptions about Minnesota from living in Oregon for so long, but I can say that Minnesota is a lot like Oregon, just a bit colder and with a more diverse population of people (which is honestly so cool to see the many different cultures!). For my first two weeks here in Minnesota, I used a 2019 KIA Soul which had lane assist – which is my first time using that! I have already been doing a lot of driving around in snow (thankfully my first car (2014 Subaru Crosstrek) that I bought over here has all-wheel drive!). Oh, and Minnesota doesn’t have gas station attendants, so I had to pump gas for the first time for myself! Also, it’s VERY snowy and cold over here, so that’s another first: driving at night when it’s snowing! Where I live in St. Paul there are at least four massive malls within easy driving distance and as many restaurants, grocery stores, and random other things that anyone could ever need. By the way, I found an apartment (first time living in one) in a massive, four-building, 460 apartment complex. I guess another first has been paying utility bills and allowing the government to take criminal amounts of taxes from my paychecks. With this monstrous transition has come lots of exciting and fun stuff like visiting the Mall of America for the first time, going to a massive Halloween festival farm where I completed a corn maze for the first time by myself and saw water buffalo for the first time. I was also about to go to a bow range for the first time and shoot some arrows (no I didn’t injure anyone or myself). I was also able to attend two Halloween parties (first time doing that by myself!) and dressed up as a Viking in honor of the Minnesota Vikings professional football team. I also went to two different bars for the first time as my work always has its meet-ups at bars. I’m going to be honest with you, I felt super uncomfortable for both, but I made it through (and no, I didn’t drink anything!). At the beginning of August, I was able to fly to Washington and meet up with my older sister Kenzie for a business convention (unrelated to my new job) which was a ton of fun. I also made it a priority to plug into a church as soon as possible, and I found an awesome church (first time going to a church by myself) that is only a five-minute drive away from my apartment, called Resurrection City Church. After a few months, I became an official member (first time becoming an official church member) and am now part of a community group within the church and regularly attend on Sundays as well. I have really enjoyed getting to know the members of this community group, and I hope that I can continue to engage with other members of the church. It has been a good year for growing closer to God with all this new stuff and having to rely on Him, but that’s good; relying on God more than myself is something that is important for me! Other than my weekend in Washington with Kenzie, I have not seen in-person any of my family and relatives, which has been a bit hard, but not nearly as bad as I thought (which is a first to be gone from my family for more than a month, but luckily I have been showing no signs of home sickness). It has been a massive blessing for some of my friends and relatives to call and zoom me, and I do hope that you will continue to stay in contact with me! If you would like to pray for me, I would love some prayer that I would:

2023 Highlights

Another Year, another Wild Ride

It is crazy to me how another year has passed already. Now, if you are a connoisseur of Christmas newsletters, then it may seem like most newsletters say that, but here’s the thing. It’s so true! As someone who has a strangely good memory of my younger years (maybe because I am still relatively young…), I can honestly say that time travels slower. Apparently, it’s a thing. Supposedly, we process less information as we get older and hence time appears to go faster. I remember waiting endlessly for birthdays and Christmas as a young boy, and now, they come so fast that I do not even have enough time to prepare. I have found myself having to meticulously record events and plan well ahead of time for even a hope of getting things done. With that said, having a full-time job has shrunk the amount of time that I can choose to spend how I want, and thus my schedule seems more packed and busier than it used to be. It’s because of this that I have had to specifically block out time in my schedule to do things like exercise, spend time with God, and just chill out for a bit. Thankfully, unlike last year where I moved over here to St. Paul, Minnesota, this year has been more of a routine, and I have been able to calm down just a little bit more. However, that’s not to say that I haven’t been getting around!

Good Stuff!

Bad Stuff!

Now, before you go marveling about how amazing my year was, I thought it would be interesting to outline some of the more unfortunate things that also happened this year.