Rob Relyea: About Me

Me as a Simpsons character & SkyDrive

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:54:04 GMT

Just clicked on the SkyDrive tab on the top of my blog...I decided to test this file sharing service by posting a picture that Kevin Moore made a few months ago of me with an online tool to draw somebody as a Simpsons character:

Skydrive is likely easier for me to share files that others can find than having to mess with RobRelyea.com...

TechReady, ski holiday, Mix

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:51:23 GMT

Just saw that Laurent Bugnion is about to go on ski holiday...me too. Love the picture! TechReady (internal MS conference), ski @ whistler, Mix with lots of coding/work in between. Should be a fun/crazy next 30 days! Looking forward to sharing some of the things we're doing on the WPF team @ Mix...

My weekly skiing at the local mountain (Snoqualmie pass) has been interrupted the last few weekends due to heavy snow, closed highways (I-90) through the mountain passes, etc... Hope I can ski this Saturday.

Super Tuesday

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:17:00 GMT

Just made my first direct donation to a presidential candidate during primary season with a credit card donation on their site...should be an interesting day on Tuesday. We don't vote in Washington yet, but with my donation hopefully I'll help pull things to the candidate I favor.

Happy Holidays!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:59:05 GMT

Work has been very quiet this week...most Microsoft employees are in danger of losing their vacation time if they don't take it before the end of the year, since they may not have taken enough during the year...so they are taking the time now. I have plenty of vacation, but too much work to do to take many days off right now.

I'm about to leave work early today (Friday afternoon) - going to go have fun in downtown Seatlle. I'll likely work only a tiny bit next week, but I'll be back after New Years working very hard.

Hope to resume more active blogging in a 2-3 months...

Hope you all have great holidays and a happy new year!

Carving time out for Rob - 12 days a year.

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:01:47 GMT

I'm taking tomorrow off. I plan to take a day a month off regularly...2nd Friday of each month...12 days a year for me. I need the time to focus on me, since I work too much, and have many family obligations in the evenings and weekends.

I'm looking forward to it.

Bluetooth Phone & MP3 (Zune/IPod) in a car - best way for existing cars

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:03:46 GMT

I've mentioned recently that I'm jealous of my wife's new car electronics - bluetooth phone, mp3 input, and Nav are the big 3. So I'm thinking of buying something for my car that I plan on keeping for a while.

Somebody recommended I should check out a few Pioneer models. (haven't done that yet)

This morning, I found a writeup on zune-online.com about Ford Sync & a few videos about Ford Sync (which Ford and Microsoft partnered with.)

Looks very cool. So now I need to ask Ford if I can upgrade my 2002 Ford Explorer's radio to this new thing. My guess is that the answer is no. I hope they'll see value in providing value to their existing customers as well...

I'm jealous...

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:51:35 GMT

of my wife's new car. She got a hybrid - it gets twice the mileage of her old car.

My favorite thing about it is the electronics that her car now has (and my car lacks): Bluetooth connection to cellphone, Navigation system, and Zune input (no control though).

I'm not planning on replacing my Ford Explorer until several years from now. We like having a car that can carry a bunch of people (it carries up to 7) or things when needed...and I avoid driving it much by taking the bus. Until then, I'm thinking of upgrading the radio in the car to give me some of the modern touches...

Update on Rob...work, home, soccer

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:24:20 GMT

Next WPF release...Catching up on blogs

So today, I wake up early on Saturday morning...(yes, I do wake up early, even sometimes on the weekend)...and I go into my home office and start catching up on blogs. I miss what is happening in the world...

My blog reading and writing has slowed down of late. Just part of the normal ebb and flow. That and I've been very busy working on our next release after 3.5...rolling my sleeves up and diving in. Lots of exciting things coming. So many great things to choose from...so fun to make progress. I love this job. (Come join us.)

Architect role
I recently got a title change to Software Architect. I've always been a Program Manager...now you can think of me as a PM Architect. Great to have the recognition. My primary focus remains WPF/Xaml. I spend most of my time on the Xaml Language...

Funny thing is now that I'm an architect, I get the first direct report I've had in at least 6 years. I've taken the individual contributor route in MS, growing my influence by being somebody who has influence despite the lack of direct reports, as opposed to trying to grow my influence by growing the size of my team. I'm still not trying to grow my team very large, but it just made sense for me to manage him. Right now, I think it is working very well...he is doing well.

New Home Office
My wife and I shuffled the rooms of our house around...we used to share an office, now we both have an entire room...a lot less crowded...decorated much more pleasantly. My home office is now a better place for me to work than my office at work.

Blend
We have some guests from out of town staying with us for a few days...my son showed off his Blend project to them...a few fun animations. Impressive work for a kid his age! He asked me recently - you know that program where you can draw shapes and make them move, can I try that. So I showed him how to draw an ellipse, change the color, resize, rotate, and a bit about the timeline...and then he ran with it. My brother is concerned he might turn into a designer :-). Given my designer skills, I doubt it...but we'll see.

Soccer
My son's soccer league finished last weekend. It was fun to watch some great progress during the season. The last game he got our teams only 2 goals...he's made great progress this season...hustles a ton out there...getting more natural with the ball. He starts an indoor league (for the first time) in a few weeks. Watching him makes me want to start playing again myself...I haven't played in a league in ~5 years.

Phonathon for the Bellevue Schools Foundation

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:21:02 GMT

Last night, for the 2nd straight year, I spent an evening calling other parents at my son's school trying to get pledges for the Bellevue School Foundation. One of the nice things they do is curriculum enhancement grants (Fall 2006 grants, Winter 2007 grants).

The Pitch
My son, finding out what I had planned for the night, was suggesting what I could say, so I had him type up his script for me:

greetings . would you like to donate money to the Bellvue school district? If you do it they might help you when you get old.

Clearly, I should have led with...listen to my son's pitch...the schools need help, don't you see. :-)

My Results
Anyway, I got commitment for about $1,275 in pledges (before matching funds) after calling about 5 sheets worth of parents. Left a bunch of messages on answering machines as well...

Microsoft Donations
Microsoft is supposed to pay charities when I volunteer my time ($17/hour, if I recall)...I need to go figure out how that works, I haven't tried to get that paid since that program started a year or two ago...

Back from Vacation in Maine

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:08:07 GMT

Spent a little over a week in Maine on Frye Island. Did no work. Played on the beach with the kids. Kids loved trying to catch frogs on the golf course. Did a bunch of swimming most mornings in Sebago Lake. Met my wife's cousin's 7 month old baby boy for the first time! My father-in-law spends 6 months each year on the Island...

Red Sox played the Mariners in Seattle...I had forgotten what it is like to live in the Eastern time zone and try to stay awake for a baseball game in the Pacific time zone. I had to give away some tickets that I had to the Sunday game.

Good rest and relaxation. Next time we're out east, we'll explore the coast of Maine a bit more...

I love Maine, but I hate to leave Seattle at all in the summertime. It pains me!

I grew up in Michigan...no, I grew up in Detroit

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:39:10 GMT

I grew up from age 2-18 in Southfield Michigan, a suburb just to the North of Detroit. When people ask where I come from, I usually say Michigan - which is strange...most people that grew up right outside a large city, like Chicago, New York, etc..., don't usually say they came from Illinois or New York State.

Detroit has been through a lot in the last 100 years. My father was born there in `36. My grandfather migrated there from Canada to work in the Auto industry as an engineer.

I'm writing these short thoughts down because I just read a very interesting article: Detroit arcadia: Exploring the post-American landscape from the July 2007 Harper's Magazine, by Rebecca Strait. My friend recently sent me a PDF version of it -- you can't read it online, unless you subscribe to Harper's.

The article discusses the surge of activity that grew the city to 2 million people ~1950, the decentralization of the auto industry, white flight from the city, etc...

I'll write more about this topic sometime in the future...

[Update]: my friend Mike pointed me towards an older series of articles that the Detroit News did on related topics.

Back from Vacation...

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:20:22 GMT

Had a great week off spending time on the beach...reading, crabbing, fishing, spending time with friends/family... For the first time in a while, I barely touched my computer all week.

My son is a well known author!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:57:01 GMT

My wife just showed me something funny that my older son (1st grade) brought home from school. He wrote a story called "Mike plazza [Piazza] have some pizza". The line under the title was "from the author of ted wiliams out of here" (a story he wrote a few weeks ago).

Impressive, he already uses "from the author of"!

He is funny...

Day off - going to Whidbey

Fri, 18 May 2007 15:06:32 GMT

I don't take many of these unless I have a trip planned. My wife is out of town for the weekend. Kids and I are going to take a day off and have some fun @ Whidbey Island.

I love coding

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:05:28 GMT

'nuff said

Update: ok, maybe I could have said more...I just noticed Kevin's post that coders don't like coding...

I love coding to a point. If I loved only coding, I would try to find a job where I could code all the time. Not Program Management.

I love being able to code. I love designing & making systems. I love solving problems. I love creating. I love making my time coding more productive & expressive.

I wake up early

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:43:05 GMT

I just answered an email to a customer in the Netherlands early in the morning. He immediately assumed I wasn't in the US...no I just have weird hours.

I've evolved into a very early morning person. I didn't want to be, it just kind of happened. Instead of staying up late, I wake up early. Kids, time shifting and a wife who turns into a pumpkin at 10pm all contributed.

I never set an alarm, I wake up anywhere from 2am to 6am. Usually somewhere in the middle. I grew up in Michigan, I think I'm just still keeping Eastern time...

Gibbs Quadski - My commuting dream vehicle?

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:15:28 GMT

MS Mossyblog had a post on Jetski with Wheels. (The YouTube Video)

With a little digging, I found the Quadski is a prototype from Gibbs, the company who made the Aquada.

I'd love to have either one of these someday. I'd love to commute like this.

2 questions on the Quadski:

how much will it cost? (they don't know yet...)
will it be relatively efficient to run?

Back from Vacation - Ski Whistler!

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 13:37:37 GMT

Kids had the week off school, so we went to Whistler for a great week of skiing. Had a great time. The kids were in lessons so we got some great skiing in during the days.

Our oldest, age 7, is getting very good. Our youngest, age 4, has been in lessons at a local ski mountain, but has made major progress this week.

The 2 hours of skiing that I am getting in each weekend while the kids have lessons is helping me also. Usually my trip to Whistler has been my first (and sometimes last) skiing of the year. I feel like my form is getting more polished...still have lots of room for improvement though.

We stayed in the Village...great to be able to walk to the gondola and to lots of shops & restaurants.

What is my name and how do you pronounce it...

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:00:11 GMT

First Name
I saw a comment the other day on Tim Sneath's post about FNAC that referred to me as Tom Relyea. No biggie.

Now today, I see it again here. (Cool work at that post by the way...)

My first name is "Rob". I'm not sure where all the Tom references are coming from???

Last Name
As long as I'm at it...I'll talk about how to pronounce my last name, as it is difficult to get correct: Relyea is 2 syllables. "Rel" as in Relish and "Yea" as in Yeah team.

Relyea is French in origin. I grew up thinking I was 50% French and 50% German. Now that I have done more genealogy work (since I've started a family) my French percentage shrunk to less than 10%, in exchange for some English, Irish and more. The German shrunk as well to somewhere between 35-45%.

Xbox-ercise

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:33:35 GMT

I got an XBox 360 last year. I primarily used it as a media center extender initially. My kids now like to play soccer + lego star wars. I'm playing a car racing game (pgr3). I'm not a huge gamer... yet.

Earlier this week I started doing exercise between each game. Today I began researching XBox exercise options:

http://www.gamercize.net

controllers stop working unless exercising

http://www.yourselffitness.com

personal trainer for xbox

Going to keep researching ...I'm interested is both concepts...

Nintendo Wii like controllers would also be interesting for exercise... but I'm not sure if that would be as good exercise as there other 2 ideas?

Wind storm in NorthWest

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:08:23 GMT

As most people have probably heard, Thursday night the Seattle area was hit with a wind-storm that caused tons of power outages.

We were lucky to get power back at our house in a little less than 24 hours, but we were one of the few. We spent the weekend with a bunch of guests for the day and/or night looking for some heat and electricity.

I tried coming to work on Friday for a meeting and some power...but Microsoft campus didn't get power back until the weekend. Today, campus is back on the power grid, but not a ton of people are around. Things usually slow down anyway for the holidays around now. Now, we have a few extra family members sharing the heat in MS offices.

People are generally looking for warmth during the day (at the mall, a movie theatre, etc...)...and often just cocooning in their beds for the nights.

My relatives in the area (including us) have 5 households. As of Friday night, ours was the only one with power. My Mom's got power back on Sunday. My brother, sister and mother-in-law are still without. Hopefully it will come back on today for them.

The only good thing
This whole affair will generally help everybody become more prepared for emergencies...which is the only good thing about this whole event. Why did we run that low on matches? Why didn't we have a little more firewood for an emergency? Why did everybody have to make a run for gasoline?

There were warnings for this storm. Some emergencies will come without advanced warning.

Happy New Year

Hope you are all warm and safe with family and friends for the Holidays and the New Year.

xaml:blog moving to msn spaces

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 12:18:21 GMT

I'm a Program Manager on Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation (AKA "Avalon", WPF) and I primarily have been blogging about work. I started back in October 2003 on longhornblogs.com/rrelyea when Avalon was first announced to the world at the PDC.

I do a variety of things on the Avalon team:

Program Manage the Xaml Language
Spend a lot of time listening to and interacting with the developer community: WPF Forum, WPF Newsgroup, Cider Forum, EID Newsgroup, Blogs mentioning XAML, Blogs mentioning WPF, Blogs mentioning WinFX, Blogs mentioning me, etc...
Work to make sure Avalon has great support from Tools from Microsoft (VS, EID, etc...) and from third parties (Mobiform, etc...)
Evangelize Avalon
Work with a ton of smart people
Have passion about things that are broken like Url usage
Figure out things that all of Microsoft should be doing better like Beyond Data Visualization

My blog site (longhornblogs.com/rrelyea) is experiencing an outage this morning [it is back up now], so I figured I'd give Spaces a try. A few months ago I had attempted to get a blog going on my own domain but I ran into problems with the DB and I haven't gotten back to it.

So far, I'm impressed by MSN Spaces...

One question: does it let me decide my URL for this post? Don't see that option...ouch.