Kevin Ludlow is a 45-year-old accomplished software developer, business manager, writer, musician, photographer, world traveler, and serial entrepreneur from Austin, Texas. He is also a former candidate for the Texas House of Representatives.
Please take a moment to view his complete resume for more information.
Note: the entirety of this website was architected and developed from the ground up exclusively by Kevin Ludlow.
For some reason or another someone must have put my favorite wooden cutting board into the dishwasher last week. I'm not really sure how that happened, but I mustn't have realized it was in there when I ran the dishwasher. I guess the extra hot water didn't sit well with the wood and so it broke about a third of it off at one of the original seams.
I decided on a whim a couple of nights ago to break out the carpenter's glue and some wood clamps. I applied it to both sides of the wood along the break line, smoothed the glue out, and placed the pieces together as perfectly aligned as I could. I then wrapped some paper towels along the glue line and clamped everything together. Unfortunately my wood clamps were not quite wide enough to clamp it in the direction of the break. I could have rigged up some kind of jig, but was feeling a little lazy and so instead I just clamped it to hold in position and then applied some weight at the top (using 3 different hammers) to pull the pieces together with the help of gravity.
The video picks up the next day after the glue had dried.
Sat 3/16 Everyone (except Bill) arrives Amman by 3:00pm local time. Get cash and SIM cards at Amman airport. Pick up rental van. Drive to the Crown Plaza hotel. Check-in and relax. Dinner overlooking the Dead Sea at the Dead Sea Museum. Drinks in the evening.
Sun 3/17 Breakfast at Crowne Plaza. Afternoon swim in the Dead Sea. Cool off in the resort pool. Explore Madaba Governorate (including short hike around Mt. Nebo). Possible afternoon trip to Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve; possible evening dip in the Ma'in Hot Springs.
Mon 3/18 Breakfast at Crowne Plaza. Checkout by 9:30am; drive to Kerak Castle (meet Bill). Continue driving to Wadi Rum Desert (about 4 total hours of driving). Stop for snacks and groceries along route. Explore Hejaz Railway near Rum Village. Check-in to Rahayeb Desert Camp. Sunset camel ride followed by a traditional Bedouin dinner.
Tues 3/19 Breakfast at camp. 4-hr jeep tour of the Wadi Rum desert. Lunch at camp. Afternoon activity TBD by guests (horseback riding, ATV tours, cooking classes, relaxing). Traditional Bedouin dinner followed by stargazing and Bedouin Tea in the Wadi Rum desert.
Wed 3/20 Possible sunrise hot air balloon flight. Breakfast in camp. Drive to Wadi Musa. Check-in to Al Rashid Hotel. Lunch in Wadi Musa. Afternoon trip to Little Petra. Get to Petra Visitors Center before sunset; dinner at the Cave Bar followed by Petra by Night experience.
Thur 3/21 Breakfast at Al Rashid. Entire day in Petra. Sack lunch at a Petra tea-house. Hike the High Place of Sacrifice Trail. Explore tombs along trail. Dinner in Wadi Musa. Turkish Bath and Arabic shaves available to anyone who would like to make an appointment.
Fri 3/22 Breakfast at Al Rashid. Hike (or ride) to the Monastery. Stop for fresh orange and pomegranate juice. Explore Byzantine and Roman ruins. Meet at Petra Visitor’s Center around dark. Pickup truck ride to our campsite at base of Jabal Haroun. Bedouin to prepare a traditional campsite dinner; early-ish bed time.
Sat 3/23 Small breakfast at camp. Sunrise hike to summit of Jabal Haroun. Descend Jabal Haroun and exit Petra to Al Rashid. Shower up and checkout of Al Rashid; Lunch in Wadi Musa. Drive to Amman (about 3 hours). Enjoy a nice, contemporary dinner in Amman.
Sun 3/24 Breakfast at hotel. Possible cooking class in the morning. Explore Roman ruins of Jerash. Time permitting, explore the Roman Amphitheater. Return car by 8pm. Dinner in Amman. Hang out, pack, and relax at hotel bar. Share pictures from week.
Mon 3/25 Wake up early early. Depart via shuttle bus to the airport no later than 6am. Fly home.
The above itinerary is subject to change due to weather, availability, and other unforeseen obstacles. Please feel free to let your guide know if there is anything not listed that you would like to see or do.
Anyone that has the new MacBook with the TouchBar knows that it is simply THE worst piece of hardware that Apple has ever released. Anytime I get a new MacBook there is always that period of time where you have to adjust to the new keyboard. The first time I ever experienced this I cursed them for changing it, but I've learned over the years that the changes are always for the better and after a week or so, my brain is entirely wrapped around the new layout and it increases productivity.
That is simply NOT the case with the new MacBook. I've waited and waited for that eureka! moment to arrive and it simply does not. After reading countless blog posts on the issue, it seems that I am far from the only person to experience the problems that I have.
One of the MANY problems that I experienced was with respect to trying to launch my spotlight. For as long as I can remember, this was a simple combination of Command+Spacebar. I specifically keep my dock as empty as possible knowing that I can pull up any program on the fly through the Spotlight. Unfortunately, the new Apple seems to stutter for lack of a better word.
More times than not I press Command+Spacebar and nothing happens. Usually pressing it a second time will do the trick, but sometimes it takes even a third. Why? Why would this possibly be the case?
Well after some research, it turns out that this has to do with Siri's functionality waiting to see if she is being called upon or not. Note to Apple: she isn't - ever - being called. I just want the Spotlight to open.
So here's the fix:
Open your System Preferences
Select Siri
The first option is "Keyboard Shortcut"
Change the dropdown so that it reads "Press Fn (Function) Space"
Once you do this and save the system preference, you'll find that the problem immediately goes away. I am hoping to compile a list of such changes that are necessary to get the computer somewhat back to what it used to be, but unfortunately I don't think the new MacBook is ever going to work as well as its predecessors, regardless of how many tweaks I make to it.
١. هل عائلتك صغيرة أو كبيرة؟ كم فردا في عائلتك؟ Is your family small or large? How many members of your family? My family is small. There are 5 members in my family. أُسْرتي صغير.هُناك خَمْسة أفراد فب أُسْرتي.
٢. ها اسم والدك؟ ماذا يعمل؟ What is your father’s name? What does he do? My father’s name is Howard. He is a teacher. اسم والدي هو هُوارد. هو أُسْتاذ.
٣. من أي ولاية والدتك؟ ما جنسيتها؟ From which state is your mother? What is her nationality? My mother is from New York. She is an American. والِدتي من نويورك. هي امريكية.
٤. هل تحب السفر الى الشرق الأوسط؟ الى أي بلد؟ Do you like to travel to the Middle East? To which country? I love traveling to the Middle East. I love the country of Jordan. احب السَّفَرأِلي الشَّرق الأَوْسَط. احب الأُردُن.
٥. كيف تحب السفر؟ بالطائرة أو بالسيارة؟ How do you like to travel? By plane or by car? I like to travel by plane and by car. احب السفر بالطائرة و بالسيارة.
٦. ماذا كنت تعمل قبل الصف؟ What were you doing before class? I was studying before class. كنت ادرس قَبلَ الصف.
٧. أين كانت مدرستك الابتدائية؟ هل كانت بعيدة عن بيتك؟ Where was your primary school? Was it far from your home? My primary school was in Katy, Texas. It was close to my house. مدرستي كان في كاتي تِكسَس. مدرستي كان قَريب مِن بَيتي.
٨. أي أكل عربي تحب؟ What kind of Arabic food do you like to eat? I love to eat hummus and bread. احب آكُل حُمُّص، تبّولة، و خُبز.
٩. من يدرّسك اللغة العربية؟ Who teaches you the Arabic language? My professor Fahim teaches me Arabic. أُسْتاذي، فهيم يُدَرَّسي اللغة العربية.
١٠. هل هذا الامتحان صعب؟ Is this exam difficult? Yes, this was difficult. Arabic is difficult. نَعَم، هَذا أِمتِحان صعب. اللغة العربية صَعْبة.
