Well another weekend has arrived, a long week has gone, and a new week of challeneges lies ahead.
Friday really did lay out some interesting happenings, one of which was the 2hr conversation with my direct boss, he is back east, and thus I mainly discuss things via Email, but he and I get along pretty well, so we discussed my job description as it has become grey’d and as much as he and I would both somehow agree to say “It’s a small company” it still does not change the fact that if I am picking up the job of a Graphic Designer, IT Manager, and Off-Site consultant - I should be making a heckuva lot more money than I am now
The talk went well though, he heard many of my concerns, and went over them step by step, bottom line I came out of it all with, is this company is not looking to really upgrade or step it up, something is holding them back in the concept of computing and IT in general, this isn’t a “show stopper” for me per-say, but it does make my job harder, and extremely more boring, as I don’t get to experiment, expand, grow, enhance things, but at least my job description concerns were heard, and an adjusted one will be sent to me on Monday, and from there I can give it a final review before it goes to their big staff meeting.
In other non-work related news, my storage system failed last night, I woke up and was starting to clean around the room, so I was going to watch a show I had snagged, well the entire system was rebooting in a loop, cleared bios and drives disconnected, it was still in error. So I took the big media storage drive out and after some toying I got a EXT3 drive mounted under Windows Vista (thanks fs-driver.org) - it works good, speed is nice, and it was good to see all my lovely files safe and sound.
So I have sped-up the search for my Media Center replacement, and I may have found it, custom building a AMD Quad Core box, and once it’s up I use the media rig hardware currently to become the storage box - once the budget is happy again then I’ll pickup the Drobo.
The stats, for you nerdy types out there is as follows:
2 x Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 (not 1 tuner, but 2! So 4 shows can record at once)
500GB SATAII Drive
Antec Aluminum Veris Fusion Black - Micro Case for Media Center Rigs
All in all it come out cheaper than the original Dell rig I built, but room to expand/upgrade as needed, and more power to boot, the motherboard has a intergrated HDMI port so I can still do 720p to the TV, so pretty snazzy indeed, I threw in a copy of Vista Home Premium 64bit as well, so I’ll have a hotspare of Vista lying around (32-bit Build).
Not sure about build/buy time, maybe tonight, maybe in a few weeks, but I am thinking sooner than later, just getting the budget all in place to cover it, and still afford monthly costs, which shouldn’t be a HUGE deal as I got 3 new deals that came thru on my own business, so who knows maybe in due-time I can ditch the day job but for now it all works, and an apartment might be in the cards again as the house deal is a 50/50 shot again.
Anywhoo - I do appreciate the prayers from those of you who still check in from time to time - things are getting there slowly but surely I think, for now off to check for more deals, clean some more, and find dinner. Have a great weekend folks!
One of my favorite Sci-Fi shows to come along in a while is Eureka, and on sale rack @ Target tonight while I was snagging the Robot Chicken Star Wars - so it was nice to snag season 2, it was an amazing season and with the 3rd approaching the end of this month - I was pretty stoked to get it, get caught up and be ready for the 3rd season from the get-go.
Movies and fun aside I had a productive day - got my quote for our new Juniper Firewall approved, it will remove off the bat 2 consumer devices which are a touch of a bottle neck at the moment, but also gives me some great help in deployment of additional hardware and security resources for a network of the size at work.
Anywhoo - back to watching Eureka for a bit! Then off to bed, and who knows maybe I’ll actually sleep. Night folks!
Well things are moving forward slowly, been working on some mainly code in the short-term, so far so good, I am developing a “Missing People” page where it has our senior pictures (sorry everyone) anyone who isn’t found yet is grey’d out and folks can put forth contact information, or fill us in on them, as we know some from our class have passed away, we have a list of at least 4 people I believe at this point - with some folks doing tours over in Iraq, we may have a few more names, but I pray to God we don’t.
I have been up for a reunion off and on, but with the group getting it going, actually a little pumped, mainly because it’s 2 gals I knew in highschool and actually liked So it’s not like I have jumped into a group with that “one girl” or that punk jock, Wendy and Misty were both folks I knew, so it’s mellow, no stress, and we have literally a year to plan (so technically it’s our 11yr reunion)
It’s fun stuff thus far, going to try and call in a few favors to maybe help out some of our class who is now right coasters see if I can’t pull a favor or two with some contacts to lend me a seat or 3 on a jet (yes I know people) lol - but if nothing else see if I can’t get some really really affordable rates and see if we can’t get some folks out here.
Anywhoo - nearly 11, still unwinding but going to hit publish and go relax and watch a movie as I slowly pass out. Night folks, and have a good week!
Well for me anymore a Wild Saturday includes a few things, 1) Progress on organizing my junk, 2) Sleep, 3) Food - or any combo of those options.
Today included the unlock of my 1st Gen iPhone to utilize the Firmware 2.0 but on T-Mobile’s network - being out of contract on T-Mobile, I am actually happy to stay knowing I can now use the line “Well if you won’t fix it, I’ll just leave! boo-hoo!” - and can actually do it AT&T has tried several times now to lure me back to their evil death star alliance, but I have remained strong - the iPhone was really the only option I liked, but I doubt I’d buy a 3G model any time soon, revision 2 in which they get GPS quirks out of the way, battery life sorted, and a 12MP camera, then, maybe then
Currently my first gen is on it’s battery drain, listening to Pandora over WiFi, part of me wanted to leave it on EDGE and see what’d happen, but signal isn’t quality EDGE, so probalby Monday I’ll have that fun at work! But all in all the apps are speedy, the unlock works perfectly, iTunes 7.7 backed up all my goodies, and now I have the big thing to decide MobileMe or Stick with IMAP & SpanningSync for Mac, don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of MobileMe, just $99 a year, not sure it’s going to sit well in my budget for IT, I’d just as soon get Google Apps, or utilize my own IMAP servers.
I am sure there are other things which I could go on and on about, but really it has been a mellow weekend, Church tomorrow should be fun (I hope) followed up with Dinner, but I really want to get a lot more sleep in, I think I am trying to get sick, and the lack of sleep usually leaves me wide open for illness, so sleep is coming up soon here - I am going to fight the urge to skip playing with Apps on the iPhone.
Anywhoo - lots to do in coming weeks, Reunion Website, Photographer’s blog, Wordpress 2.6 upgrades for folks (big kudo’s to WP devs, Gears makes it rockin all the more!) but busy busy - just need to be sure I am rested for it! So I will say goodnight, and wish you all a wonderful Sunday!
Ah Monday. It is rapidly approaching an end, but it was one heck of a day. Started with me getting to work, and getting things together to goto one of the admin’s house to work on a laptop/desktop/dock/etc. however once I got there I got calls galore. As I was getting ready to pack things up and check in, I see the admin person I was going to go see walk past my office, so she was here not there - so that didn’t happen today.
But I did get my “List” from the President of the company as to the tasks he wanted me to accomplish, most I already knew existed and plans were in place, but thankfully Grant was back today and had the phase 1 quote for me, we stayed and chatted till 5:30, which put me leaving around 6:00 - there is a lot of other “bleh” things from the day, but I am choosing not to dwell on those - but 6pm meant off to Dan’s house! It was game night!
By the time I got there it was about 6:30, traffic was odd, and there is no easy / clean way to 178 during that hour so I got there, and viola - I arrived, feeling a tad tired from the day, I chatted a bit, but sadly my time there was short, my mom had ordered groceries from Vons, thus as she was stuck @ the doctor’s office with Dad finishing up, she was afraid she’d miss them as the window for delivery was 7->9 so after a slice, some casual discussion on Diablo 3, GPU’s etc. I headed home for what I imagine a quick in and out.
Sadly that didn’t work out - I never made it back I instead waited, and then I think the long day of back and forth from hot->cold->hot->cold caught up with me and I passed out on the couch while waiting for the guy from Vons to come - finally I woke up to my mom letting the guy unload the order onto the kitchen table and when I looked at the clock, it was nearly 9 which meant game night was wrapping up - then Scott called and said hello.
But what a day, and I still feel tired, it’s still bloody hot in my room (83F outside) but since I have no screen I can’t open my window as I’ll get bugs, and if I put in the AC in the window, I have to wake up early to remove it as it’s not secured in the window yet. So I’ll probably be crashing on the couch I am guessing.
Anywhoo that’s my run down of the day, need to call tomorrow and see what’s up with my car insurance, never got the renewal sheet to pay this month, so need to find out whats going on, and I guess maybe run in a check to the office locally as this is just odd. Californianites remember tomorrow headsets are required for talking on your cell while driving, be careful! Night!
I really don’t know how I got to the a-typical boring guy level of things I have lived a pretty wild bit now and again - I mean how many people have been investigated by the FBI twice, and the Canadian mounties? (Okay it wasn’t the mounties, but it sounds cooler than the Canadian version of the FBI)
A lot lately people keep telling me that I am far too nice - when did becoming nice almost become a put down? LoL I love the folks who tell me these things, tonight it was my little sister, she said it in reference to something that happened to me a while back, and I jokingly said I was going to hire her to come do collections for me! She’d have me tons of owed money ASAP.
Honestly I do see it sometimes that I let things go that I should be upset about, but I suppose it is true that nice guy’s finish last - and sometimes as of late aside from heat stroke, flu, and bordum @ work, I do feel like I am finishing last. My vision of where I would be by now is a lot different than how it turned out - I am not a chef cooking for people, I don’t have 2 kids and a beautiful wife, no 3 bedroom house, but instead - I have a lot of things folks don’t have - and more and more I see that even in my every day interaction with folks at work.
My office has some folks that look at life a lot different than I do, they see the negative and hang on to it, “being nice” isn’t something they practice on a regular basis - I mean the fact that I keep a stash of goodies that I hand out for free still to this day boggles the minds of folks there - both young and old. I mean who would go out, buy some candy bars, and some snack cakes and hand them out for free? I mean come on what’s the catch?
I dunno, this past 2 years a lot of learning has gone down for me, and adding this 9-to-5 style job is a big change for me, no more running out on a Friday to Kosmos with Matt for 2-3 hours to chat, no more snagging lunch for Rosie and running it over to her at B&N, no helping friends decipher taxes and applications for loans, granted I still get to help folks at work, even got to help a old friend today, and she offered to take me to lunch as a thanks - I dunno, things like today where I should be billing $75 just for doing something, I am going to let it fall by the wayside.
Grace. As Google defines it:
“a disposition to kindness and compassion”
I have always been a big supporter that if grace is given to you, if that kindness and compassion is shared - you should share it in return, because grace is something you don’t deserve - it’s a gift. A gift which I have received in my life time and time again - so who am I not to extend it to others?
I mean if I have no other role in life than to spread a little bit of grace, compassion, and kindness - that seems like a noble enough of a life - may not be the vision you come up with a kid of being a fireman, of being the president of the USA, but I think for this day in age - it is something needed.
My life is going to be taking some changes soon, probably a new place to live, changes in how I eat, exercise, interact, etc. and thru it all I pray I don’t loose that sense of grace - as even when folks are short with me, or fall short of what I expected from them, grace can still be given, that gift that costs nothing but issues such a rich reward to another - the best gift one can give and the same for someone who receives it.
Anywhoo - that’s my bit for now - going to run the budget numbers again, and pray about ditching work tomorrow to rest up for Friday’s big inventory day - but knowing me I’ll probably just end up going and be grumpy on Friday from lack of sleep and even more fun heatstroke Keep me in your thoughts and prayers - hopefully going into July some things things will be underway. Night folks.
So the niece came back today, 3 wild fun filled days with my rents @ Disneyland so they came back from hot, to hotter as it was reported 105F in some areas of town, yowza!
I am still not back to full internet status, I dunno, being a tad unpluged helps - lot on my mind as of late, things like finances, apartments, relationships, etc. etc. etc. - just been a crazy 2 weeks with really bad sleep, hoping tonight to get some sleep in, but I am also thinking about calling in at work in the AM and let them know I’ll be in around 10, or not at all, but knowing me I’ll probably just give in and goto work and drag thru the day - I miss Foto Fridays.
Anywhoo - that’s all I have this evening, going to crash out now - hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!
Have a great weekend folks!
I instead waited, and then I think the long day of back and forth from hot->cold->hot->cold caught up with me and I passed out on the couch while waiting for the guy from Vons to come - finally I woke up to my mom letting the guy unload the order onto the kitchen table and when I looked at the clock, it was nearly 9 which meant game night was wrapping up - then Scott called and said hello.
