Corporate Hippy

I woke up this morning with that dauntingly scratchy feeling in the back of my throat.  You know the one that’s generally followed by 7 days of miserable cauging, snot and sneezing?

fuck

I’ve been completely engrossed at work for the past couple of weeks, planning an infrastructure move.  All of our security equipment in our Novi data center has to be moved from its current rack positions to one a different part of the data center.  This is actually a good thing because now, all of our equipment is scattered all over and mixed in with all of the WAN group’s equipment.  So, its like we’ll have our own home.  Problem is, our stuff is a mess that no one REALLY understands completely.  I’ve been tracing cables, documenting MAC addresses and creating spreadsheets in an attempt to bring control and clarity to the situation.  The other guys in my group are working on firewall isues related to an additional change that’s being tacked on to this approved ‘downtime’.  I’m not even going to try to predict how this change will go.  Hopefully my coworkers will remain calm, not panic, and have some fun.  Its not really a difficult task, especially since I’ve done all of the dirty work already, its just an intimidating one.
So, there’s a chance I’ll have to work late tonight (when the weather is supposed to be 62degrees and somewhat sunny), and probably have to come in, at least for awhile, tomorrow morning.  The change is tomorrow night 10pm – 3am ..

*sigh*

If the weather holds, and I’m not too fried, I really want to try to hit the first Beat the Train ride at 6am in downtown detroit on Saturday.  Who knows, I might just make it.

life hippy

for posting ..

I’d just noticed that I’ve posted alot this month.  So, I was browsing past months, and most of them are 1 or 2 posts (one month, october maybe, had like 5) .. all the way back to LAST march when I posted 8 times … Heh .. Must be something about spring

life hippy

Nick and I are very compatible on bikes when his is a 26″ knobby tire mountain bike and mine is a 700c slick tired road bike.

We were hoping to ride with Jess tonight, but we never heard back from her in the afternoon. My guess is she had a meeting gone haywire. And, since it was close to 5:30 when I got home from work, it made more sense to stick over here and enjoy the sunlight while we had it.

That’s right folks, I said sunlight! This was the first time I rode outside in weeks and it was glorious. Perfect temperature, sunshine and fresh air.

Thanks ma nature, I needed that

Like, groove on this, man

Its been awhile, but I finally spent some time with edit pad and css files this weekend. After my crazy misadventures with my computer on Saturday (yes, I was able to repair my drive, w00t!), I spent a good chunk of Sunday working on a new website for the Southeast Chapter, MMBA. We decided that blog format might be a good way to get information out easily and WordPress does such a good job of also integrating static pages so we wanted to give it a shot.

I’d gotten Movable Type down, I’d learned which files to edit for what, and what all the different tags meant. I even was able to edit the look in feel in dreamweaver/HTML using a nice little utility that I’d found someplace. But alas, MovableType is a resource hog and a comment spam attractor, so we needed something better. WordPress is pretty slick, seems to be more configurable than MT was too. It just took me a good chunk of time yesterday to try and figure it all out. I’m getting there tho – did some work on the logo and picked a good color scheme. Hopefully I’ll have it ready to publish by the end of the week (crosses fingers!)

It felt good to get the fingers back on the keyboard. I still need to work on the ergonomics of my desktop situation (HUGE crt monitor that’s just sitting too high on my desk, causing me to ‘look up’ and strain my neck) .. but its much better than it has been.

Before my HD took a crap on Saturday, I’d been thinking about upgrading my PC, its been so long. I figured I could spend a few hundred clams and upgrade the motherboard, cpu and memory. But, if I’m going through all of that trouble, I really want a new video card and a DVD burner too. Also on the radar is replacing the giant monitor with a couple of sleek LCD monitors. I started to wonder if I really wanted to put that much effort into another windows box.

I’ve been contimplating the switch for some time (well over a year now). Windows feels like a dungeon sometimes. Every time I move my mouse there’s more gloom. Its time for a change. There have been great improvements in Linux these days, but not enough for me to want to use it as a daily driver. And really, macs are pretty.

So, now the plan is to replace my bad hard drive before it implodes. After that, I save my pennies. Nick has to finish his new bike project and I have to pay for my new toy , so its going to be some time before I get enough pennies. But that’s ok. I can manage. I know that a new Apple Mac-Mini is in my future, hopefully sometime before labor day. I might splurge for the ~800 dollar model, but I’d settle for the low end version too. I figure, if I LOVE it (and I think I will), I’ll eventually want to upgrade to a ‘real’ mac. When I do that, the mini would make a really nice addition to our entertainment/media center. If I HATE it (which I hope I don’t), then it still makes a nice addtion to the entertainment/media center, and I’ll then just upgrade my windows box. Its kind of a win-win situation, really.

I never thought I’d really be writing a post like this. I really never saw myself as a Mac person. But then I realized, there’s only one mouse button because there only NEEDS to be one mouse button. Its clean, its simple, and its highly configurable now that its built on unix. The good toys I want are available for the Mac, and most aren’t even available for Windows. I love iTunes, I love my iPod, and Mac’s are pretty.

geek hippy

All I want to do is work on my webpage, the southeast chapter webpage, and update my ipod. Seems simple enough, right? I mean, shit.. I’m a Network Security Administrator by trade. I work with complex computing devices all week long. It shouldn’t be that much of a problem to update a cascading style sheet while updating my tunes.

Ever hear the saying “the shoemakers children have no shoes” ? Yeah .. that’s me .. I’m my own shoemaker’s child …

Its been so long since I’ve upgraded my desktop PC that I’ve been able to get a CCNP certification and have it expire. It could have been nearly 4 years since my last motherboard purchase. When I got my iPod last year, I had to update it using usb 1.0 because my computer doesn’t have any 2.0 jacks. It took nearly 3 days to copy all of my tunes from my PC to my iPod.

I’ve since been able to scam a sound card from my stepson that happens to have a firewire port on it. So, that has helped the iPod process a bit. Well, except that when I put it in, I couldn’t find any screws to secure it in place, and it would wiggle loose every now and then, requiring me to open my PC case, reseat the card and try again.

I’ve added a hard drive to my system, so I have a 40gb drive and an 80gb drive. For awhile, my 80 was the largest capacity in the house, and it acted as a server for some time. I’ve had this 80gb drive in my system for a couple of years now. Its been making funny noises for some time, but alas .. its not been replaced.

I’ve got a cd burner and a dvd rom .. and a big huge CRT monitor on my desk .. Compared to most people’s systems, mine looks like its from the stonage.

I was going to be productive today. I plugged in some speakers that had been sitting in a box by my desk for MONTHS .. I found a screw and secured that firewire card, cleaned up my desk. Successfully connected my iPod and got it sync’d with my system. I finally put computer in the right workgroup to see Nick’s computer so that I could share some of the new music he’s been getting. And then, it happened.

I tried to browse my 80gig drive, and found only one folder. The only folder I could see was a backup from Jess’s computer that I made last year.

Fuck.

Luckily, iTunes was still able to access my music, which resides on that 80g drive. And, if I manually put the path into the explorer window, I could see my music files. So, all hope might not be lost. Currently, its running through a check disk program, hoping this will let me get to my stuff. I can hear the hard drive ‘clicking’ as the system is checking it. NOT a good sign.

As it turns out, I can get a REALLY BIG hard drive for like less than a hundy these days. Why haven’t I done this already? Procrastination is my biggest weakness ..

*sigh*

life hippy

Click the comic below for a larger view

Feelin' Sassy

In a couple of weeks, we will have paid off just about every debt we had incurred.  We’ll still have the house payment, jeep and one smaller debt to a friend; but everything else is gone.  Dakota Pickup is PAID IN FULL, Credit Cards are gone, Boat will be paid off soon, even that SBC bill that was left over from the old apartment has been paid.  Hell, we even (finally) sprung for the lifetime Tivo subscription, just before they shut that option down.  Our savings account is actually showing signs of life again as well – haven’t had to dip in there in a few weeks.
Its kinda like financial freedom.  I never realized what kind of teather would be attached when I bought my first truck back in 1998.  It started small – $241/month for that little truck.  But then, we sold that truck to buy a bigger one – $485/month, and then we found the boat we just HAD to have – $198/month, sold the neon to buy a jeep – $411/month … Got a sears credit card to buy a TV …. maxed the master card to buy camping gear … Got a lowes credit card to buy some drywall … and so on …

It becomes a trap.  And we’ve finally escaped.  I’m not ready to celebrate just yet, but as soon as that boat is paid off, then we might party a bit.

life hippy

My coworker Mark found salvation in Tae Kwon Do, similar to the salvation I’ve found in biking. He’s been at it for a year or so i think, and is on a black belt track. Nick had to work late last night, so I decided to see what all the hype was about. I’ve always had an interest in martial arts, but I never really knew anything about it.

At first I felt a little stupid and silly, I’d gone to an “All Student’s” class, which was a buncha little tiny kids and me. But since Mark is learning to become a teacher, he took me off to the side and taught me the basics while the kids were doing their ‘workout’ . I leared some stances and some kicks. I enjoied the moves and the workout. It’d be great cross training if I had any time to dedicate to it. Time. That’s what it always comes down to.

I have to admit tho, the whole procedural mumbo jumbo is something I have a hard time swallowing — bow to the dojo, bow to the flag, stand at attention, blah blah .. Its just all so serious. For some reason, that all just seemed to be too much for me. I suppose if I were to get more into it, go to more classes, learn more, and get better, I might have more respect for the art and history of it. But for now, it all just seems silly.

One thing I really liked about this place in particular is that they focus on self-defense. They teach from a self-defense perspective. I’ve been wanting to take more control of myself through self-defense classes of some sort. So, that part is cool. But the dojo is in Novi (and Farmington Hills) and the classes for adults are generally 6:00 or later … so, I just can’t see where I’d have time to make any classes. I thought I might be able to comit to Friday classes, but I’m not sure yet if I want to make that kind of commitment.

Plus, I’d have to get one of those outfits … and who needs more gear? Especially when I can’t stop buying bikes …

Buying bikes …. Yeah, last night, I committed to buying a road bike. My good friend Shirlee is selling her Giant OCR3 for a good price. Its got real low miles on it, and she treats her stuff really well. John says its a good bike and a good price (I know NOTHING about road bikes, so I had to consult the experts ) … So I told Shirlee I’ll take it!

And this is Shirlee, this is why I love her so much:

this other chick was wanting photos and wanting to drive up here from Detroit…I’m like, back off STALKER–I’m waiting to hear from Marty!!

Ahh friends … they’re just great

life hippy

Its monday morning and I’m back at work.  How does the weekend go by so fast?

It was a pretty good and productive weekend though.  We took a big bite out of our horendous laundry situation, cleaned the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, went grocery shopping, rode outside, rode inside and made it to a friend’s house for the debut of the new season of Soprano’s.  All in all, a pretty good weekend.

The weather was beautiful, so we had the doors open to get some fresh air in the house.  Nick raked and cleaned up the front yard.  Jarek cleaned up the attic (his bedroom and domain, as well as his messy brother’s).  The front room and living room could still use some dusting and cleaning up, but mostly they’re livable and clutter free.

This week, the weather gets nasty.  Today its thunderstorming, gray, mild temperatures, but humid.  Its supposed to get cold and snowy tonight, and just be messy for the rest of the week.  This has been the most bizzare winter.  I’d almost believed this weekend that we’d be getting an early spring.  Guess mom nature has a sicker sense of humor than I’d originally given her credit for.

I’m going to try a new thing this week tho.  My coworker has been bugging me to try Tae Kwan Do and has convinced me to give it a shot on Wednesday.  I’m intregued.  I really don’t need another hobby, but this is something I’ve wanted to try for awhile, so I’m going to check it out.

Well, its Monday and I have work to do .. blah ..

life hippy

We’ve been on a roll. We’ve been on the bikes (trainer or outside) 9 out of the past 10 days. And it feels great.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my pretty new titus since I’ve brought her home in October. It took me awhile to get the fit right and the rear shock ‘dialed-in’ , though, she served me well at iceman. I’ve had her on the rollers (w/fork stand) for the winter in hopes of building a solid relationship wtih her.

Well, last weekend, I let her come outside and play. I thought she was angry because she’d been locked away in someone else’s basement all winter. I felt like she was trying to throw me off – as if i was a cowboy riding a bull. So, I went to the shop and whined my heart out to Mike and John … yada, yada, yada, today she thanked me for buying her.

Turns out, all she needed was some air in the rear shock (and for her dumbass driver to unlock the front shock doh!). Apparently, when she went on a field trip in early winter, the pressure in the rear shock was severely reduced.

I think she was also pleased with mother nature today, as was I. I mean, it was gorgeous out today. We rode out our front door, for ~40 minutes or so, turned around and came back home. It was fantastic. Titus treated me well today … yes she did.

life hippy