Got to work on my first "real" network job

Got a Cisco 1750 router set up and multilinked to 2 T1 lines over in Hastings, and thanks to Jason, my mentor to some degree at work, set up all the encapsulation and IP routes. I can't thank him enough for letting me give it a try, especially after only 5 months there. I will pay back the trust in spades some day brotha! The best part out of it, after about an hour and a half of testing and troubleshooting stations, was to hear everyone talk about how much better it ran, and they thought Jason and I were full-blown heroes! Ya just don't get that too much in this line of work. This is a job I was meant to do....

Wow, its been a while

Wow, I have not posted in quite a while, and I thought I would share a few images that have occurred over the past few months

Here's a view of downtown BC from our office...


This is Summit Pointe, where I work most of the time, when desk work calls...


Part of the server room where the datacenter is


This is the server rack Troy and I have been assigned to decommision over the next 3-4 months


The telecom patch panels


The PC/Server Patch Panels


This is Troy, he's the man. He and I called that overfilled conference room our office for about 3 months


Chloe, a couple of months ago


Up at a park in Waters, Michigan


Chloe and Tracy in Charlevoix


When it comes to things that have been going on, it can be easily summarized by "busy." I have really found tons of ways to apply myself at the new job, and there is a never-ending list of stuff that can be done. I wish I was working closer to Lansing, but compromises had to be made, at least the money is better. Some of the guys at the office I consider my "Mentors" have been very willing to push new projects my way, and that is greatly appreciated. I have this Cisco 1700 Modular Access Router sitting at my desk to configure, and have about 50% of the knowledge needed to get it to do what I need it to. Scary feeling, but I love it. I will figure the other 50% out in no time, (Time to get the command line interface manual...) I laugh when I remember the CDW ad that has the lady talking about cuddling up to a Cisco modular Access Router manual, and realize that I will be doing exactly that this weekend! What a dork I am....

Chloe is quite the tornado lately, she can tear a room to shreds in less than 15 minutes. Thank God for baby gates!

I have been struggling with Tracy and her depression. It really seems to have reared its ugly head in the past few months. She has quite consistently admitted that it is a condition she is dealing with, but is afraid to take any measures to help to cope with it. A very tough struggle for me to watch and live through. She has days when she just can't find anything nice about anything, and the bottoms she hits are really low. I felt so bad for her this morning, she took the day off to work on some homework, the same homework that will take all weekend to complete. It turns out that most of Michigan had no school today due to the 7-8 inches of snow we got, so Chloe had to stay home. The daycare provider follows the same rules as what the schools due for weather, so basically Tracy ended up at home with Chloe all day. She just can't get over the though that she might be able to make up the time she lost today and still get the project done, all she can do is dwell about how she can never get the project done, even though it isn't due until Monday or later. Sometimes her hopelessness gets the best of her. Today it owned her. Tracy is also involved in Anna's Wedding due to happen in June. I will be curious to see how she can get through this whole ordeal as well, she seems to harbor quite a bit of hostility toward Anna, and some is for justifiable reasons, some is a plain mystery to me. I hope they can all get through it in June and be friends when its all said and done.

Now that I understand more of the organizational structure

Technically, I work for the company called ITP. They are the contractor for a bunch of community organizations, but a majority of them are the county cummunity health buildings for Barry, Van Buren, Calhoun, and a couple of other areas. The actual building I am located out of is the same place that I have been all along, which is Summit Pointe. It is quite a vast operation, never quite realized it before. It is nice to have a bit more structure, rather than the ol' days of "do whatever you are willing to do" approach. I find ironic to say that, after leaving a place in the 90's that had so much organization, I couldn't help but think of everyone there as a pack of bureaucrats, that had no idea how to actually lead people. Then to want to have free reign like the 'ol place gave me, but have no leadership to provide the direction of where you want your job to go. I think this will give me the balance between the last 2 places.

First morning at the phones

It is my first day running system verification, and running the help desk phones all in one day.

Kinda nervous at the start, but I am warming up to it. What I am really not nused to is having another guy here, in fact 2, to do the running for ya when something comes up. I am so used to having to deal with situations from beginning to end, having help makes me feel guilty at first, but a relief shortly after. Never had tech help before I guess. Had to get my ass up at at 5:20 this morning to get here on time. That part was hard, but I can get used to it.

I'm in.

Got the word a couple of days ago, and Troy and I have both been brought on. Troy and I will be working as Network System Engineers. At least thats what they appeared to have titled us. We won't be officially in for 3 more months, as we need to fulfill the recruiters contract, but then we get to negotiate our positions. Wow, can't remember the las time a company let me actually negotiate.... More to come later today when I get a chance to get over a fantastic hangover!

Can this work week end already!

When you hear the ladies in another department discussing in-depth how they managed to breastfeed their babies, you know its a slow day.

All the geeks are whistling tunes like the the Star Wars Theme to themselves, you can tell everybody needed a break for a change.

Troy is out looking for apartments in Battle Creek which is annoying me today. He has the assurance that he will be working next week, and the week after that. Wish I could feel that, but it won't happen this week. In an effort to make myself not feel like a victim through this ordeal, I started to power out e-mails, and make phone calls to every recruiter that I have contacted in the past, and start to put myself back in their scopes. I have been telling them that I will be available to work within the next 3-4 weeks, but if they have something that has a option to hire, I will consider earlier options. The way I see it, the contract with Teksystems is up technically in a week or so. What I have to do this week is get the resume updated reflecting the new stuff I have done at Summit Pointe. Wil make me look more involved in IT...

Chloe has decided to give us more rest this week, by sleeping through the past few nights, with the exception of last night, she got up at 5. I feel like I actually might be able to stay awake past 10pm tonight, I am such a party animal these days. Chloe has also taken a liking to some morning television on Disney Channel. "Breakfast With Bear" seems to be her favorite lately...

Office meetings

Every time I hear I am going to one, it reminds me of the "Haunted Meeting" joke thats on Bob and Tom. But nevertheless, I had 2 today. First one was me mostly presenting my progress on the project. Found out that one of the branches that was going to take about 3 weeks in total is now cancelled, making my job shorter than I was expecting. They say there is another project to handle for the Engineers, but we'll see. The supervisor tells me that they are trying to see what they can do to get me in with the System Engineers at Summit Pointe, but he says they are encountering political issues, so that will be determined later as it progresses on. At least Troy called it how they said it when they mentioned it to him. I am doing my best to trust that the supervisors are doing everything in their power to make it work for me, but they mentioned that the decision is really up to ITP, the IT company that runs the show. I appreciate those guys, they really are trying their best to help me, but enevitably it will be out of their hands.

Then the second meeting, where the bosses boss comes in and says that there might or might not be a ASE (Associated Systems Engineer) coming in to work with the guys that I would be theoretically be working with. This troubles me, this must be the political part that I was hearing about. They also made it sound like it was likely going to happen too. Even though nobody is directly telling me that things aren't going to work, they won't say that they are either. I would like to be their ASE, if only they'd get me a chance to show them what I can do. I know that I am capable of doing it. More and more I am getting the vibe that I am going to get the shit end of this stick eventually. I am going to get emails out and start hitting up the recruiters for more work, at best guess, this is all going to come to a head in 3-4 weeks. Just in time for Christmas season, shit the luck...

What would really get under my skin is that Troy got work out of this and not me. I like him and all, but that would really bother me.

At least in the end, I can truly say that what I learned at Summit Point will truly help me later in future IT jobs. I really learned alot about the game, and about big business. I will never regret the time I spent there. I knew coming into it that it was a gamble on whether I would or would not get the job in the end. I had to take the chance, and I feel I did the right thing no matter what

Things I want to do this Winter

I have started to make a list of things I want to do this Winter, because I have to have something to look forward to in this miserably cold state when I usually sit on my fat ass and do nothing but watch TV. here's what I have so far...

• Cross-country skiing, maybe just out at Grand River Park
• Downhill skiing, perhaps up north, one of the Boyne tourist traps
• Build Tracy's planter boxes that I never got done this Summer
• Finish wiring, and and insulate the garage (practice for the basement)
• Complete the network in the house

Unfortunately even that list wouldn't typically get done in the time I have, but hey, its a good start.

Silly, maybe gross thought...

So, I was pising away a few minutes, and heard a segment on Bob and Tom (don't ask what it was about), and it had me thinking...

Why is poop typically brown?

You would think that if your body was doing its job right, it would make it a pale white or something....

Oh well, go enjoy lunch everyone....

Well, at least I thought they had a plan...

What the company has in store for me still remains to be seen. Since Troy has been gone, I am working over here by myself, and not a single person has sat down with me and discussed where the project is going, and what plans they have for me. What I need to do remains clear for the next month or 2, it is the same project that I have been working on. I know what has to be done for all of that. What I wish I had was some sort of job that I knew would be here for after a couple of months. I am hesitant to push the issue with them, don't want to make any assumptions that might cost me more than I could gain. All I can really do is sit and wait. I am rather jealous of Troy, sitting over in his new seat, but if what he heard is true for me, I would much rather be working with the Engineers than doing what he is doing. Well, time to go and recover more exchange data for the next few hours...

I hear the company has come up with a plan...

Troy heads out to lunch today, and passes on the info of what I have missed downtown since I was gone all morning at the Albion branch.

Effective next week, they are transferring Troy over to Tech Support, to take calls and be a front end interface to the users.

That will leave me all to my lonesome in the migration project until they get in a new recruit from the place that got us in. I will head up the migration team, getting the new guy up to speed, and after that, at least from what I hear, they are going to place me in with the Engineers, to do more back end work. Troy says it is permanent if we want to have it. I can't believe I am hearing that word "permanent," its been a while. Waiting to hear more from the supervisors later on. Will pass it on as I hear about it...

Whut, it's actually Friday......?

Wow, I can't believe it is already Friday. It has been a really long week for Tracy and I. Chloe has gotten into a rut where she wakes up every night at 3:30, and then falls back asleep, to only wake back up at 5:00 and then she is up for good. That has been happening all week, we have got to get her outta that routine, its killing us in the mornings. Maybe if I can muster up enough energy tonight, I will get a DVD or 2 in, I definitely have not gotten my money's worth from Netflix this month.

Work announced a new project this month that will keep Troy and I gainfully employed for at least one extra month from what was planned. That should keep me in work almost till Christmas. The next project is documenting the rooms and port numbers on the patch panels, probably putting it all into Visio. Then we will be reconfiguring all the thin clients to run from DNS, instead of WINS. Why we didn't do this to begin with is a good question, but hey, I am not in this place to tell people what do so.... anyways, that will keep us good and busy for a while. I have heard 3 people try to tell me that Exchange needs to run with WINS, that's such a falacy, the first time I fired up an Exchange server, I never had WINS running, that same server still isn't running it, and Exchange is still up and moving. Stubborn people, that may have been the case back in Exchange 5.5, but come on people, lets get a little more updated here. Okay enough techie speak...

Tracy found out yesterday that financial aid won't go through because she is only taking 3 credits. Something sounds strange about that, I never recall not getting a Stafford loan offered at that credit level. Could be the application, but I highly doubt it. Really wish I wasn't involved with it in general. Why am I filling out a FAFSA for Tracy, instead of her doing it herself? I really dislike having the problem dumped in my lap like its my fault.

Have been geting a few more people as clients working ths new job. Clinicians, Nurses, people like that. Its nice work on the side, when I can make the time for it at home.

Been watching the news about the Bird Flu thats heading our way. It doesn't worry me as much when it comes to my health, but it is Chloe that I am worried about. Going to that "germ pit" of a daycare makes me the most concerned.

Tommy visited me yesterday!

Dude, that made my day, thanks for coming by, great to see ya again!
Next time your in town, we'll get a lunch in, give me a call...

Working the scene today all by my lonesome...

Troy is gone today, leaving me at the helm for the client-migration. Kinda fun to just do it all from beginning to end on your own, sort of satisfying in its own way. Went an did something dumb this morning, dropped a big fat monitor on by pinkie finger, slashing about 1-1/2" of skin from it in a 1/8" wide slice. You would think in a healthcare organization granted that they deal with strickly mental health, that the would have a first-aid kit around, or at least someone with a pack of band-aids. But no, after asking 2 RN's, 4 clinicians, I resorted to 2 sheets of Kleenex, and packaging tape. Gotta do what ya gotta do, I guess. I hope this company starts to discuss options for the end of the contract here, which is tenatively up on the 3rd week of November. I know it isn't exactly coming up tomorrow, but I would love to get the job situaton nailed down. Still feels fluid to me, and I never like that much. The company is having trouble with their Exchange servers, and their existing engineers have pretty gave up on the problems, I keep trying to impress on them that I'd like to take a peek at it, but I don't want to step on any toes. Every time I get to take a peek, when I suggest something, they give me that "what the hell do you know" glance. I hate being the new guy, but ya gotta put the time in before people will know what your capable of. My time isn't yet, I'd have to guess...

Chloe is doing very well at walking around on her own now, moving freely from room-to-room at will. This seems to make her much happier now that when she sees something that needs investigating she simply gets up and goes to it rather than the "holler to be picked up" technique she is now famous for. Her personality is truly coming out these days. I used to say to myself that there is so much in our lives that is impressed on us by our environment. After watching Chloe for the last few months, you can see that some things, such as persistence, and determination, are definitely "hard-wired in" But it is remarkably like Tracy and I when we see it in her, it is very much like us in so many ways... It makes us feel like apologizing to our parents every now and then when we see how she won't give up on something, and then proceeds to show us her disappointment when she doesn't get her way...

The Nine Inch Nails show was fantastic, it was refreshing to see the band get a little more diverse, and play more variety from all of their albums. Really funny to watch all the goth girls in their leather, and lace. Good times... Got slapped a few times for that.

Tracy and I spent our first nght away from Chloe too last Saturday. Tracy only made one check-in call, then she loosened up. We really needed the break, we took advantage of every moment of it.

Almost the weekend!

Can't wait for the weekend!

Tracy and I get our first night away from Chloe since she was born. I bet Tracy is going to be a little on edge, but we are way overdue for the break. No offence intended Chloe, if you read this some day down the road, don't think of it in a bad way... We just need a night to take a breath, and regroup, that's all....

Troy and I have been working on Ghost images, and for the first 3 days, only to find out that we never ran SYSPREP, duh. We're such freaking tools sometimes.... Only admins will get my drift on that one, don't fret if it makes absoultely no sense... Your just not as dorky...

Chuck hasn't called me in over 3 weeks now, since he got home. I hope he is not mad at me for not visiting him when he was at the hospital.

I will catch up more later...

So we get this office user yesterday...

Who has an old piece of shit NT4 computer, and we completely set up a thin client for her, she gets rather bitter and complains to my partner that she can't have a thin client, because she needs the floppy disk drive on it. Troy made the right move and just did what she wanted, gave her a tower we upgraded from old equipment. It isn't our place in the organization to make the decision of whether she is right or wrong. But I really, really wanted to go to her and ask what bug she had up her ass anyways, giving Troy all that crap. We are in a healthcare environment, don't ya think HIPAA would dictate that data doesn't leave our PC's here, and if she needs the drive so bad, where is she taking the data, home, another branch office? If it is the only option that should be acceptable, another branch office, she has a network drive that she can get at any branch. Save it there, if she needs it so bad. I bet her excuse would be that he works from home. Well, how would HIPAA deal with her then?

OK, I feel better now that I cleared my breath on that one...

When I took Bonzai's survey...

You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (55% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Now that Monday is over...

I finally got a full nights sleep again. God that felt good.

Went home early yesterday to help out with Chloe, and it turned out that Troy got swamped at work the minute I left, felt pretty guilty about that.

Tracy and I really need to get out for a night soon, and get in a break. It is really taking its toll on us these days. We hardly ever get out and do anyhting. Chloe has a tendency to stay up till 10 at night, and get up between 6 and 7, so quiet time has been sparce at best. We have gotta get Chloe to sleep earlier at night. We are going to go to the Nine Inch Nails concert in a couple of weeks, that will be a relief for us both.

Chloe has managed to get walking these days, she has managed to get about 10-12 steps in now, getting her around 10 feet from place to place. It is amazing to watch it all happen for her. Everything is brand new, kinda miss those days when everything was new to ya...

So how sick can a baby really get?

...That was the question asked this weekend, and the answer turned out to be "as sick as you you can ever imagine, then multiply it by about 1.2"

Lamens-speak for my babble: Chloe somehow managed to get her ear infection back that she should ave kicked 2 weks ago, and has 3, not 1 or 2, but 3 teeth coming in at the same time. And to toop it off, she caught sme sort nasty virus, that has had her in and out of a 103 fever for about 3 days. Wow, talk about the frustration that little girl has right now. As a result of this "Perfect Storm" of cooties she caught altogehter, Tracy and I haven't slept for more than 2 hour conscutively since last Friday. When its a virus, there isnt much a doctor can do but keep the body mantained till you can kick it yourself. that means for Chloe, shes shit outta luck till she can kick it on her own. Lotsa fluids, and no sleep, cuz she won't be taking any long naps through this illness. I Wish there was more we could do, but but al we can do is be there for her and comfort her till it passes. Makes me wish that I could stay hom with her, but I ain't gt no sick time, and we really need the check. This means that Tracy stayed home with her all day today, and she won't be a happy-camper by the time I get back today. Leaving early, gonna have to make up for it by skipping lunches.

This is the kinda stuff that tests how strong your marriage is. I can tell that much...

End of the week, finally

It is a good day. Still getting a check, still being productive.

Been working on a master laptop for the past 2 days that we will ghost an image of and then put it on about another 20 laptops. This is one of the few processes where my anal-retentive tendencies really pay off. It is really cleaned up, and well organized. Too bad nobody will notice that when it lands on their notebook later. Oh well, its the nature of the job to be the silent hero.

Been taking some pics at the job, will post them later on this weekend.

Lisa is coming back to town this weekend after quite a trying week in Ferndale. Been pondering the idea of trying to be a mediator for her and her roommate/cousin, with the hope that if they won't work out as roommates, at least they will still be able to be cousins still after all of this. This is me asking ya Lisa, ya think it would be of any help to you both if I had a talk with Eric? If I can help, gonna have to make it for the night of the Mike Doughty show at the Magic Stick. Crash on a couch, and travel back the next day...

I have so much shit to catch up on chore-wise at the house. It feels like there is never a free moment these days, Chloe demands so much attention, it is a tough thing to balance for us...

Might get out to a movie this weekend, I am pretty sure Lisa wants to see The Corpse Bride. Not my favorite choice, but I could think of a lot worse movies to see right now. I think I'll like it either way...

My only friend visited me at the office yesterday that I know in BC, Kari! Thanks for stopping by, for once, I didn't feel like such a loner out here. I'm gonna hold ya to that visit to Subway one of the lunches...

Sittin here at a users station burning time....

So, does anyone have any suggestions for Tracy and I for when Chloe goes on trips, and gets so excited when we go on location, on how we can settle her down, and get her to sleep the whole night, if its even possible?

Just curious....

Monday

Spent a nice weekend at home. Tracy's old roommates came over, they are fun to hang out with. Always nice to see Lauren and Jeff whe they can get to town. Doesn't happen much though, they live way over in Wisconsin. Anna brought her boyfriend William over, but he spent most of the evening taking a nap in our Papasan Chair. He sure was the life of the party... Jeff was fun, he gave me a good excuse to sit on the porch for a few hours and just kick back and relax. I really needed that.

Lisa had a troubling weekend, where some expensive jewelry got stolen. Besides the fact that the situation is terrible, what has me iritated is that the roommate most likely knows the guy who took the jewelry, but won't give the name out to the police for the police report. I'd be leaning on his ass for some names, but that's easier said than done... What makes that situation more entagled, is that the roommate is her cousin, which is making the tensions high for the extended family. Tough spot, i'm feeling your pain Lisa...

Chloe was quite the tornado this weekend, having all those people over really got her going. Her personality is truly starting to show, as she acted shy, then flirted all night with Jeff, when he was over. Very funny to watch...

Had to bury our pet turtle, Zoe this weekend, she passed on earlier in the week. Can't help but feel responsible for it, an animal like that depends on you for everything, they are trapped in the tank, and can't do anything about it. Zoe will be missed, even though they are not very animated creatures, she will always be my little quiet friend. She lived to be roughly 10 years old, being that she was most likely about 2-3 years old when we got her, she had a good life. She suffered through a few illneses along the way, but stayed strong. Having Chloe around I feel may have caused a lot of stress for her, and even a little more neglect than she could handle. She'll be missed, at least Chloe will be able to her in a few stray old videos, where we can remember her.

Saw this nice work in Photoshop, had to share

This just cracked me up, this ones for you Lisa....

So I hit the ball...

And for 1 minute, 24 seconds, I was a golden God. I dropped the ball less than 1 foot from the pin. Glorious moment. Made the guys at Plante-Moran annoyed too, I made sure to rub it in, after all, they are the bastards that made my life hell for a few months at the old place... Felt very liberating.

Got home, the wife was furious, I left her alone with Chloe for most of the evening, and Chloe was less than accomodating to her while I was gone.

I really hate coming home with the feeling that all hell is breaking loose, and there is a "bomb" of sorts waiting for me at the house.

But at least the golf contest was fun.....

Stand to be corrected about the games tonight

It is called the corporate cup, involving well over 20-30 different companies in BC, went to lunch and practiced a few chip shots with my assigned partner, a lady bout 40, who never golfs. she chipped 4 out of 9 into the 10 yard circle from 75 yards away, while I chipped in a whopping 0 out of 9. Yeah, I looked like a jackass. whats new... We'll have to see later....

Thursday

I got roped into a fundraiser for the YMCA, where I will compete against a bunch of other teams in Battle Creek (Including Christman Screenprint, surprisingly) in a closest to the tee 75 yard chip shot game. Should be fun, I look forward to it, perhaps maybe a celebration at Arcadia afterwards.....

Have a deptartment meeting this morning in about 10 minutes. Got an agenda in email for what we are going to discuss. Maybe its shellshock from powerhogs like Dale, but when I get an agenda now I feel like shit is always going to roll downhill to me.

It won't be like that, they are very happy with my work, but it always lurks in the back of my head now...

Somebody with a J.....

So I try to figure out why my wife is all freaked out about somebody on my frends list in Yahoo, I do some digging to find it a friend I came accross years ago, who got me into this beta called Yahoo 360. Can't say that we have talked in ages, but Tracy keeps asking me for a spell last night if we have something going on. So can I say for the record, NO, that ain't happening, and YES, people can have chat buddies who happen to be female and not be doing them on the side. Thanks for stirring up the controversy for us Lisa, you prick. How many guys are on your chat list that your not doing Lisa...?

Way too much drama for one blog today, I'm cut off I guess...

Job opportunity popped up / Long weekend

But I had to get to Novi to interview for it before 5pm today. Yeah, that's a lot of warning... Sounds like a manufacturing company in Lansing for better money than what I have right now. Involving a rollout of new equipment at multiple locations over 4 states. Sounds like a great opportunity, only one other admin there working, could have great potential. Hope the recruiter will call and offer an interview tomorrow perhaps. Probably not likely, I bet they will pick a someone from todays interviews, oh well, at least I am staying on the prospects, that's all I can really do.

Chloe is still working on geting back to her normal routine after this last hectic weekend. Had a 103 fever going up north, but refused to stay in town. Had a migraine, that stemmed from the fever, that lasted from Thursday that week until Monday, when naturally the entire weekend was over already. That really hurt like hell. And it really pissed off Tracy too, she was stuck dealing with Chloe nearly the whole time. Tracy's parents did a great job trying to lend a and when they were able, but overall it was quite a stresser for everyone involved. They all did get out a visit a few places, I'll post some pics later, it look slike they really had fun. Too bad I was in to much pain to do anything but sleep all weekend...

Some of the nice things about working in a healthcare environment

1) The toilets are spotless
2) On average, most desks are spotless
3) Lotsa computers!
4) I get a pretty little photo ID, that makes me feel like I can walk up to doctors and hang out like I know what I am talking about...
5) They see the need for adequate infrastructure, and actually budget for it (Except for the Citrix thing, I'll have to impose my opinion on that later...)
6) At least my place doesn't have ER, mostly professionals, so everyone gets here at 8, leaves at 5

So when I was at lunch today

I am talking to one of the System Engineers, he explains to me that they have some connections getting blocked somwhere through the pipe, between the router and firewall. He also pointed out that the traffic is making it through the switch just fine. I had to reply with "Well, ya got 99 problems but a switch ain't one..." He didn't get it. Damn propellerheads... I thought it was funny...

Paul Robbins comes over tonight

Armed and dangerous with his 2 laptops, we are going to get his stuff sharing files, printers, and purging the evil spyware, adware, and programs that just plain don't need to be there. He's saving me the grief of going out to Holly. Which after putting over 2 hours of driving per day, I don't think I could make it right now.

I bet its gonna be a long night.

Ya know it occurred to me...

That this organization has probably about 200-300 users, all slated to be on a Citrix farm of only 3 servers (Well, really 2 are being accessed by users. This things gonna run like a turtle until they can probably double the size of the farm...

Tried scrolling in MS word this morning, the lag time was so bad, it scrolled for about a minute after I let go of the mouse. Yikes!

Last night, Chloe got her first burn, when Tracy turned her back on her, she managed to reach the light on top of my turtle tank, and ge blisters on 2 of her fingers. I feel so bad for her, and I am going to feel worse when the blisters pop. Ouch!

International Blogging Day

Had to do my part to be a team player on a day such as this, and make a posting!

Going really well at work, I am getting into the mode now where I am starting to see how the infrastructure works, and want to start tweaking, all a good sign that I could be a good contributor later on. Been pondering what kind of plans they have at the end of this contract, wondering what kind of position will be available? Don't think asking about it would be prudent until I get somemore time into the rollout.

Really becoming a good technical writer after all this process scripting in the past couple of weeks. Really in general just feels good to be a part of something again.

Chloe is sleeping better this week, got a whole nights sleep 2 nights in a row. Now we can ruin the pattern this weekend when we go up north, and she gets out of sync again. I want to go, and she should go, but at least I can prepare for her sleepless nights ahead when I see them coming

Gotta go to lunch now. I always go to lunch now, Tommy would be proud.

Tired, Happy, Monday

What a long weekend. Feel like I never slept. Chloe is getting ready to pop her first tooth. She really ain't happy about it. Can't say I blame her, but when Tracy's stressed out because of school starting back up again, and me still getting ramped up in my new job sure isn't helping. We're all cranky this week. But hey, what can ya do? When the tooth pops out, maybe we will sleep again.

Tracy and I keep hearing about how all the other babies in the neighborhood are doing so well, and they never give them much trouble. Chloe is a classic case of "High-needs." She really has to be tended to alot.

Tracy and I are having quite the discussion lately about custody rights for Chloe if something ever happened to us. Tracy and I both have our points, and neither one of us has a decision yet. Is there really and ideal candidtate? I can't go into it much further than that.

Troy and I are getting ready to draft our first batch files today for file migration on NT4 clients to XP. Haven't had a chance to do that for years, I usually don't have enough clients to waste the time setting up BAT or CMD files. I look forward to it. Troy has a bit more experience in VBS, might need to get a few lessons from him in the spare time.

It's Friday, and a good one for once!

For the first time in a long while, all feels normal. I am looking forward to Friday, versus the the dread of Friday, and the lack of work that I used to feel. Feels good to be part of something again. Am really curious what they have up their sleeves here after 3 months. They look like they have their hands full.

Troy and I are seeing a few thing on their servers that in the end, may drive the users nuts, but we will adress it with them before the rollout happens, or when we fell we can interject the info. Don't wanna step on anyones toes.

Chloe kept me up again lastr night, forcing me to tend to her at 3:30 in the morning. She's gonna get Motrin early in if that happens again. I think the teething is getting to her.

Hardly any of the house stuff is geting done this week. Tracy is trying to catch up on some of it today. I have really got to get out into the yard and clean it up, it looks like shit.

Day 3

Write a script for configuring thin clients for the past few days with Troy. Corey, another techie in the place couldn't of had the script for more than 10 minutes before he pegged us on not writing to plug in the Ethernet Cable. Silly us. It's always the little things that get ya. Oh well...

No dead bodies in the road today on the way to work. Thats a good sign, I found out on the news that the guy I saw yesterday was involved in a hit and run incident. I hope they find the person or persons involved in that, that guy's family deserves it.

Chloe fell asleep way too early last night, 7:00 to be exact. Naturally she woke up to give me hell at about 12am, when I was really dying to get to sleep, tried to quietly keep her entertained for about 45 mintues, and just got too tired, had to put her back into the crib, and have her sort it out herself. She got back to sleep after about a 30 minute fight wth herself to stay up. That little lady hates to fall asleep, never wants to miss a thing. I think she has my blood, and realizes that you can't relive a party...

Gotta get going, we are heading out one of the other locations in a few minutes. Lakeview...

Poor Mr Paul...

Calls me up says he updated AOL instant Mesenger, now he has "10,000 thing running at startup he never needed or wanted. Freinds don't let friends use AOL. Gotta convine him to let go of AOL for Broadband, I mean, hey, whats the point. If you have broadband through someone like TimeWarner, or Comcast, why connect to their shit anymore. That juts seems wrong to me.

Second day at the job

Just getting in, taking a break from what I saw this morning. I hear on the radio that the interchange at I-94/I-69 is closed, and I am about 1/2 mile from it already. To drive through and see a mangled dead guy, lying in the right lane, with what is left of his motorcycle. Quite disturbing. Nothing more to say about that...

The job is pretty clearly laid out for the next few months. Pre-configure thin-clients, about 150 of them, for a connection to 3 Citrix servers. My earlier estimate about the number of employees here was way off. There are almost 400 from what I can tell, being at only one of the three branches they manage. Once the thin clients are preloaded to have their connection automatically start, then we will take them one by one to users, and migrate their data to the Citrix servers. I guess the first thing I learned to appreciate is the little overhead it takes to run thin clients. I can why so many people are using terminal servers. Never had a chance before to work with a embedded OS like Windows CE on a thin client before. Had me a bit bewildered at first, but I picked up the gist of it after a half-hour or so.

Working with a guy, apparently that Jason knows from across the street. His name is Troy Brown, nice guy, I find that my not so subtle obscenities that slip out of my mouth might trouble him, he is a very polite, well spoken guy. He will be interesting to work with. Much more knowledgeable than me, do to his much greater field experience. He lives out in Okemos, hoping we can get a car-pool arrangement figured out some day.

At the end of the 3 month Summit Point is looking to hire someone to handle Help-Desk work. I am hoping that it may work out for me in that capacity. We will have to wait and see how that works out.

Yeah, I was probably dropped as a child...

But I am not hatin ma!

Chloe is learning to be a charmer...

Yeah, this is the face she makes when she wants to eat everything that we have on our plates...

Family reunion last weekend.

Even though Tracy is running outta the pic, I thought it would be great to have a pic of Grandpa on the blog, 92, and still kicking. He is the shit...

It is resolved.

I waited all Summer to say that. Can't really say with complete comfort that the situation is gone however... 3 months will tell the tale I suppose.

Going to be starting a 3 month contract with hire option at a health care system in Battle Creek called Summit Pointe.

After a little negotiation yesterday, the deal was closed. Had a another interviiew the same day up in flint for sa speed shop called Hardcore Racing. It had the same sunds of the old company when I heard phrases like "we work hard and play hard." and my favorite of the day was "You will be worth whatever you can contribute to our company." I used to believe that a few years ago, but after a few hard knocks, I know that statement is a bit subjective. Oh well... The new job starts Monday am, and another guy from the recruiter is coming in as well for the same duration. It is going to be a whole new career in a few days. This is going to help me to let go of some old bitterness that I harbored way too long.

After being let down by a large company that I had no future at, leaving, then going to a small company that allowed you to wear as many 'hats' as you could wear, where you realized that after a few too many hats, your hat rack wasn't worth it, leaving to go back to a large company, 150 users. Exciting, scary, but that's exactly how I felt when I got to my last job. I love the challenge. Hope they like me even more in 3 months when its the moment of truth and hiring is an option. Just gotta do my best, day by day. Everything works out in the end.

Renewed life and maybe a little faith in the job market

Lots of apps went out yesterday, 3 already went out today in the past hour, got a call yesterday to interview on Thursday. Feels like progress for once in a long while.

I find that I consider it a productive day when I send out at least 3 apps, or get 1 call for an interview in any given day.

Buddy of mine over in Detroit has landed an opportunity to go see a Jimmy Buffett show in Cincinatti later this month. And being that most of the deal is a freebie, I have a little less guilt about going. If only Tracy can watch Chloe for one night... If I do go, Tracy and I need to get out this Summer too. We haven't done a whole hell of a lot lately, I gotta change that.

Bonzai might be coming over next weekend, very nice, I feel an MP3 swap meet in my near future... Really dying to hear how the side work with VoIP is working out for him. That sounds like a very sweet deal.

I realized looking back in my Blogs I never said much on the topic of Frank from the old place. He got into a pretty bad accident on his motorcycle a few weeks ago, and I really wish him a very swift recovery, so he can get back to enjoying life, which he does rather well. He truly was the last good thing about that place when it all started to unravel. Even though many of the choices did involve him at the end of it for me, most of that wasn't his old style that I loved about him. The other company changed that part later. Hope ya get well soon, Frank, you are a truly remarkable guy.

Long Weekend

Chloe's Baptism was this weekend, then we had people over, what a drain on me physically.

Had to go back to the FOP, server was sending NDR's to everyone who I thought had their accounts fixed. Oops, didn't realize the SMTP had NDR's set to send delays after 1 day, failures after 2 days, wow, didn't even take a moment to look at that. Silly me. It's all better now (...knock on wood)

Had a family reunion this weekend, out by Kalamazoo. It was all of my mom's side of the family. Took the family with me, and we had fun until some people decided to pass commentary on my job situation. An Uncle of mine, I highly respect, came up to me and asked how it was going with the job hunting, I was honest, but missed no words when I said that I haven't found one yet. He replied quite simply with "well, maybe you need to start looking at more realistic stuff." Wow, it completely threw me when he said this, I don't even think he knows what kind of jobs I am looking for. Before my "heart on a sleeve" side came out and said something like "go fuck yourself" I gathered my composure, and replied "well, eventually, any job will be better than no job, it is when I have to make that adjustment that we will have to see..." I was so offended when he said this. Really wondered where he came up with this rant, then I talked to mom, that answered that. He had to be listening to her, she thinks I am sitting around all day, loafing off, and doing nothing to get a job. A perfectly good day pissed away by an ingorant family who have no regard for me or what I am going through.

Extended family sucks. Except for my brother, I wonder what the rest are worth some days..

It was like the computer Gods made me finish what I started...

Prior to my departure from my old job, I left one thing undone on the 'ol Small Business Server 2000, that was how to use and resolve addresses with SMTP Server. Everyhting was getting resolved at the outside ISP. After a 4 hour crash course, self-taught, I learned not only how to route in house addresses, but how to route the others out to the appropriate ISP for resolution. The old place used to get the same message I saw yesterday, "Message Undeliverable." Now I know how to route it all through Exchange and not worry about that old half-ass way to dodge the server. It is the way it should run, glad I finally learned one of the missing pieces of what I left undone at the old place.

Yesterday left quite a pit in my stomach, when I had no solution for the problem. Today at least, I not only had a solution, but a better solution for the place, and more options for them to use later, if they ever choose to. I left it better off that it was when I started on it, good.

Exchange 2003 Dilemma, HELP!

Okay, I have run outta tricks in the back pocket for this situation, seeking out the 2 other guys I know, that may have some insight on how to resolve it.

Ran Internet Connection Wizard on 2003 Small Biz Server, was not previously handling E-mail with the Exchange Server at the time. This time turned on the E-Mail Handling. The users are not currently using the Exchange Server for anything as they requested it turned off, initially. Small Biz 2003 would rather have it on, for some odd reason, so I left it on, I figured I would not rock the boat, so to speak. All the users are using an outside ISP for mail, and use POP3 to connect to it.

Now I am getting a "Mail Undeliverable" message from the Exchange SA when users try to send out mail, however they receive it fine. It made good sense to me to turn the E-Mail handling back off in the wizard. I am on the assumption that its own SMTP server causing the conflict, it must not have any place configured to forward unresolved messages to.

Now I have one computer that sends outgoing mail, no matter who logs on to it, and 2 others that still get the "Undeliverable" message. What makes it more bizarre is that one of those 2 computers, will send out some messages, but some others get the "Undeliverable" message.

Any thoughts, this ones got me stumped, and I am not in the mood to reinstall from disc...?

The dreaded wireless router

Installed the wireless router for the FOP today, so now they all have high speed Internet, which is a very large departure from the dial up that they were just using yesterday.

I almost can't believe that there still are people that use computers and Internet on a minute by minute basis that still have dial-up. When I installed the new server, and had to make a demand-dialed connection to an ISP, I had to shake my head in disbelief.

Naturally, the install went good, but TDS geve me settings for a static IP connection, and naturally they didn't work, so I set it to autoconfigure till they can come out and get their shit together. I am sure I will be getting an earful fromthem when they hear that their settings didn't work. I am sure they will blame the router...

In an effort to get back to being myself these days

I am seeking a good recipe for something dead I can cook on the grill. I think burning some dead flesh will help to make my the non "wah-wah" Guy I was being earlier today.

Oh yeah, I got the 4 lbs of red hair outta my drains, and cleaned the tubs, and I did feel much better.

Tommy, on the recipe part, I think this is where you have the expert beenie, go to bat for me man! Help a brutha out...

After a 20 minute battle of crying and squirming...

That girl only hates 2 things in this world, changing clothes, and taking naps, but when she gives up, she gives up fast.

Its just one of those blah-blah days

Wasn't shit on the search agents today. I did see a post from a guy who gave me some bullshit line over a month ago because I didn't have a bachelors degree, now he is looking again, I think I'll just send him a resume just out of spite. I am totally qualified for the job, but he has to have this "degree over experience" standard.

Frustrating day overall, don't feel like I am getting much done.
Week one of August burned up, with no results.

Going to unclog the tub drains, the redhead keeps a sheddin!

Anyways... Got to go get baby gates and booster seat this weekend, that little lady just keeps getting bigger!

Mid-week once again

Took a long weekend up norht, got back into town on Tuesday. It was a nice retreat, but the thoughts of what lingers behind still plagued me. I did what I could to enjoy myself, and was rather sucessful I think.

Tracy and I figured out this week that Chloe has learned to climb stairs. She cleared half of the ones going upstairs before she nearly tipped. We supervised the whole thing, she wasn't in danger, but now the dreaded purchase of baby gates is inevitable, might as well get a bigger car seat while we are at it. Oh well, its only money.

got lots of resumes out yesterday, and a few important calls into the recruiters today. Feels like progress, looks like spinning wheels from afar. Its really what I think of the progress is what matters anyways.... I'll call it at least productive.

As you might of noticed, Tracy finally decided to take a peek at my journal, and, well,uh, at least she now knows whats on my mind, I guess. Wouldn't change a word of it, but I'll have to remember to be mindful of wifey.

It's the end of July

...and I have no job. I haven't had a job technically for 3 months, 4 months physically. It is descending on me that this is going to be a problem.

I am getting really worried about it. I have got to get more time invested in this hunt, an I have to be far more diligent about making calls back, and reaching people.

I was pissy about it this morning, and the wife naturally thought it was about her, and never even tried to ask what was really bothering me, that pissed me off even more. She has spent all week doing homework, and she complains that Chloe has been at daycare all week. I think that if she knew what was bothering me, she still wouldn't care this week. She seems to be in "take care of myself" mode thsi week, a mode that I know quite well, but eery now and then I would really like to be asked about what I am feeling, and what I think we need to do sometimes.

The IT work is drying up, going to have to rebudget things at the end of August if nothing works out.

As I write this Tracy insisted on using the computer upstairs beacuse she needs a program on it. I sit and wait to use it because all my agent results are on it. I think she thinks that her schooling is more important than the job. She's gonna get a rude awakening soon.

Slow start to a long day

Woke up at 7am, Tracy and I got Chloe to daycare, and then we oth went back to bed till 11am. Feel kinda guilty bout that.

I didn't get home till after 2am last night after hanging out with Chuck and Todd, and Tracy didn't go to sleep till I got back.

We were both pooped today, didnt start looking for job stuff till after 1 pm today. There wasn't shit online, still am hunting for more, it's going to drive me nuts to not find anything to post or apply for today.

It is one of those days when I feel like I am doomed on the job front, but I have to keep pressing forward and not dwell on shit like that.

Today, if I don't find shit online, I am going to at least get stuf done round the house, laundry, unclog the drains, feed tat poor turtle that hasn't eaten in a, long, long time.

Windows Vista

They have spent a damn long time being overenthusiastic about Longhorn, now Microsoft better come through with a good RTM that isn't a plagued with as many problems as Whitsler had. Could we please get our moneys worth before SP2 comes out please!

It is too bad the couldn't get over the issues of compatability with WINFS, but hey, ya can't win em all.

Monday

Chloe and I at Potter Park Zoo a couple of weeks ago


It is really a wierd feeling to be able to put off mowing the yard all weekend, and then be able to do it on a Monday morning. I'd much rather be pressed to do it on a Friday evening instead. Oh well...

Lots of postings on the sites that don't typically turn up anything good. Careerbuilder and Michigan Works were the big surprises of the day. Got the apps out in under 1 hour of hunting. That is encouraging

Got to get back in front of that practice testing program today, really need to get test 1 out of the way for MCSA. This delaying that I keep doing to myself needs to stop. Being test-phobic must be able to be cured by pure necessity for job field validation....?

Had to get Chloe all ready for daycare myself today because my wife didn't feel like waking up on time. When she did wake up, which couldn't of been more that 10 minutes after I left for daycare, she had the audacity to tell me she deserved it, because I slept in yesterday. What she forgets conveniently, is that after I woke up, I watched Chloe all afternoon, and into part of the evening so she could do her homework without being bothered. Guess that went unapprecitated...

I am trying to make a pact with Wifey, when it is the "bad week" of the month, I get to gawk and talk shit about hot women on television without being badgered about it. She is mean enough that week, I should at least get that lattitude. Wouldn't it seem fair?

Gotta go mow the yard soon, its only getting hotter out there, one more call to the recruiters this afternoon, and home projects the rest of the day.

Friday

Tracy and I have got to get out and do something this weekend. Chris and Traci copped out on us for going up north, and if we don't go do something, I think we are going to beat each other senseless. We're a bit stir crazy around here.

I should go out and do some yard work, but the guilt from not having shit to apply for today has me up at this damned computer still.

They may say in Michigan that the unemployment is down, but my field looks like crap so far.

I keep trying to reinforce everything I have experience in, but they all have about the same response, or lack thereof really.

One of the recruiters said he had something up his sleeve earlier this week, haven't heard from him since.... Called all the recruiters today, not much good, 2 got voice mail, the third gave a doom-and-gloom story about Michigan, and how the other states are just booming. Really starting to dislike Michigan.

Going to finish the planter boxes for the front porch, hopefully this weekend. Drew them up, now all I have to do is get the sawws to cut all the plywood, and pine gussets.

Tracy's has really been giving me shit the past few days, and without any guilt I will admit, I have been giving it back. She has been very pushy, and rather bitchy when the right time hits.

She wanted to run by me the thought of going back to school and getting her elementary certification for teaching, and I had to say, that without knowing how long it would take, and how much it would cost, my initial thought is now, we have NO return on her last accomplishment, the 5-12 grade cert. Thats going to be a big bone of contention in the next months to come, especially after the job thing is straightened out.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend, I am going to get rid of this hillbilly farmer tan I got, its, almost gone luckily.

Enough of this damned computer sharing

Borrowed the laptop from the FOP, connected it to the wireless router, sick of Tracy interrupting the job hunting. Gonna keep her working from the kitchen table so I can get something constructive done at the desk...

Really wonder what the guy across the street from me does for a living, he sure is home a lot. 1570 Witherspoon, wonder if he does computer related stuff like Jason and I?

Oh well, could be a good neighbor and just ask, but I feel bad, he is the first one I met in the neighborhood by backing into one of his friends cars... ooops..

Went out with my buddy Chuck last night, hung out at The Nuthouse for a while, then over to the Exchange for a quality cigar. Damn it felt good to not just be Chloe's Dad for once this month...

Comcast comes over to check the Internet Connection

...this morning, they always seems to want to blame your equipment before they concede that it is theirs that is causing the problem. After showing him that all connections are fine till I get to their router, showing him this....

Pinging 24.11.168.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=254
Request timed out.
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Request timed out.
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=254
Request timed out.
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=254
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 24.11.168.1: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=254
Ping statistics for 24.11.168.1:
Packets: Sent = 20, Received = 9, Lost = 11 (55% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 9ms, Maximum = 13ms, Average = 10ms

...He caved after that, admitted that once they tried to boost peoples speed up in our area from 4Mb/sec to 6 Mb/sec, they have been getting these reports. Now I have to wait for a week for their techs to figure it out, can you say "CREDIT PLEASE!"

Spent a quiet weekend at home for the most-part...

Great weather, the family all copped out of going up north, irritating, but hey, I was out-voted, whatcha gonna do...

This morning, after getting all the postings from the weekend caught up, and make any calls if needed, time to call Robert Half. They actually came up with 2 opportunites last week, the first was only a 3 days worth of work, and if there was nothing behind if for opportunities, hey, I am not going to void out my unemployment, so had to pass on it. The second is in the air today, involving a bank, running their desktop support at their Okemos Branch. Never quite imagined myself running a Help Desk, but for the money they are offering, it is quite tempting. I have to keep the balance these days of what I want to do, and what I need to do to keep things going.

Got 2 proposals out for side work currently, one is working the adding Labor into As-Tech's GL. That would be a really nice change of pace, waiting to hear back from Steve this week to see... The other is setting up broadband access at the FOP. rather simple process, nothing outta the ordinary, but it will give me a chance to see how a frac T line works anyways. Gotta quote the equipment, and the time to route it throught a firewall and server. That will be a nice check too. Should keep me for another month if it al comes through. And If I land the As-Tech, work, there's gonna be a lotta late nights betting on the wheel at Greektown Casino. Father Parent, I'll be seeing ya soon!

Gotta mow the yard today, and kill some more spiders around this foundation. Good God, they are everywhere...

One rant about Radical Muslim Clerics

So, when do you think some of these good fellow Muslims are going to oust the radical Muslim Clerics out of the terrorist breeding mosques they run that infect their religion, and give it a bad rap?

Okay, that was enough ranting for one afternnon, back to getting a tan now.... the calls have been made, time to relax...

Chloe last weekend

Chloe's first time in the pool, up north.

She was rather freaked out by it at first, then she felt much better about it in a few minutes, and even did a little kicking in the water all by herself.

Would have took her up north again this weekend, but all the Krug's are freaked out by the heat, oh, like its going to kill anybody. Didn't most of us live without air conditioners not more than a few decades ago...

So what is new this week?

Not a whole hell of a lot, trying to balance the fear of lack of work, with the joy of Summer, and making the best of it. I really love the temps we have had up here in the past few weeks. I wait all year for this! Lately I have enjoyed the relaxation of sitting on the front porch after Chloe's asleep, and reading my nerd magazines, and just take a breath. enjoy the days while its still here.

Went over to Royal Scot Wednesday, and somehow managed to have a few beers, and not get killed by the wife, who I have to admit was probably more comfortable mostly because she was there to 'supervise me', but hey, a beers a beer. And its a big stride for her trust in me.

The job postings have been quiet earlier this week, but they are picking up now. It is eerie when its quiet on the psotings, when you get this bad feeling deep down, wondering if the job market has folded up on itself while you weren't paying attention. Then a day comes along like yesterday, when you get 2 calls from 3 emails, and you become reassured that all is well, the world as I know it hasn't ended.....

Poor Chloe has taken enough bumps to the head this week to fill a 1 month quota. Poor girls lack of balance and stubborn will to stand is going to be her inner struggle for a while.

Zoo Days

That's the dispute of the day for Tracy and I. The first thing that caused us trouble today was that I didn't get in front of the computer until now to dig up job stuff. I have told her repeatedly that I want to do this from at least 8am, till 1 pm, that includes everything from searching online, to making calls and emails, everything. The afternoon is wide open.

Tracy's problem with me is that she needs the computer for some time each week too, so that she can do her homework for class, and she can't use it while I am on the 'puter.

This morning, I was going to do the computer stuff in the morning, but instead, all I get is a ton of requests to take care of Chloe downstairs, where I can't get anything done job-wise.

When I finally get the time to work on the computer today, she then tries to plan over another chunk of the afternoon, by asking if we can take Chloe to Zoo Days. I said that she could go do it without me, but she just won't unless I go too, for some dependent reasoning. I really want to go, and I want the whole family to do it together too, but the guilt of not doing the job stuff everyday will be worse. I told her that I need the afternoon to finish the job stuff, now that the morning has been wasted. She got very bitter and started to make me feel guilty. I tried to put into my perspective for her, pointing out that she would rather go to Zoo Days then me find a job. I asked her "why she would make me feel guilty about trying to find a job?" I think it is because she isn't getting her way, and like everyone in her family, they have have to assign the punishment on others when they don't get their way. Quite unfair if you ask me.

Her response to making me feel guilty was to let me know that "we will do our things in shifts, and never spend any time together because that obviously what I want."

Naturally with a statement like that, all that I get now is sneers, and no discussions from the wifey. That's problem resolution for ya.

It's always lose-lose... Women are never wrong...

Todays agenda

Posted what I could today before Tracy needed to use the computer. Still needed about 2 more hours to get it all caught up from 5 days of postings....

What to do now...
Wash/Vacuum the Spyder
Wash/Vacuum the CRV
Get a tan, water the yard

Enjoy Summer a little.

A long overdue laid back week

Just got back from being up north yesterday. Was a refreshing departure from the day-to-day monotony of reading search agent, apply for anything that sounds like I could do it, and entering data into charts so I won't be the guy that emails them 20 times in a row for the same job... That sure is getting old, but it is a necessity. Gotta do what ya gotta do.

The long weekend up north was nice, not too much to do, and not too many people telling me what I need to do. Good change of pace, and it cleared my mind at least a little.

As-Tech is still having issues with the Internet. It is puzzling when all these little thing keep popping up over there. Microsoft has gotta have Gremlins on the payroll...

I heard when I woke up near 8 am this morning that at least 4 bombs went off in London in the transit system. The initial group who is laying claim to it seems to be a group nobody has heard of. Man, when something like that goes under the radar, it makes ya wonder what kind of intelligence our Governments are working from....

Things you will always remember after having a baby...

1) 2 oz water, 1 scoop of formula
2) When they tumble and look at you for your expression, try to laugh first to avoid the 5 minute unnecessary tantrum
3) Crying that stops in 1 minute is not real crying
4) Girls outfits that have the skirt only on the front side are to be worn in that direction only, capes aren't cool
5) 6am is the new 10am
6) C-Cell batteries are your new best friends
7) Leapfrog don't involve jumping over people anymore
8) Yes, a stroller can be collapsed with only 1 thumb and a turn of a wrist
9) What LATCH is
10) Never take 1 of anything when you travel
11) When you have the baby, you better have the diaper bag
12) No, the doctors office does not have a diaper for you
13) The one thing on the counter that you don't want touched will inevitably end up on the floor in 1000 pieces, when you turn away for more than 2 seconds

I'll think of more later...

What's some of the biggest pet peeves....

...that you have about your spouse....? Its an open forum on this one, I am curious to hear what everyone comes up with.

I'll start with one....
When my wife bothers me to get stuff done, and then goes and takes a 2 hour power nap...
When I am in the middle of starting a task, and I am reminded to do that exact task, already in progress...

What you all got.....?

War Of The Worlds

Went and caught it yesterday, fantastic. A definite must see for the big screen.

When you do see it, you'll know what I mean when Tom Cruise gets sucked into the machine, you'll say "It's gotta turtle head poking out!", you'll laugh your ass off and think of me now!

Oh yeah, I never did say before, I got the trees planted, they look great, and I am working my ass off on getting the yard looking beautiful. I can only stay inside so much every day, beating this dead horse of a job hunt, before I need to do something else to keeep my mind out of the ruts....

New project on the horizon

Getting the chance to set up labor tracking in quickbooks for As-Tech Industries possibly. Could be a good solid couple of weeks work. Steve has been really good to me since the whole departure. I have a newfound sense of appreciation for him.

Ran across a way to promote yourself as a business through techrepublic.com. Had me thinking about posting my services out there for greater Michigan, and see what turns up, and it appears to be free as far as I can tell too...

Slow week for jobs

Next week will be as well.

Met with one of the recruiters last week just to cut the shit, get any new leads, and see what's new round the parts, you can definitely tell the difference between the motivated, and non-motivated recruiters. Worlds apart...

Talked to a lady recruiter from Detroit area today. Could hardly decipher what she was saying through all that thick middle-eastern accent. But I bet she looks absolutely delicious! I'm asking for a staff photo next time, tell her its for my files......

Yeah, I'm a pig, but I am good at it...

It's, Uh, Friday.....

I can't believe, it, all the days are a blur to me at times...

Chloe started to crawl forward last night officially. She does it for only 2 things, to come to me, and to get the remote controls for the A/V system. That's my 'lil girl alright!

Meet with one of the recruiters today. Don't expect much of a great revelation however, maybe I'll take him out for a beer...

PHP is supposed to decide today who they want to come in and interview in person. I did a phone interview with them earlier in the week.

Got an offer to apply at General Dynamics. Great place to work, and they don't need the intense background check that Northrup Grumman does. The only problem was that the job was in Sterling Heights. Great pay, in fact it paid for the drive there and back easily, but it came down to whether or not I really wanted to drive 4 hours a day, waking up at 5 am, getting home at 7. Had to pass, reluctantly...

Wifey's driving me crazy today

Yeah, I knew it would hit sometime, she is off to the store with Chloe right now, but in this time of peace I wanted to say one thing, she needs to give me some consistent time to deal with posting job apps, and reading the search agents that come in every day. I was interrupted over 6 times in a very short time span to tend to Chloe, because she simply wouldn't do something on her own. This independence I was hoping she'd have through this experience is lacking. I did everything she asked, and even a bit more, now she needs to quit interrupting me while daddy finds a jobby-job....

Slow week in the posts, but I keep pushing on....
Invoices went out this week, that will keep me ahead for 1-2 more weeks.
It is getting close to July, and it is really starting to worry me, but I have to stay focused on the task of landing the job.

Somebody [Kazi] tell Chito to call my ass, I miss that beautiful piece of shit!

So you're sitting now, all of sudden.....

..is what I asked myself this weekend, when Chloe mysteriously outta nowhere, decided she could sit up. Very cool, and it made her much happier too! Chloe is now recovering from a dual ear infection that we didn't even know she had, until we took her in for a regular checkup. She is handling it like champ considering how irritating it must be.

Unemployment kicked in this week, thank God. I was getting worried the accounts were heading downward.... Gotta get more invoices out, Big Poppa needs the bling......

First the tub, next, I'll have a new buddy to take to the beach!

If I try my Jedi mind tricks on daddy, perhaps I can have that pizza he's eating instead of peaches!

Those boppy's are good for Mom's, and Dad's!

I'm kinda worried about next week

Tracy will be off for Summer break. I got this funny feeling now that she will have all this spare time on here hands, that she is going to start bothering me all day to do stuff when honestly, I really do kill almost the entire morning on the computer trying to find new job leads. I can already feel the tome of discontentment from her because I won't have the time to do the stuff she thinks I need to be doing.

So a recruiter calls back...

I sent them about 4 apps in the past hour. It was really nice to hear such fast response time, unfortunately it wasn't anything good.

One of her coworkers, has been working on stuff with me too. He identified the issue of why I shouldn't waste my time applying for jobs posted when there is any type of security clearance required. They have intial interviews, of which I have gone through about 4 of them for this security clearance. 2 red flags come up every time I get into these interviews. (1) do I have any traffic, civil, or criminal fines exceeding $150? What traffic ticket doesn't cost $150 these days? And for me, hell yes I do, more than one Ill add. But that's my, uh, own fault noone to blame but me.The other (2) have you ever been fired from a job? Thanks to Dale, yes. If the ask the unemployment commision they will see me classified right now as "Fired-Other" But even after telling these recruiters that I will still get unemployment (Or maybe I like to believe I will, will know for certain next week...), they seem to think it will be a no. And they keep saying stuff like, "you should really try to get that changed." How in the hell do you change something like that after the fact?

So the moral to this story is, security clearance will not be an option for me if I need a job in the next month, and don't have 6-9 months, and lots of money to get the clearance. The truth is, I could get it, but it will take way too long for me this year.

And this lady calls back and says "you're really qualified", and "its just these 1% of the jobs posted that need cleearance", and my favorite "sorry to have to tell you..."

I think I can tell from vibes on Caller ID that I have a rejection discussion coming up....

Lost another one again...

I don't even make the shocked face anymore when I get the call, and they let me know they turned me down. Yesterday, after a 1 day overdue phone call, I get yet another one of these. It is very painful to have theses feelings that you just don't make the cut, but it is the nature of the beast I suppose. This time I lost to a guy in the same recruiting company, but he has a MCSE certification, and the only reason that they gave as to why he was the better choice was strictly becasue of that certification. Even if I had my MCSA, it still wouldn't of been as good as his cert was. Oh well... gotta tell myself screw it, and move on. Have to admit, I am doing the math,and I only have about 3 weeks theoretically before the money I saved up to cover me in this dilemma will be used up. Getting pretty worried about it. But, nevertheless, worrying won't land me a job, hard work and persitence will, so I have to minimize the "wah-wah's"

Saw on the news today...

Some Pharmacist dude is not giving out birth control because of his beliefs. Now wait a minute, what you don't belive in doing your job, you worthless piece of crap pharmacist! Could you do us all a favor and find a little something more worthwhile to stand for.

Also couldn't help but notice that the State Of Michigan wants to take control of the teachers health plan, and consolidate it into theirs to save the government money. Yeah great, that's going to be a thoughtless move on the governments behalf. And it sure wont help our costs I bet, or copays. They are going to use teachers, not that they aren't getting abused enough already, to save them a few bucks in their budget. What a bunch of bullshit.

Okay, I feel all political now, better go....

Now that it has finally rained...

That dirt better have softened up, I have been wasting well over 2 weeks to plant 2 very small trees, in one really empty yard. Started to dig the first hole in the yard a week ago, how typical...

Nice black topsoil for the first 4 inches. I hit the wall at the 4th inch, pure rock hard clay. After wishing I had a pickaxe, I then hit a 2-foot diameter sphere-shaped piece of concrete, after that, I hit a 2 x 4. Good God, what else I am I gonna find in this yard.... As for that second tree, its still in it pot, luckily not dead yet. Better get it over with soon and dig that second hole. Hey maybe after diggin up all that other shit, maybe I'll do better on the second hole and find a cash box with even one payroll-like reward in it. Ah, to dream!......

Thunderstorms woke me up this morning

Wow, it is nice to see the thuderstorms back, this is way better than snow! Yesterday 91 degrees, going to be the same today. I love this stuff.

Went to an interview at a Tier 1 Automotive Manufacturer yesterday for a 2 hour interview. I am reluctant to make a conclusion how it went like I did with Alro. Getting rather superstitious about the whole thing these days, think it will jinx me if I talk all hyped up about it. Overall it went well, I seemed like a good fit, but hey, its up to them to make that conclusion. They are a company that assembles the engines and transmissions for the Cadillac CTS, and I would be working as the only LAN Admin at the location. They have over 40 locations on 4 continents, so if a larger infrastructre was what I wanted to get familiar with, this would be the one! Makes me a little nervous to hear that I am the only admin at the place, but it maks sense considering that they went through a Chapter 11 about 6 months ago. I think it would be rather amuzing to see me get ousted from what appears to be restructuiring, and get in at a company just after restructuring. More details to come on that job this afternoon, they are making their decision today.

Doing the math, and getting this job thing closed up soon is of the utmost importance. I had built up a nest egg to live off of, and pending new IT work coming down the pipe, I've got 1 month to close the deal, or were gonna be takin in water on this boat....

SS Bottom Plate

Wow, siting here at As-Tech Industries, I can't believe that Pro-Tec got 30+ pieces of bottom plate blanks, all plasma cut from a burn table at Contractors Steel. That had to cost a fortune, I hope they cut some sort of deal with Jim over there....

Trying to get my shit together

So, now that Alro is no longer the most viable option, I find myself regrouping in a sort of way this morning, gathering anything that looks remotely like a lead, and getting apps filled out. It feels strange when you are back at what feels like no possbilities. Time to make more possbilities for myself, and get this job thing covered.

Last week, Chloe turned out to have a ear infection when we took her in to the doctor. Guess the visit was worth it for once. She is a much happeir girl now. She slept all night till 5:45 this am. Felt nice to wake up like normal people.

Its a no from Alro...

Rather disappointing news this morning, I found out late yesterday via email that Alro considered me not a fit for the purchasing group right now. Wow, that really made my heart sink...

Gotta keep the chin up and keep moving forward. Gotta hit those recruiters harder than I ever have before, maybe bothering them 2-3 times a week. This Alro thing made me a bit lax in the past week or more. Gotta get the focus back and press on. Today I feel a bit disillusioned with the progress.

Heard more of Brenda's ranting about me again. Really don't appreciate hearing it, and if a purchasing job comes up and I get it, she will be getting a call from me. But I guess the more she rants about me, the better I was at my job then she was, the one that has to defend herself more has more that she needs to prove obviously. Too bad she hasn't proved herself at GME for the past 4 years she's been there, if she needs to critique me. Too bad for her...

Went to our neighbors baby shower last weekend, when they offer you a drink made from plumbs, and its clear, and they keep it in a bottle covered with Saran wrap and a lid, you know its gonna be good shit.... Wow, it warmed up the back of the throat, been a long time since I felt that! I liked it! I gotta compare recipes with them some day...

Good god, what a long night

Chloe was doing just fine yesterday when I rode her around in the stroller at 5pm. It was all going fine, then, she got home. Within an hour she began just crying her ass off. You put yourself through the rounds doing the usual when this happens, check the diaper, feed her, check the temp, stuff like that. None of the usuals were the case. She was still crying.

It is hour 2 of the crying session. Only picking her up and walking her around is working at this point to settle her down. This is the start of the Krug families process (Including Tracy) of determining that is is a problem that needs to be fixed. The first approach they always have is to take her to a doctor, because it must be something medical. This phase drives me nuts not for the rationale, but for the fact that it is something a doctor needs to check out every single time she farts the wrong way. They are very protective of her, and I love that, but obviously, it comes at an overcautious cost.

We are now on to hour 4 of the session, Lisa (Tracy's sister) has already walked into the house and fled as fast as she walked in when she found Chloe crying incessantly. That makes me angry when she does that. She has her moments when she really is a bad Aunt. Chloe is at her time of the day when she really need to settle down an sleep for the night. She isn't backing down from this crying session yet, walking her around isn't working not. With no tools left in our working knowledge, we have run outta things to do but give her the nightly bath and hope that the routine triggers her mode of going to sleep.

The bath didn't work. We are now on to hour 7 of the nightmare. It is the phase when all you can do is hold her and try to comfort her. It isn't working, and after hours of this, it gets really frustrating. You remind yourself every minute that it isn't Chloe's fault, this is the only way she can tell you that something's wrong. Tracy's take on it is exactly this after being 2 hours late for bed at this point. My take on it is different, what if it is Chloe's way of telling us that she wants to be carried around and cuddled all night because she doesn't want to sleep yet? I don't think either of us have the answers to this at this juncture... Tracy is holding her on the futon trying to get her to sleep. She begins to complain that she needs sleep to work at school tomorrow (Which is really today already...), I encourage her to go to bed, and I start to prepare the pillow bundle on the futon so I can make a haphazard bed arrangement for myself. Discussions of taking her in to the doctor first thing in the am are the new discussion. I find myself asking the same question as always, are we wasting our time being ultra paranoid taking here to the doctor yet again? This would be the possibly 5th false alarm if we are wrong once again. The broad coverage statement is always the same, you can't go wrong taking her in, but don't plan on doing anything else but sitting in an ER for 8 hours. I fucking hate that ER....

Hour 9, after a few hours on the futon, my arm is numb, from Chloe's head on it. She is out cold, but every time I shuffle even the slightest, it shows me that she is not that deeply asleep, she moans, cries for a minute, then falls back asleep. I realize now that I am furious at Tracy for forcing me to deal with this situation all night. She is a few feet away snoring, and I want to whack her on the head with the hardest thing in reach, which is a pillow, oh well, what's the point of that, where will that get me... I set her down, I need to go to the bathroom. Within one minute she has completely come unglued once again, forcing me to go through the usual routine once again, food, diaper. The usuals. She seems to have calmed down, I place her back into her crib, making the decision that this futon idea is complete bullshit and we are wasting our time. She falls back asleep, grumbling and a scattered sob every 10-15 minutes.

Hour 12, realizing that she has slept consistently for over 3 hours made me come to the revelation that there possibly may be a God, and I shouldn't of said so many things to him (or her) last night in anger. Working on 3 hours of sleep feels rejuvenating, considering in retrospect how the prior hours went. She wakes up, and it seems more typical, she just hungry and wet, she doesn't appear to have an axe to grind after all.

Hours 12-15, Chloe has once again taken consistent naps, one of lasting over an hour and a half. Needing to look at jobs online, and get computers ordered for the FOP, I decide to take her to daycare, 3 hours later than usual so I can get my stuff done, and then pick her up ASAP. The inevitable doctor appointment is set for 4:50 today. The doc is going to tell us as usual, that she just had a fussy night, and we need to cope with it. But Tracy will not accept that from anyone else but a doctor, and when he says it, she still won't agree. Lose-lose...

Tomorrows doctor appointment will be to do an ultrasound on Chloe, after she has been spitting up bottles, sometimes 1-2 ounces or so about once a day. Tracy made it sound a bit more violent that the situation really was when she spits up, so that's where the doctor sends us. I hope it is nothing out of the norm. But I can't help but worry The situation is probably bent way out of proportion, but we have to cover the bases...

I am going to bed now, good night...

Oh yeah, and one last thing about that prick Dale.

Thanks for NOT sending any information back about getting all 3 weeks of vacation pay back at once. I asked him to do it, and of course, in his usual negligent employer style he loves so much, he wrote a note, and stuck it someplace where he can throw it out later without ever looking at it twice. Got a one week check this week, not 3 that he owes me and am entitled to up front. Dale is only doing this for one reason, he likes to keep the money longer to make more interest on it for 2 weeks. You prick. But hey, what am I gonna do, send a lawyer after him, for 2 weeks of time. Yeah, he has got me there. Don't ever expect a courteous conversation from me ever again Dale. The "cooperative" phase of transition is over. Don't cross me again, I am the loose cannon you thought I was when it comes to you.

End of the week

Its finally over. Besides the visit to Alro, wasn't a very productive week for employment opportunities. Gotta get more aggressive next week and start pushing more on these people, mostly the recruiters.

Tracy has been battling this depression trip shes been on since the baby. She really hasn't been making progress on getting past the little things that she believes are problems. And when all the work has been done to put her at ease from the things that have been annoying her, she concocts a new set right behind it. Feels like bailing out Lake Michigan with a bucket. Once the school year is over, she will feel better. In the meantime, all I can do is be supportive, and put her ass to bed early, you can only hear her say 'I'm grumpy because I am tired" only so many times before you have to say back "Well, maybe you shouldn't stay up so late, so go to f-ing bed."

Dual Disc CD's

Ya know, it has become quite commonplace in the CD market as I have noticed lately to offer the "Dual-Disc CD", instead of the old standard overpriced CD's they used to offer. Much like the conventional CD, they offer 2 sides that have DVD, and 5.1 capability on the flip-side. I have bought my first 2 this week, Ben Folds, and the new Nine Inch Nails. By a landslde in comparison, the only people who are going to really take advantage of this dual disc 5.1 format is the types such as Trent Reznor, how have the spare time to waste 2 years tweaking their MIDI files on a stack of servers in their studios. the only other types are going to be the ones who hire on more sound engineers when they record to capture all the acoustics needed to make the sound complete. The question would remain, is the 5.1 digital sound worth it. Being a self-proclaimed audiophile, I would say yes. People like Trent are doing the right thing in my opinion. They are psushing the technical envelope on what is a dying industry thanks to file-swapping pirates out there (Darn those pirates... :-) It is a good move on the music industries behalf to make this a more commonplace product. This is a much bettter medium to hear music. I wonder how many pirates out there are working on getting their AC3 codecs ready for the new file format revolution! I know of at least one....

Yet another job lead today

From what really was a quiet week last week, now really seems to be ramping up. New referral to Northrup-Grumman, security clearance required, but in process again, would pay considerably well, with normal working hours. The are going to call back tomorrow of Friday to do a phone interview.

It is funny how the government works. To get the first level of security clearance , they basically need to verify that 1) you are not a Terrorist, or anything like it, and 2) Cannot be persuaded by outside interests that may compromise your position. Basically I get the impression that as a civilian, you are considered a threat until you can be verified that you are not. Usually, that would be unsettling to me, but its the government, and I am glad they are being that cautious with everyone.

I never thought I'd be on the phone with 2 diferent recruiters discussing 2 different positions, and have Alro Steel in the works as well, To tell a recruiter last month that I need to hear out Alro Steel first would have seemed unlikely to me. But hey, I really should hear them all out first...

In good spirits!

Chloe on the way home from her great uncle Louie's party last weekend. Will she never sleep!

Me, Me, Me, Its All About ME!

Finally figured out how to post a picture with Picassa... Next pics wil be Chloe...

Started a 5th grade looking web site

I had to take 5 mintues out of my morning (More if I wanted to, all my email is down at Comcast, so my job search agents are missing...) and start my web page, or at least get the file structure set up. it is at The Vinman

The morning is going slow, coffee tastes mighty good today, temps this morning started out at 28 degrees, nearly a record low for this miserable state. Summer better come faster than this.

Starting to think more about how to handle Summer when this job thing gets cleared up. I think if I can get the job thing cleared up before the and of May, I am going to do my damndest to get that honeymoon in that Tracy and I never got. Take a week, ship Chloe off to the inlaws (If they are willing, Tracy, lean on em!) and hit the closest warm island to the equator I can find. I am desperate for a day of sitting on the beach, with a cool drink in hand, lounging in a some sort of big reclined beach chair, clearing my mind of all the stuff that burrdens me from day-to-day, just for a few hours at least. I saw for the first time ever, Tracy is at the point where she forgets what she is doing, and sometimes spends 5-6 rounds doing the same thing over again, further proving to me that we now both need a break from it all more than ever. We love ya Chloe, but mommy and daddy need a time out soon, for more than just 2 hours...

In case anyone was wondering, I have already made it abundantly clear to Tracy, and she agrees, that when I get the job thing settled, we are going out on the most beligerent bing drinking spree that we can coonjure up! Hopefully thats sooner than later.

I hope this message doesn't seem arrogant, especially considering that I DON'T HAVE A JOB RIGHT NOW, but I want to keeps the sights on the better prizes, not to deal any more than I have to on the worst case scenarios. I have had enough worst case scenarios this month to deal with, dealing with unemployment was the most humbling experience I have had in a few months to say the least.