Today I was busy doing documentation for Bob. he needed to be prepared for a meeting and needed my operations overview updated so he can get a handle on our systems. It took some doing but I got it down. I also had to deal with finding a suitable replacement to our IBM Thinkpad laptops. My team finally said we don’t want to deal with Thinkpads anymore. Too many issues to list here, but we ended up with a similar configured HP unit. The first user gets it tomorrow since his thinkpad is toasted.
Month: January 2006
Not Quite Black Projects
I was busy yesterday and today. I just don’t think I can write about it here. All good things, but busy things.
On a topic I can discuss I started reading bits from O’Reilly’s RT Essentials. I already have some big changes I want to make to how we use Request Tracker. I have always been a huge fan of using this system. Reading what little I have of the book has got me thinking of enhancements we can make to our ticketing system. I like the fact that the changes I want to make will allow for better metrics of what we do, and help us isolate recurring issues. Now all I have to do is get everyone else like the tool and not just use it!
Technorati Tags: sysadmin, request tracker
Crackberry
I finally got my replacement Blackberry yesterday. My old one was fried. It did a ton of quirky things. I finally had enough when it wouldn’t connect to any computer and I lost all my contacts out of it. This new one seems ok. I have all my contacts synced up and I can see caller ID now. I can get back to using it again. I was starting to go through withdrawal from not having it. That was interesting since there where weeks I didn’t use it or didn’t want to use it because I could use my Treo for allot of the same functions. But I always end up back with the crackberry since it really is the best thing for real time mobile email.
Technorati Tags: Blackberry, wireless email, Treo
Monday
Meetings and catching up with tasks took up the bulk of my day today. Dealt with some technical issues that I really shouldn’t have needed to also. That got me a bit ticked, but in the end everything worked out.
Shopping
I took the bus (yeah I know) to Jayson’s and we headed over to the Queens mall. I do get out to the other boroughs sometimes. I needed shoes and to do some general shopping. I found a nice pair of rockports that should hopefully not hurt as much as my Doc’s have been recently. I got some new docker paints and some other crap. After the mall we dropped our stuff off at our respective apartments and then went to Compusa where we looked for what stuff they had cheap! I ended up with a Lacie 250gig USB drive. I needed extra space and the price was right.
Most of the day was spent running around, but I did get to kick back and relax a bit in the evening. that is how I prepare for the new work week!
Electrical Work
Today was busy with electrical work upgrades in our Computer room. We needed to add several circuits to support filling up the remaining rack space we have. Now that the holidays are over we were able to get the work done. Next week will have a flurry of activity to clean up the room and mount and power the gear that has been waiting for a home.
Old Work Friends
Cari and I meet up with some old work friends that were having a mini reunion at a bar around the corner from my current office. it was good seeing some people. Others I didn’t remember. It is weird to look someone right in the face and not know who they are, but have them know you. I admit I am always bad with names and faces, but there was some awkward moments.
Got to see Dave (for a little bit), Jeff, & Nick. Lefty & John where unavailable but I need to go over and meet up with them sometime soon. Jayson and Danny meet up with me at the bar and we headed out for some dinner before I headed home to drink lots of water to prevent a hang over!
Scan My Life
A few Saturday’s ago I took a stack of bills and other important papers to work and ran them through the high speed scanner we have. We have a page feed scanner that can scan duplex copies of pages right into PDF. It is great. I got about a years worth of backlogged papers scanned into the computer. Now I have to shred all the originals since I don’t need them anymore. I am one of those people who is trying to digitize everything.
I am not there yet, but every year I get closer. I am slowly getting to a point where all bills are sent electronically so I don’t need to deal with scanning paper into the computer. I am close. Most statements are available to me both as print or online, but some still are paper only. My electric bill’s online system sucked so bad that I actually switched back to good old paper. I never thought I would do it, but Coned made it so hard to make a change to your account I found it easier to just change back to paper and give up the online option for them.
Day Trip
Today was a day trip to our other office. Had to meet some contractors and sit through an all day meeting. Man that was fun. Actually we learned allot but I have trouble sitting all day in a meeting. We ate, and had breaks but it does take something extra to do it.
I am glad I took the train up. Dan wanted to be there for 9AM so he left in a rental car really early. Funny thing was as I was getting out of the cab from the train station, he was pulling up in the rental car. Traffic sucks. I am glad I didn’t go with him since I would have needed to get up hours earlier to make it there for the same time as the train!
Jayson was up there doing some work in a computer room, so I rode back with him and nelson on the train. They had the sleeper seat business class so I upgraded. I had a nice little nap.
Jayson and I ended up at Outback for some dinner afterward. We were going to meet up with John, but he was not feeling so well and went home early. Instead we actually meet up with Gus. We both didn’t think he would show, but he did. It was good catching up.
It was all around day. Productive work day, and I got to get out for a bit afterward.