Month: June 2006

Cisco Networkers 2006

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It is weird, for months you are preparing yourself (mentally if not physically) for some event. And then it is over and it is like OK what now? I am back from Las Vegas. I had a great time, and I learned allot at Networkers. And now it is like what’s next? I know that answer but it is just a bit different with this big event over with.

In the short term I have to focus on my office move, and a few other issues. The next few weeks will probably be a bit hectic while we transition into the new place.

As for what I took away from Networkers, I learned allot. I got insight on what’s next for IPCC (UCC I guess now). Upgrade options for Call Manager, and a ton of great disaster recovery and disaster resiliency ideas. I have to start laying the ground work for going to California for Networkers 2007!

Dinner After Dinner

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Last night we went to Spago at Caesars. The food was good, but it wasn’t enough for any of us. First there was no “normal” food. Now I understand it is supposed to be upscale, but you should have one normal dish that I can identify by reading its description on it. The portions where really small also. I ended up back at the Pizza Hut at my hotel about a hour after we ate to get a mini pie since I was still so hungry. Everyone else had show tickets so I walked around the shops at Caesars for a while before heading back to the hotel on the monorail.

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Really Good Steak

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Last night Joe, Karen and I went to a steakhouse in Ceasers called Nero or I think that is what it was called. Man do they make great steak. My friends had a nice bottle of wine (i don’t drink wine) and we enjoyed a really nice steak. I honestly can’t remember what else I did yesterday except have that awesome steak.

On the business front, the convention is very informative so far. I am finding tons of useful stuff out.

Bite

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Last night we went to the show Bite at the Stratosphere. Joe did nothing but talk about this show for months before we came to Vegas. He was all into the fact that there was topless dancing, but in a tasteful way. So we all decided to give the show a try. It was interesting. It was a vampire theme thing, and there was allot of topless dancing and biting. The songs they danced to where really good and the dancers where great so the show overall turned out to be really good.

The only down side was the really long walk from the monorail station to the Stratosphere. We ended up taking a cab back to the hotel after the show because we didn’t want to walk that trip again at 1AM.

I was just glad that I made the show at all. I got a migraine from sitting in the sun all day, and ended up skipping the buffet dinner everyone else went to. I took a Butabital and went back to the hotel room to rest for a while before the show. Thankfully the medication kicked in and I was fine for the show.

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Sunday Resting

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The convention doesn’t really start until tomorrow, so today is resting. We headed over to Joe’s hotel (Flamingo Grand Vacation something or other) to hang in his pool. We relaxed and hung out. I got really hot and tried to nap in the nice shade area with the misting system. Man those things rock. Not much went on today besides lying at the pool. It is nice to relax before the hectic week of juggling conferences and staying on top of work at the office begins.

Jayson and Gretchen also moved into their own room for most of the remaining week. We share a room again on Friday when the convention is over for one more night! At least I don’t have to wait for the bathroom for a few more days!

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Busy Week

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I had a busy week at work. We meet some major milestones this week, but it was a long week. We finally had our voice and data circuits installed in the new office. The LEC solved all the riser cable issues last week. They then completed the install’s of the smart jacks Monday. Tuesday we got internet up, and then the big event was getting our voice circuits up and running on Thursday. It was close for a while but we resoled our issues at the last minute. We had test calls done so now the next phase of the move can begin.

Construction is far allong. The electrical is in progress in the telecom room. We look like we are on target for our move date. That makes me happy, or rather more relaxed about the situation. When we get back from Networkers we need to get a person or two to focus on the move almost exclusively.

Other work going on is our domain upgrade should be near or on target to complete by the end of the month. I was worried for a while. We also have a project begining to deploy Identify’s Appsite. that program looks great. I can’t wait till we have that rolled out for use.

Vegas Baby, Again!

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I am off to one of my favorate spots right now, Las Vegas. I am on my way to Cisco Networkers. I personally can’t stand conventions but because of what I do and my personal interests Networks is not like other conventions. I had a great time last year so I am going back. This year Jayson is coming with me, and we are meeting our friend Joe there. Right now I am on my Jetblue flight out there. I like jetblue. They have yet to do something to piss me off. I have my 36 channels of TV with nothing on, so I write a bit.

We will get to Vegas and check into the hotel and then meet up with Joe and Karen for dinner. By the time we land we will be able to go straight to the hotel. I don’t know if I will gamble much, but I will try do it a little. I want to work on my tan a bit tomorrow. I am going to Vegas for work, but the reason I am heading out a bit early is to get some recreation in also!

Right now we are over Missouri and I have already set my watch to Vegas time. I am going to sit back and relax a bit.

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The Evil Empire Is Evil, But Has Good Signal

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After an issue with really poor signal at our new office while setting up some gear we have decided to ditch our Nextell’s. I like the direct connect, but having the phones work and recieving email all the time on the Blackberry’s are more important than having a cool feature. So we took the plunge and got Verizon Wireless phones. I personally don’t like the heavy handed tacktics they use to keep customers (2 year deals, and limited time frames to upgrade phones) but their service is still probibly the best in NYC. I finally ported my number from my personal T-Mobile line over and now am very happy with my new Treo 700P on the EVDO data service.

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Projects

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We officially are lease holders in our new office building. Everything was signed and executed Friday. That was interesting because technically we took occupancy of the floor on Thursday. Dan, and I walked over today to get the first keys for us.

I am still dealing with issues with the LEC regarding our phone circuits. We missed every date they gave us, but hopefully we will be ok if they make up time on the second phase of everything.

Our migration of users in our call center is progressing, but not as fast as I would have hoped. The staff up there claim that they have ironed out the issues with the new computer builds and will complete the first major milestone by Wednesday. I am not sure if I believe that assessment but I hope they do finish by then. If they do we will be in halfway decent shape to complete the project by June 30.

I worked all day with Jayson and Scott on Sunday to get ZEN up and running. We made progress but not as much as I originally thought we would. That setup is still ongoing but we still have allot of work to do on it. More updates soon.

Off To The Hospital

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I am off to the hospital to see the new nephew. I was actually able to get out of work at 3:15 to get out to my parents. I am on the LIRR now. I had to stay for an all company meeting we had. I had to speak for a few minutes so I couldn’t really miss it.

If Zack does not spit up on me I will have had a good visit. I am excited to be an uncle again, even if I don’t spend tons of time with morgan as it is. I also like the name. I was worried for a while that my sister would continue the tradition of naming kids with really bad names. She didn’t and got another good name to go with Morgan!

I need to continue my own tradition of buying a bottle of something to give to Zack when he gets older. I have a bottle of Johny Walker Gold for Morgan purchased on her day of birth. I didn’t get Zack something yesterday, but I will do something today or tomorrow. I also need to get a big stuffed something for him. not sure what yet. Hopefully pictures soon! That reminds me I need to be the tech savy uncle and pick up a domain name for him as well…