While at work I took part in a abrupt conference call regarding the future of our company. It was a sobering call, but not altogether a negative one. All I know is I'm going to be busy at work for the next few months.

Attempted to work on the Exchange server at work, except it turns out there was a 300MB mailbox still sitting on the server. Work was obviously halted, until I got a confirmation from Bill that it was a test box. Work will obviously resume tomorrow now that I know better.

Yes. . . I got off lucky this time. . .

After I wrapped up my first project at work (although I'm not 100% done yet), I headed home (with a slightly used HP Laser Jet) to meet with Blandy to take delivery of Quincy XIII. . . and much to my surprise it was slightly more powerful than I thought it was going to be. Plans are currently underway to seem about adding a second processor to the mix. . . thereby introducing the first multi-processor system to the Quincy line. My, how the CCCCC network has grown over the past weeks. . .

My stay at Camelot Command was filled with computer/network reorganization for Freeport, and much to my surprise, a meeting with old friends. Antilles (to be hence forth known as Bishop) and Jordo have returned from their extended training in their prospective fields, and are currently plying their craft (or at least trying to) in the DFW area. So Saturday evening was spent with old comrades in arms, and reminiscing about absent friends (damn you Evil Twin for working a 24 hour shift the day before) at Dave & Buster's. The new strategem is for the two from the north to join us two here in central Texas. It'll be like the old days again. Damn I feel old now. . .

I will have to note, however, that I finally got to see the infamous Steel Battalion setup for the XBox. The controls are definitely impressive, the graphics are innovative, the gameplay realistic, the price tag astronomic. As much as I am a fan of mech combat simulations, I cannot wholeheartedly justify the $200 price tag when realistically I might be able to play it one hour a week, more than likely one hour a month. *sigh*. . . you know you're getting old when you don't have time to play games anymore. . .

All of this morning and most of this afternoon was spent tidying up the Freeport network, and making sure the new systems are up and running. In essence I've retired two really really really old systems (CCCCC-MKV series clones) with Quincy VII and Quincy I3801 (a I3800 clone). This upgrade was long overdue at Freeport, but due to budgeting constraints it was delayed and delayed and delayed until today. And of course even though I fine-tuned the systems before I left, they managed to break something right as I'm about to dock at Outpost Command IV. Figures. . .

Well. . . time to clean up the mess in my office before work tomorrow. I still need to find time to begin integrating the new systems into the CCCCC network. . .

CCCCC-I3800 is a decommissioned Dell Inspiron 3800 from CollTech that have seen better days, but still suffice to be a basic mobile command center. It should serve quite well for most operations save for those that require high-end hardware which CCCCC-MKVIII has.

CCCCC-MKXIII is a decommissioned Dell Precision Workstation 610 from Design Edge that also has seen better days, but still has plenty of hardware to tackle some of the higher end functions of a full-fledged server.

CCCCC-I3800 is currently being rebuilt as we speak, and we'll be taking delivery of CCCCC-MKXIII sometime later this week.

Yeah. . . I'm excited. Now I can actually have a mini-network set up to practice my MCSE exam. . .

Friday was pretty good. . . had dinner with YanYan and her mom after work, and then headed home for bed.

Woke up bright and early on Saturday for my first hiring event at CollTech. Honestly, the hiring process is orders of magnitudes different from the traditional hiring process. And to me it actually makes sense to be doing things this way. I'm not privy to say how the process works, but I can say that I wholeheartedly agree, and am willing to help in the process in the future, time permitting.

So yeah, spent all day Saturday at the hiring event, met lots of cool people, got to make fun of the CEO (good clean fun, mind you), and learn a bit more about the NT/2k/2k3 migration process, in particular with concerns about Exchange (because that's my next project at work after I'm done with my current task. . ).

After the meetings and interviews, we all headed up to NxNW for some yummy dinner, in which more socializing went on, in a albeit much more relaxed atmosphere. At dinner's conclusion, I was invited to head down to 6th with several of the other consultants, in which more socializing continued. I must point out that the point of the exercise for the day was to network with people and make sure I have the right connections when I need them. Having fun was a side effect. Really.

Sunday was spent recuperating quietly at home, during which I started experimenting with Win2k3 Server in preparation for my MCSE exams. I decided to juggle Net+ with MCSE after being "nudged" by Bill. Hint taken.

Came home from dinner, and as soon as I walked into the Command Center, I noticed a bizarre noise coming from Quincy X. With a sinking feeling in my heart, I immediately started shutdown procedures and began preliminary diagnostics. The temperture gauge was off the charts, and it was pretty clear that at least one of the cooling fans had gone out. The question became how many and which ones, and whether the rest of the system suffered any temperture damage as the result.

After a more extensive search it has been determined that two of the four fans (the CPU and chipset cooling fans) have begun malfunctioning, and fortunately I came home just in time to shutdown the system before irrepairable temperture damage has been done. Luckily, Quincy X's role had already been reduced as a test web server and a file/MP3 server, so there will be very little impact on the rest of the network until repairs are effected.

Was happily wrapping things at work, getting ready to leave at 5:00PM. . . when BAM. . . lightning strikes right next to our building, completely disabling our main uninterruptible power supply (big mofo that's connected to the main power line). With it also went our entire server closet. And the rest of the night as far as we were concerned.

Bill the IT director immediately called the UPS company demanding an explanation (supposedly they just serviced the unit not two weeks ago). He also then delivered a status report to the C*s (CEO, CIO, CFO. . . C*Os) and basically said we have no idea when we will be back up, but we're working on it. Cliff the DBA and I both jumped into the server closet and started damage control initiatives.

Four hours later, we have the most critical systems back online again running on the backup backup UPSes. . . huge 200 pound monstrosities, and I had to transport all three of them. . . and the remaining non-critical systems running on commercial power (susceptible to power outages). We're keeping our fingers crossed that nothing will happen tonight, and that the UPS vendor will be able to have some kind of resolution for us ASAP.

The first one would be my version of a .plan page that I mentioned several days ago. It will detail things that I've done, things I'm currently involved in, and as well as things I plan on completing before this short short life ends. It can be found here, under the Stats page.

The second page lists my entire home theater setup. I've spent the past 3 years putting the whole system together, and as of this moment I am very pleased with what I have. By no means is it a THX-capable 10.3 50,000 Megawatt 300-inch projection screen setup, but it fits nicely and looks and sounds great. Can't really complain. It can be found here, under the Stuff page.

Even though I was only going about 15MPH, the angle I was leaning into while making the turn was not a favorable angle for making an emergency stop. So yes, I dropped the bike. Again. This time it fell on top of me though, instead of it throwing me off.

Preliminary inspection and post-incident reports minor damage to the bike (dented the goddamn tank again. . .), and minor injury to my foot. The way the bike fell on me, it managed to catch my right foot between the asphalt and the foot brake assembly. The assembly is completely snapped off from the frame, which will have to be replaced. My foot is moderately swollen, making walking a moderately difficult task. Nothing's broken though, although I will be on make-shift crutches for the next few days, possibly week or so.

Also managed to meet a traveling gypsy at my workplace, who happens to be a fairly good metalsmith/armorour. So quite possibly I will be working with him in trying to get a basic suit of armor going.

Wheeeee. . . this is fun. . .

Yesterday was the first day on the job, and I managed to arrive 15 minutes before everyone else did. My manager was even surprised to see me there, and I think I made a semi-decent impression for myself. Very little orientation was done yesterday though, as I immediately began my duties upon arrival.

Today I arrived on time, but my manager forgot the keys to our lab. So imagine two IT guys standing outside the office because we locked ourselves out. But fortunately a VP came by and unlocked our door, and we resumed our work without further delay.

So far I've been working on building remote/unattended installation packages with another consultant. This particular consultant happened to be a friend of Blandy's, who happened to recommend me to the job. So. . . thanks Blandy!