So, it due to injuries, business, and all together laziness, I have been basically absent from my blog as of late. Now it is time to get back at it and I figure the best way is to just give a quick look at the past few weeks which have proven to be fairly packed with good stuff.
Thanksgiving
As noted before, I was trying to act like Bob Sanders on Thanksgiving morning and tackle a guy twice the physical makeup (faster, skinnier, younger, and way more smarts than I) and snapped a couple fingers pretty bad. I am working on getting images of the xrays (it seems my doctors office is trying to go paperless when possible and just might be able to send over digital pictures of the xrays.... more to come on that later). Good news is, my cast came off just in time to head to Chicago.
Chicago
I've said here before that I am not an IT guy by trade. I should clarify that statement a little... Fact is, I'm mostly a guy who really likes technology, LOVES tackling problems it brings, and sees the amazing possibilities it brings to the Kingdom. But the fact still remains I have a lot to learn... and when I say that I don't mean I am like Ed up at Granger who "has a lot to learn" but is ridiculously smart already... I mean I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN. That is why I was REALLY happy the folks at Apple offered a FREE little get together in Chicago to dig a little deeper into Leopard Server. I was able to go mostly at the expense of Indiana University as super volunteer Chris is a developer for their flavor of the Sakai Project and therefore decided to send him up. It was GREAT to hang out with Chris and seeing a long time friend Colin (see below). I know Apple isn't the enterprise mega-ship that Microsoft is, but what I do believe is that Apple has a deep commitment to quality products that are new, fresh, and innovative (or an innovative spin on existing solutions). This has been shown again through their Leopard Server product. For all of you Microsoft guys out there who are looking for ways to integrate macs you should give Apple a call (If you need contact info let me know). I am REALLY looking forward to moving our servers to Leopard ASAP. We'll see how it plays out!
Old Friend
This one is kinda linked to the Chicago rant but is worth mentioning on its own. Every now and then in life you run across a friend that is a friend for life. You know, the kind that you can go weeks, or months without talking to (and in some cases years) but when you see them it is just like old times. I had the chance to surprise my old friend Colin at his ad firm. I took a cab from the hotel and intended to give him a call and say hey, but the call didn't happen. So I just thought I'd show up and walk in to his office. Problems was, the office was id card entry only. So I waited on the the sidewalk, in the COLD until I saw him coming and just said hey... He was surprised for sure... enough with the fluff. The point of all that is to say that it is GREAT to see old friends, even if it is only for a few min. On a side note, Colin is an art director for Schafer, Condon, and Carter.... Ever heard of Rock Bottom restaurants? Yeah... that menu is his work... Maxum Boats.... his too. He's pretty dang good.
Network
Last but not least... Yesterday I got an initial quote from our local Eli Lilly network engineer Daryl (man this guy knows his stuff) on our new switches. What I like about our volunteers here, especially Daryl, is their cost minded thinking. I don't believe that just because we have the money means that we should spend it, and they don't either. I like that.... So, Daryl looked around, evaluated our needs, looked around some more, did his homework and came back with Belkin. That's right, Belkin. I would not have thought about Belkin but I think he is right. For us, right now, I think they are going to rock. They are not Procurve or Cisco but we aren't a massive operation either. I like the prices, I like the features, I think I just like them all together AND he came in significantly lower than I had thought he would. Combine that with the possibility of FREE (yes free) fiber and termination, I think we are in business. We will however, be cutting it REALLY close to our check-in go live for F1. To be honest,it is going to be REALLY close.
Shew... that was a lot. Hopefully it didn't bore you too much.... :-)
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