coolerthanyou.net

LSAT

So, I’ve started studying for the LSAT that is coming up in October. It should be “educational”, but I’m a bit under-prepared I think. Also the cost of law school seems to be ginormous (both money and time wise), figuring out how to function with that while also paying mortgage/having time with my family is going to be daunting if I get in.

Host/DNS Options

I’ve been pondering moving toward a new host/DNS-host/Google-apps for my domain, though I’ve kind of grown tired of the domain in general. Not that my host now is bad, just that it isn’t really that cheap. I’ve almost considered mobileMe as an option, the storage is larger, there isn’t any bandwidth limitations, and I’d probably be able to setup email via it. Another option was to use Blogger/Picasa/Google-apps to do what I wanted.

Any recommendations would be highly appreciated.

No eating or drinking exclusions

I guess it was inevitable, the age of drug testing has begun (for me, at least). I didn’t even realize until after I “donate” a “urine” “sample” that I was actually giving a drug test. In addition two vial of blood were taken, and I pondered if those were going to be used for drug testing in addition to other diseases/infections/infestations. The worst part was that Amanda and I both were staving and dehydrated. The insurance company told us both that in order to maintain blood glucose levels, we shouldn’t eat or drink anything. Once we both finished “donating” “urine” “samples”, after Amanda had her blood samples taken, and during the donation of my blood sample, the phlebotomist let us know that black coffee, water, and/or diet sodas would have been ok to consume.

So after the donation of samples was finished, Amanda and I went grocery shopping (and picked up way too much junk food) and then had KFC. Probably not a good idea to shop when hungry.

Random Update

I’ve been using twitter, it’s pretty nice so far for little updates, but I really need to the device updates to start functioning again (specifically IM, and text once I get a new phone). If anyone wants to add me, feel free to.

Probably a given, but I’ve been trying to get into shape. The gym was fine when I would be able to get up and go before work, but now with a 45+ minute commute, I don’t have time in the mornings, and the evenings are too crowded. So I’ve taken up running. Which is a bit odd, since I hate running; however, I hate being out of shape (and being highly asthmatic) more, so running wins the battle of lesser evils. To aid myself in this, I bought a Nike+ iPod add-on as well as a new pair of Nike+ running shoes. The website for nikeplus (http://nikeplus.com) has coaching, tracks your progress, and a bunch more stuff. So far it seems pretty “fun” (in that Schadenfreund sort of way, only instead of someone else suffering, it’s me). I did have a problem setting it up initially, but after a quick chat with “Emily” at the Nike Support, everything is super!

SCO Unix Tip

I used SCO Unix at my previous employer, and ran into a problem trying to send syslog messages to a remote host. Part of the problem is that syslog was started before the networking component, and so the process would try to resolve the hostname (or even the IP addres) and not send syslog messages to the remote server. This was resolved by editing the userdef startup script and restarting the syslog process after the network process was setup.

Might as well make some use of this

So I have a new job (as most people know), but I’ve run into quite a few oddities being a sysadmin. I’ll start posting some helpful hints and personal stories from the world of Computer Administration once I can piece together a few more tips.

New titles

I’ve manage to pick up quite a few new games: Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass; Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords; and Super Mario Galaxy. All of them have been exceptional. The biggest surprise so far has been Super Mario Galaxy. I get the same feeling as when I was playing the original Super Mario Brothers 3. I can’t stress enough how epic the game feels. I think the Super Mario Galaxy is the game to buy a Wii for.

Saddle, not so much

it’s been a while, and a bunch of job transitions, so I’ve been out of practice. If anyone has been doubting the Nintendo DS, I’d say buy it as I feel “Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass” is worth buying the system itself (and I’ve only begun experimenting with the WiFi part!), as well as Flash Focus is interesting enough I’ll splurge on it. I’m off to a Halloween party (even though it’s November), and I’ll post more later.

Back in the Saddle!

It’s been a while, I was unemployed (briefly) and now have a new job and a new company in a new town. It’s still similar work, though I’m not doing Linux so much anymore I’ve moved on toward the dark side of using Microsoft products. Having a fresh start is extremely nice, and learning about Microsoft in a non-biased environment is pretty nice. I’ve also grown accustomed to quite a few of the products, and I can’t believe that more businesses don’t insist on using them (Exchange and Outlook are insane, I can’t wait to see it in action with a Blackberry and the enterprise integration software)! I guess going from an environment where I was overworked and my primary goal was to lessen my workload to an environment where I am trying to enable myself and everyone else I assist in working more productively and efficiently brought back the joy of working. Sure I was a little unsure the first day, but it’s the first day of a new career so I can’t say the feeling was all the unexpected.

In other news, I witnessed an injury-free-yet-brutal car accident around 23 months ago, and I was contacted by a Private Investigator about  the accident recently. I offered to speak with him over lunch about what I had observed. It may sound odd that I have the accident burned into my memory, even with my terrible memory, but anytime I pass the intersection or see someone run through a traffic light late I can’t but help thinking of the crash.

Twenty… Six?

Twenty-six is supposedly the first year of true “self-dependence”, at least according to the majority of Americans. I can’t say that it seems like it will be a major earth-shattering day in my life, though I have had a history of anti-climatic “special” birthdays. When I turned eighteen I bought a lottery ticket, then went to bed as I had a test the next day, and when I turned twenty-one I was shopping in Duluth with my parents, and didn’t even have a drop of alcohol. I am glad that I’m going to be spending so much time with friends and family around my birthday, and even though “I’m not getting a party” (according to Amanda) I think I’ll end up at a bar. After hanging out with quite a few people younger than me (who are apparently not that good at math) I can’t say that I feel all that old, despite  the fact that both 20 year olds and 11 year old share the opinion that I’m “ancient”. Maybe age is just a mental thing, and I’m either too immature or too oblivious to notice, but I don’t see myself slowing down for a long time.