The Original Celebrated* Curiously Strong Blogspot

Divesting

2012-02-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

It could be the ill effect of all this unorthodox Michigan weather, but I took some time to start tidying up my belongings. Sell off things that which can be sold, trash that which is trash, and find new homes for things you would rather seen used by friends than sold for a dollar or two to strangers. Times like this are filled with an honesty about what you will never return to again or had convinced yourself that you would get to some day. It is not really ending a 'chapter in your life' to do this but really is more of a building of an index of what your life was. Projects complete or not, they are a part of you.

It will be a little tough getting rid of the geiger counter though.. that thing was pretty cool.

Mild weather and getting the itch for new projects

2012-01-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Even though there is a shallow snow out today, no one can deny that the winter so far in southern Mich has been atypically mild. The enzyme that regulates gardening imagination has some how been activated early. The so-so successes of my previous two attempts in effect add hope for the new season. There is plenty of clean up to do first; unsuccessful previous projects always leave behind a pile of 'reminders' that should be salvaged or trashed once and for all. It is far to early to figure out a way to do seeds, but it is never to early to make your pre season to do list:

1.) Get the junk trailer filled up with scrap and get it out of here
2.) Plan out the new berry raised bed for the south side of the house
3.) Plot out the larger tomato/green bean patch and determine the best fencing option for that space
4.) Plot out the cabbage and onion patch and determine the best fencing option for that space
5.) Remove decorative evergreen nonsense from the front raised bed and prep to expand herbs

GTD

2012-01-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

It has become clear that no matter how much time I put into my job, it will never be enough. That being said, I have been spending too much time at work responding to emergencies or reacting to others poor planning. The number of missed opportunities that I did not have time or access to take advantage of is stark compared to how I was inclined to operate just one year ago. Clearly I have done something wrong and I hope to remedy that. There are some new 'getting things done' tactics I am going to try but most of all it should be about strengthening the staff so that there is a understanding of accountability upon themselves rather than the constant deferral to a manager or worse, someone completely inappropriate.

Thaw

2011-03-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Southeast Michigan has convinced me that it is starting to consider Spring. While on an autonomic trudge into Domino Farms recently, a familiar smell found me. It is a remarkable thing to be assaulted with memories stagnant in a flash of familiar smell. With the melt well underway, the vestiges of the previous season now revealed in what will eventually become the overly manicured lawns outside of Lobby L which due to the scent seemed a replica of the golf course Pop and I would be at around this same transitional season-time in northern Illinois. There was a snap to the air and inviting mushy-sludgy turf that was simply reminiscent.

Pop and I played golf regularly when I was growing up. Retrospectively I realize that during those rounds I spent more time collectively with him alone than likely either my brother or sister. I didn't consider it at that time, but I did enjoy those days more than I thought I did. It would be no later than the 4th hole at the now disappeared Orchard Hills Public Golf Course on such mornings that my shoes would begin to allow the seep into the rubber innards on my Chuck Taylor's and quickly saturate my socks. I do recall hating golf at that point; right before the first par 5 and being waterlogged for the rest of the course. It was also (now that I think about it) the stretch where you saw the back of the snack-shack, which likely would not be open until a little bit later in the spring or the day which also added a twinge of annoyance. It's not that I was hungry at that early point, but it would have been nice to have the option.

Standing now in the soggy grass in front of Lobby L some 15 years later and without my clubs, I allowed the standing water to slightly soak through my Converse. I had lost track of how many sets of Chuck's I have had, and I know that the pair I was wearing that day were quite old. Maybe they are the same pair I once wore at Orchard Hills. Likely not, but it was amusing to consider as I left tracks up the carpeted stairs heading to the second floor conference room.

Loot part 1

2010-12-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas is up and done for another year. The kids and Kelly seem like they had a good time and I do believe that the holidays are most important for the children. However I'm not really interested in writing about joy of watching them tear into presents, retelling the cookie-cutter stories that are cute only to parents, or talking about all the good food I overate. I have in my possession something wonderful and entertaining. Kelly gave me a Breville Personal Pie Maker. http://www.brevilleusa.com/the-personal-pie.html . I am going to embark on a marathon of tiny pie making. This do-dad has impractical and fun written all over it. Who's to tell what deliciousness I can dream up using this tiny piece of excess.

Dusting off the old to make it new

2010-09-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

I spent about two days dusting off the old MacBook Air this weekend. I never really knew why I had a macbook air except that it was really a status symbol/geek accessory. It is not particular powerful, its not particularly popular, however it is very light weight. I mean this puppy gets lost in the paperwork if misplaced on your desk. So what do I need if for?

My recent job role has grown to include, lets say.. a ridiculous amount of meetings. I mean, holy crow my day is about 70 percent meetings. There is by definition 30% 'no meeting' per day, but don't forget that it takes a good deal of time planning, preparing, and forgetting about 70% of my time going into meetings.

In any case, I typically carry around a 13 inch macbook pro, but hey.. I macbook air is what it is, lighter.

I installed the mac os 10.6.x and the following:

AppFresh
AppZapper
Bean
Carbon Copy Cloner
CloudApp
coconutBattery
DaisyDisk
Disk Inventory X
Divvy
Evernote
GeekTool
GIMP
Google Chrome
Growl
HandBrake
Integrity
iStatMenus
MacFUSE
MacMAME
MacPorts
Movist
OnyX
OpenOffice
PaintBrush
Perian
Plex
Porticus
QuickSilver
Quinn
RightZoom
SilverLight
SIMBL
Skype
smcFanControl
Steam
SyncTwoFolders
TeamViewer
Tor
Transmission
VirtualBox
Visor
Flip4Mac
xCode

I switched on the FileVault and have it pretty much decked out. I wonder if I'll actually use it.

No blog love for the lower middle IT Managers

2010-07-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I didn't coin the axiom, but I couldn't credit it to any one in particular... 'if you don't know what to do, steal someone else's idea'.

In the IT/IS world it's one google search term and 45 minutes of snooping to gain affirmation or insight into what others are doing and how they are doing it. It is a starting point, a guide, and an info Sherpa.

However I think there is a notable gap in the blogosphere for where I find my career today. I am a lower middle manager for a mid sized IT dept. The blogs that are out there are usually shilling for some mediocre book they have written. Some seminars or subscription websites also weedle in. All told they are equivalents of QVC and poor insomnia driven decisions. Undoubtedly they have profound realizations about how I should be doing my job and they have politely watered this down to my level through a very descriptive diagram of a pyramid or a witless analog that likely includes a picture of a house. It actually must be some sort of inside joke..."if you put a pyramid it your book it will impress the lost geeks and make them feel like they "get it".

So here I sit, with an unnamed subclass of geekery. We have no nickname, we have no google footprint, we have no hip or anti-hip culture. Inappropriate for tshirt or tie.

Home again...

2010-07-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Our mini-break at the U.P. cottage was successful. We had a good visit with my folks and the kids got to meet and play with some of their cousins. 2.0 in particular came out of a shell and enjoyed bobbing in the lake with the other 3ft-nothing blond-haired noise factories. Returning home though was rough in that I really did not want to go on to work the next day. While this may not sound astounding, it was a bit of a change for me. Usually I enjoy my breaks and look forward to getting back to my routine. Lately though at work I have noticed that I really do not have a work routine. I have been making changes practically every week for the past 18 months and there has been so many meetings. On a light week I am sitting in about 20-30 meetings. This is a side effect of the changes probably and not an affirmation that I have some authoritative opinion people dwell on. I would like to start focusing more on my help desk rather than the senior staff. I think my time spent this past year working with the seniors has been productive and I hope they are more in tune with where the school needs and capabilities intersect. The new office is fine, a little lonely and I hope that my time in the help desk cubical farm satisfies my predisposition to poke my nose into little details.

At the Lake House....

2010-07-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

This is the first time in a couple years that my family is visiting the lake house properly. The house is slightly changed since I took over the care taking of my folks summer place since they moved too far away to do it. Those slight changes however are the most profound ones in the past 20 years or whenever the 'summer-of-paneling' concluded. My buddy Bob and I have made a habit (nearly tradition) of opening up and closing down the place. The dock which is the highlight of that process is in again and serving its purpose. I believe my folks finally investing in one circa 2000 which puts it at about 10+ years old. Its funny to watch the dock weather and change over the seasons, but the house generally remains the same, probably fading slightly from its original marine green exterior to a more sea-foamy luster. It is an especially odd feeling to look in on my 'nearly 2' year old napping in the same bed I spent the previous 30 summers napping in.

There is lots to do around this place, a loose water trap here, an invading ant horde there, stairs to replace, etc..but the visits are too short as is and most of these things can wait just one more summer.

This time up we made a point to explore a bit more of the east side of the UP rather than make a single long unbroken car haul. It was an adventure with plenty of UP-treasure to show for it. Ill be opening up a growler from the brewery we stopped by tonight I think with our burgers and asparagus.

Mom and Pop should be here within 5 hours give or take. Kelly and Eve are just coming in from the lake front.

thats enough of that.

2010-03-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

I responded to 371 emails this week at work. That is 12 % below my calendar 2010 average so far. So it was an 'easy' week I suppose.

Slowly making progress....

2010-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Even slow progress is progress I suppose. Work projects have been moving ahead. It's not that it's necessarily slow, but it is erratic. I spent the years from 2002-2006 building up the need and resources for a decent little data room for the department that I worked for, and now am tasked with decommissioning it. I'm happy that we don't have the need for the room any longer since it proves that the school is moving in the right direction to increased support. Still, its a little sad to rip apart unceremoniously something I created and no one will ever know it was ever there once it's gone. I suppose that's the nature of the job. I think I'll keep the blueprints of the facility as a memento.

The house is coming along okey, making sporadic progress. We invested in a little bit of art for the walls in the living room and the TV is mounted on the wall which makes the room seem a little larger and tidier I think. There is still a need for additional lighting and am on the hunt for a decent floor lamp. Finding a decent floor lamp is not a simple task apparently.

New Year.

2010-01-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since I checked in here. I really should be using this blog to help me stay on task, keep perspective, and another third thing. I've come to the conclusion after watching some of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes starring Burgess Meredith that I do not read nearly enough. This is the root of all my problems I have decided and aim to solve this immediately. I own a kindle, and I love it. But I believe if Im really going to do this right I will also have to buy the apple tablet at some point. This is the most logical conclusion ever.

1973 was a fine year for c-rations

2009-07-25T07:07:00.001-07:00

As a MRE fanboy this story made me smile.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/24/army.aged.cake/index.html

might be the coolest 'simp' game in a while

2009-07-21T17:52:00.001-07:00

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/07/scribblenauts-director-believe-in-the-idea-move-slowly.ars

SIxty Symbols

2009-07-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

I (far too often) abuse metaphor when working and explaining technology. I have started considering it a mini-game in my day wherein I can take an increasingly obscure idea and somehow, however poorly justify it conversation for my current thought. To that end... fodder.

http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

viva 2D gameplay

2009-07-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

http://michelgagne.blogspot.com/

It's really interesting to see developed gameplay and xcellent ingame art and music come together. Im really looking forward to this and more like it,

Notes about tracking time

2009-07-14T10:55:00.001-07:00

I have been running a little personal experiment in tracking time during my work day. Nothing to specific, but it is amazing how much time I spend just emailing and responding to people that I work just a couple feet away from. Meetings also ( of course) take an amazing amount of time and effort in the day. It seems that in this context that emailing and meetings are hallmarks of the failure of communication within the groups I work with. People email when confused or when there is a lack of confidence in process. This is something I think I can remedy.

I also have been playing with a new macbook pro 13 inch. It has the first solid state drive I have personally come in contact with. I really have to admit that this little machine is a nice computing packing in a small form. I am going to keep the installs to a minimum on it to figure out what my base-load is for personal use. So far I have only installed OOo packages, but I think I will also need the gimp and a vpn client. Oh and ARD, but other than that I am going to try and live in the browser as much as possible.
10.6 will probably support roving home directories on flash drives so if I can stay light enough I might be able just to carry around a thumb drive to the various computers I inhabit on a daily basis.

Back to work

2009-07-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Coming back to work after a whole week away is always a trip. Things look like they did okey without me, which is a good feeling. I can hardly imagine what my vacation time or even my weekends will be like once I get out of the server-game altogether. I'm a little prideful about what I have been able to do with those servers over the past 6 years, but the time has come to let my users evolve to a better support framework than I alone can provide. I suppose there is a little success in that right? The services ran well enough that they expanded to the point of being 'enterprise clients' and now the responsible thing to do is get those onto an enterprise support team. I learned quite a bit about providing servers to clients and enough to realize that I am personally not the right person to provide them any longer. The year of 2009 is the last hurrah for my fiefdom of iron.

Waxy.org

2009-07-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of surfing to do out on the web so I like it when someone intelligent takes some of the work out of being interested. Looking for something to read once you've 'read the entire internet again'? Check out waxy.

July 2009 Vacation

2009-07-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some holiday snaps of our July break

Some Photos here.

So long livejournal...

2009-07-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I was too lazy to update my credit card information in livejournal so I decided to hop over to blogspot. Why not just give google control over everything now and avoid the rush later. Or perhaps they will get that last dregs of information out of users with some sort of roomba- google-free email mind control device.