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Top 10 List of Geek/Nerd Things To Do This Year

Family, House, Internet, Magic The Gathering, Nerdery, Parenting, TV/Movies/Music, Uncategorized, Work No Responses »

Jan 162012

One of my goals for 2012 from a previous post was to learn obtain some sort of new geek/nerd skill, trait or as I’ll add; notch to my geek utility belt. I’ve been pondering what that item should be and was torn. I’ve decided first of all to add this as a constant annual goal. This came clear to me as I ended up with a list of possible items for this year. I ended up broadening it to ten items. Some might be a little lamer or easier than the other, but this is the first year and it might advance over the years. I’m also open to suggestions from readers…if there are any out there.

I’m open to geek/nerd activities that allow me to involve my two younger sons Quattro and Mace.

Here is the list.

Build something with a solar panel. I always wanted to build something that uses renewable energy. May it be a Lego robot that travels across the picnic table or get a solar power kit from Harbour Frieght and wire up all the external house lights.
Learn how to splice fiber cable. This one would be tough since we don’t carry the necessary tools at work and could be an expensive project to make mistakes in. Playing with small strands of glass sounds like too much fun though. My skills at crimping Cat5e and Cat6 cables as sped up this year and comes in handy when you want to make clean precise cable runs. Continue reading »

Goals or Resolutions for 2012

Adventures, Disc Golf, Family, Fishing, Friends, House, Internet, Nerdery, Parenting, Sports, TV/Movies/Music, Uncategorized, Video Games, Work, Xbox 360 1 Response »

Jan 012012

A new year is upon us and who knows it could be the last according to the Mayans. So, on the positive side of that doom and gloom, we only have to make a list of new year resolutions one more time. I hate calling them resolutions. I’m not trying to resolve some behavior or attitude. I want to accomplish something, yes. It makes it sound so much better than a resolution. A resolution makes it sound like I am an overweight, racist, cold hearty, unhealthy schmuck and I need to resolve or abolish an attitude to either stay alive, keep my marriage, or regain state custody over my kids.

So enough with that. This is what I want to get done this year. (We won’t discuss my progress from last year because I barely did a damn thing on that list. I’m going to keep track of my resolutions via a great app called Wunderlist.

-Stay well under 200lbs. [Optional goal is 180lbs.] (This has been my goal for the last couple of years and been successful.)
-Complete 2 certifications for work.
-Play more disc golf.
-Disc golf in 2 new states. (I try for one new state a year but I missed 2011.)
-Go fishing with the kids more.
-Take the kids camping.
-Get all the rooms on the first floor painted.
-Insulate 2 of the 3 crawlspaces.
-Replace the ceiling fan.
-Replace the garbage disposal.
-Replace all electrical outlets and light switches.
-Expand the garden and hook up a rain barrel system.
-Build a compost pile.
-Decommission one of my servers.
-Write 12 blog posts to this blog or any reincarnated form. (Actually 11 if you count this one.)
-Hook up a surround sound system in family room.
-Earn Xbox Gamerscore of 13500.
-Read 10 books.
-Learn a new geeky/nerdish trait or skill.

I keep making this list longer and longer. I should probably stop now or my end of the world will really be depressing since I might not complete most of these when the world implodes next December.

First Week in New Job Position

Internet, Uncategorized, Work No Responses »

Jul 192011

To those that follow me on Facebook and Twitter know that I have accepted a new position with the same company that I have been with for almost 12 years. I am no longer part of management and I have no one that reports directly to me. (Thank god.) I have moved over to an engineer role and responsible for data center infrastructure and the “cloud”. So far, it has been a great move for me. Sure its going to be a lot of work and reading. Sure I will be doing a lot of traveling and going to training classes for all types of certifications. (The traveling will be great because I can play disc golf in new states.)

After the first week in my new role and new office, I am thankful for a few reasons.

I no longer sit next to all the bathrooms.
No one walks past my office because I am in the far back corner.
No one comes over to bother me about nonsense issues.
I can play music/podcasts without annoying people or being interrupted.
My email inbox has decreased by 99%.

Now it’s time to go back to my readings about data storage and management.

Goals or Resolutions for 2011

Adventures, Disc Golf, Family, Fishing, Parenting, Sports, Video Games, Work, Xbox 360 1 Response »

Jan 082011

It’s that time to throw out what I plan on doing this year. Some are either carry overs from last year and some are on going goals for every year.

Roll overs from last year:
-Get all the rooms on the first floor painted.
-Stay well under 200lbs. (Optional goal is 180lbs.)
-Complete 1 certifications for work.
-Place 1st in a disc golf event.
-Disc golf in a new state. (Likely candidates this year is Massachusetts, Maryland, or Virginia.)

New ones:
-Ride bike more. Not for exercise but more for pleasure.
-Start saving for a Disney trip.
-Go fishing with the kids more.
-Use all my vacation days wisely.
-Insulate 2 of the 3 crawlspaces.
-Replace the ceiling fan.
-Replace the kitchen sink.
-Mount TV on wall and purchase surround sound.
-Decommission one of my servers.
-Pay off student loans and computer.
-Earn Xbox Gamerscore of 10000.

Resolutions or Goals for 2010

Adventures, House, Work No Responses »

Jan 092010

Carry over or modified resolutions from 2009.
-Place 1st in a PDGA sanctioned disc golf.
-Disc golf in a new state. (More than likely Maryland or Massachusetts.)
-Upgrade my home computer and run network cables throughout the house.
-Purchase a newer vehicle for myself.

New resolutions:
-Get all the rooms on the first floor painted.
-Redesign and landscape the front yard
-Stay well under 200lbs. (Optional goal is 180lbs.)
-Complete 2 certifications for work.

I think that’s the extent of it for now.

Stuck on 3rd shift tonight

Adventures, Work No Responses »

Feb 012009

My first weekend on-call as supervisor and one of my third shift guys calls off on a weekend. Weekends are already single coverage. Now I need to find someone to cover it. Well, that someone is me. Back on third shift…just for tonight, and it comes at a price. It’s all overtime.

The shift so far is dead which is one of the things I loved about working third. I have 4 hrs before I see another person. Maybe I could continue with some DS action and try to remember where I got lost or just start Mario and Luigi Partners in Time. I’ve already wasted some time in Ninjatown and progressed in story mode.

The only channel and can get to at work is MSNBC and they have been running the same 2 hours of TV over and over. One can only watch so much Lockdown. So instead, all LCD TVs have gone back to full surviellance camera mode and alarm monitors.