Ah, alas, IT is a harsh mistress. She’s never happy with your progress. In a survival situation, such as being lost in the woods, they always tell you to “Remain where you are, that’s the best chance of being rescued”. But in the world that is Information Technology, standing still will cause you to be eaten by the Great Nothing of stale skills - and there’s no Sebastian to save you.¹

In the real world I’m known as an Application, Network, and System Monitoring Architect. I design, test, implement and maintain solutions for both Windows and Unix that help organizations monitor their crucial applications and processes. It’s one of the last great frontiers in IT - I’m a bit of a cowboy, sent out on my own with the community trusting I know how to get the bad guy. I like it, and it works well. For the last few years, I’ve been specializing in Windows technologies - most specifically Operations Manager.

Operations Manager 2000 was the first one, based off of a NetIQ application, and it sucked. Then came Operations Manager 2005 - it sucked much less, but still sucked and use MOM guys were forced as a collective whole to create some very ‘interesting’ solutions to problems. One of the issues with having a fairly open ended script based system is that you’re at the mercy of the admin.

Now, though, MS has released System Center Operations Manager 2007, and I’ve been deep into it for the past few months - and it’s a breath of friggin fresh air.

And I’m just in time too - according to Indeed.Com these new skills will be in a lot more demand then the old:

Another reason I need to up those skills is because it appears that being awesome is in a lot more demand then being decent:

Additionally on the job front I have good news, I was offered a full time position with the consulting firm I’m currently with - which is a wonderful thing. No longer do I have to worry about a current assignment ending early and leaving me high and dry. I get the full benefits of working for a company as an actual employee, but I get to go all over the twin cities and save the day! And more importantly, I have a training budget, so I can update my skillsets and not do it on my own dime. I don’t mind paying for some of it, but I like being able to get paid to learn at least!

Speaking of which, specializing in monitoring is a good way to work yourself out of a job. It takes about 2-3 years tops to come into a new organization, tear their existing solution apart and rebuild a new one from the ground up. When you’re done, you have next to nothing to do but surf the web all day and perform the tiny day to day maintenance tasks - if you’ve done it right, you won’t have a lot to do.  Being a full time consultant now ensures that I don’t have to worry - when it’s time to move on I’ll move on, without a 6 month + job search. When my skills are in demand, they need someone ‘now’, but the problem is it doesn’t creep up all that often.

1. Holy crap, I just made a Neverending Story reference. [↩]

Curious as to what kind of character Senator Barack Obama has? Listen to what Bill Richardson has to say.¹

“I had just been asked a question — I don’t remember which one — and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn’t going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, ‘So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?’ But I wasn’t paying any attention! I was about to say, ‘Could you repeat the question? I wasn’t listening.’ But I wasn’t about to say I wasn’t listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, ‘Katrina. Katrina.’ The question was on Katrina! So I said, ‘On Katrina, my policy . . .’ Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, ‘Obama, that was good of you to do that.’”

Any questions? This is the kind of person we need to lead us the next 4 years.

1. Source: Washington Post [↩]

This Saturday I had the… pleasure, I guess, of going to an armory in Cottage Grove to watch MCW. MCW stands for Minnesota Championship Wrestling.

Yes, it really is as bad as it sounds - and I haven’t even begun to describe it.

Think WWF circa 1988 with worse actors and a shoddy production value.

Think of ‘wrestlers’ with names like Johnny Riddlin, Tommy “Spiderbaby” Saturday, Little Tiger and Lover Kid.

My betrothed works with some people who go to this bi-monthly event religiously and as such, she was asked to go - and then I was asked. I went, of course, because I love her dearly and had nothing else to do.

We drove from her place of employment to the armory. It took about a half hour. We passed what I think was one of the largest liquor stores I’ve seen - inside of what was an old Byerlys¹. There was also a Family Dollar inside of said store - so you could pickup a case of “Old Grandad” and gifts for the kids and spend less then $20. Apparently the people of Cottage Grove like to drink. And buy items for a dollar or less. So it goes.

We slide on past there and hit the armory - upon walking in we’re immediately hit with the strong odor of testosterone, stale sweat and something close to nachos. We wait in line. Yes, there was a little line. After a few minutes, they open up and we pay for our ticket. Our $10 a piece netted us a stamp that lists us as “#1″. At least they had that right.

It started around 7, we got there at 6:30, and had more then enough time on our hands to watch what was going on as we waited for her friends. People mulled in in groups of 2 or 3. I had never seen so many mullets in one place. The parking lot was awash in IROC Z28s. It truly was an amazing starter.

Oh, and the girl who checks us out at our local Target was also the one who took our money. How did we know? The obnoxious pointless tattoo she has and the style of dress - she’s one of those “I’m not fat at all, look at all the skin tight clothes I’m wearing - I’m so hot” girls. Granted, we’re a chubby pair ourselves, but we don’t attempt to shove ourselves into items picked up in the ‘junior’ section of Target. To put it another way, she is impossible to not remember.²³.

Anyway, her friends show up, we go - there’s a table where they are selling DVDs, clothing and sloppy joes. We pick a row thats far enough back and wait for… well, I had no fucking clue what I was waiting for. So we wait and eventually a gentleman in a ’suit’⁴ comes out with a mic, hops into the ring, and starts talking.

Sadly, he’s talking into a camera that is inexplicably pointed away from the entire audience and so we don’t really hear anything but a 10 minute mumble. Then a match begins. I can’t quite describe, except to say it’s a lot like you used to see in the WWF, only it is even more comical then you could imagine. After the second match we left, even though there was another 2 hours left to go.

I do have to admit, I did like it a little bit. You got to talk shit to the ‘wrestlers’. And I love to talk shit. Though I was trying to be humorous in a high brow way with insults such as “Improperly file his taxes for him, prompting an audit - that will show him!” and “That move was as original as your tattoo”⁵

Anyway - I don’t think I’ll be back again.

This is a clip of video I took. Stupid camera phone, I forget I need to orient it in a weird way to have a normal looking video.

1. Which was a ‘top shelf’ grocery store [↩]
2. Not to you, checker girl: It’s called style, please find some. [↩]
3. Oh, and no matter how hard you try, a pushup bra is not an elastic miracle, and will not create boobs out of nothing, stop trying [↩]
4. Whatever passes for a $30 suit these days [↩]
5. Said tattoo being of Jesus on the cross. [↩]

Here’s an early shot of the ring I got her. The quality isn’t so great, as it was early in the morning the day after - but it is what it is. I’ll take some more shots when it comes back tomorrow from being sized.

Also, this marks a momentous occasion, I’ve added a new category called ‘Wedding‘. Something I’ve never done in the 10 or so years I’ve been keeping a blog. Wow. Go me.

I’m engaged. For really reals this time. I proposed, showed her a big ole ring, and she said yes. Go me!

Either I missed a field trip that was planned, or my office is closed today for the holiday. I’m the only guy here.

Well, time to take lemons and make lemonade. There’s work to be done!

This weekend in St. Paul will be cold. Bitterly cold. How cold is it? Look for yourself - Saturday’s high is expected to be -5 to 0. The high isn’t even going to hit one! Oi! Combine that with the fact my beloved Mishka will be away at some conference or another most of the time and I have a nice chunk of time to dedicate to myself.

So what to do? Play Team Fortress 2 the entire time while eating pizza from Pizza Luce? Only half right! The pizza I shall have, the video game though - I think I’ll be taking a break.

Most people know about the website/blog called PostSecret. Post Secret takes in postcards you send them with your secrets written down and publishes it to the world. It’s a way of getting things off your chest and being a bit of a voyeur into the deep dark secrets help by people. I check it out every Sunday to see the new ones.

But, I thought to myself, I’d love to see a site about breakups. A site that contains letters of anger, hurt, fear, regret and all that negativity that is contained within the human condition. And to that answer, I registered a website called LoatheLetters.Com. Loathe as in “To find repugnant“. Letters as in “Something one person left for another person with writing on it”. I bought the domains, and have been sitting on them for awhile, this weekend I’ll see if I can’t develop them into something.¹

I’ve been mulling over a few things design wise and have settled on something I think will be simplistic, but intuitive. And instead of taking a blog engine, I’ll see if I can’t write the entire system myself in something like ASP.Net. Why? Because it’s what I know - I’m sure Robert will be chastising me soon for not using RoR but hey, he’s the expert on that, not me. So that’s what I’ll be messing with this weekend - trying to get the backend written.

And, if I can find the proper number of layers required to stave off the arctic like cold hanging around I might head out to Medicine Lake to see this years Art Shantys.²I hope you can join me! Or, even better, go instead of me and film it and let me know what it’s like.

1. I also need to work on my DIY Electronic Engineer portal ShadeTreeEE.Com, too [↩]
2. On Sunday Shanty from Misfit Toys will be having a soup kitchen - woot! [↩]

 Best Of Adobe Flash Tutorials - Get the most out of your flash

HD DVD on the cheap - Yes, we all know that HD DVD is dying and BLU RAY will reign supreme, but at $129 for a Toshiba HD DVD player and 5 HD DVD movies from Amazon, this has got to be the cheapest way to break into the new school of DVDs.

CNC Woodcarving - The beauty of wood with the modern advances of technology, here’s a wood carving machine that can make some incredibly detailed pieces as easy as a mouse click.¹

Robots! - You can use them to tell time, fling flaming bowling balls or, if you have to, assemble cars.

10 Incredibly Old Computer Ads - I love these old ads for computers, imagine 300 megabytes for under $20,000! A bargain!

Cheap Skillet Dinners - The Simply Dollar has a way of saving a ton of cash from those $10 frozen skillet dinners you’ll find in the grocery store. Just as simple, insanely cheaper.

 Connectors Demystified - You probably don’t care, but here’s a list of some of the most popular microcontroller hardware connectors available. A lot of the suppliers list things by name, expecting you to know what they will look like - so here are some pictures to go along with it.

1. Check out the video [↩]

Back in the middle of 2006¹ I had a sleep study done in the Hennepin County Medical Center’s sleep lab. After it was over, it was determined that I have a condition known as Delayed Sleep-Phase Disorder. I was prescribed some fairly powerful sleep aids² to help me get to sleep and stay that way, and all was well in the world. I’d go to bed around midnight, up at 6am, instantly and ready to go. It was pure heaven.

Then, I gained some weight because I took time off of work, and then I quit smoking and gained even more weight. So now I’m back to the way I was - and because I have seen the other side, it’s an absolute hell. It’s described as permanently having 5 hour jet lag. It’ll never go away. It truly is a walking hell - you are in this odd stupor, not quite awake - not quite asleep. And just when you’re about to go into that deep restorative sleep, it’s time to wake up and function in the real world.

Well, I’m tired of it. Especially with the possibility of going to school full time and still working, I needed to get this taken care of. So I scheduled a meeting with my sleep doctor, and he thinks that this added weight may have moved my light apnea over into serious sleep apnea, and suggested another sleep study in lieu of medication adjustments.

And that sleep study is tonight - the first night I could get in. It’s also my Mishka’s 27th birthday, and I’m going to miss it³ - but it’s for the greater good.
Sleep apnea + the prior condition places my current waking life in a plain of hell once thought unfathomable. Imagine living with a perm 5 hours of jet lag and someone shaking you awake every hour or so when you’re trying to sleep.

Yeah, that’s about what it’s like.

So I’ll be back there again tonight at 8:30 - this time armed with my laptop, it’s air card, and my DS - to do some work, play some games, sleep, and hopefully come back home tomorrow morning with a CPAP to ensure I keep sleeping. Part of me hates going through this again, but a larger part of me is really looking forward to it! Hopefully I can update a little bit during the stay there - hit the site up again around midnight and check out my Twitter.

1. June 21st, to be exact [↩]
2. Temazepam, brand name Restoril - once used by the USSR as a truth serum [↩]
3. But I paid for our kick ass dinner at Dixie’s AND sent her a ginormus bouquet of flowers to her office [↩]

Yesterday I received an email accepting me into the private beta phase of Skribit.
What’s Skribit? Created during the Atlanta Startup Event, Paul Stamatiou’s software is a way to let people have more control over topics that are talked about in a blog. You suggest topics, and others vote on them - the ones that make it to the top are the ones I’ll write about - usually.

I’ve embedded the widget front and center - you will see it to your right. Right now, there isn’t much in the way of suggestions - how about adding something you’d like to see written about? Simply click in the widget where it says “Click here to suggest a topic”, type in something that interests you, and hit submit - that’s all there is to it!

So how about it? What would you like to see me talk about? I’d love some suggestions so I can properly test drive this bad boy of Web 2.0.