So in the new office, they are about 50% Mac, 50% PC.  Being a part of the A&M University, it’s not likely i can convince them to go 100% PC so if you can’t beat them, figure them out.  I got my first Mac last friday and spent the weekend trying to figure this thing out.  So far i’ve learned about the Dock, Time Warp, Finder, Apple Mail, and safari.  I also got to learn about installing the OS.  Then i didn’t know the previous owners password so i found out about Single User Mode (thanks Jonny), come to find out if you boot in Single User Mode you get a linux prompt!  Hey.. i know linux.  So back to a familiar command prompt and a few lines later, we had the user name discovered and the password changed. 

I ran protools on it (because they say it works better on a mac) it does. 

The wifi autodetect is pretty slick. 

But..

the exchange integration only works with 2007,

I imported two videos side by side.  (pictured above) One of a PC and one on a Mac, the mac took longer because it wanted to build tons of thumbnails.  I don’t want thumbnails, i let my editing program do that. 

The updates took a while.  The appear to be coming from akamai and i was about to do a blanket block of akamai at the office only come to find out all of this traffic to akamai was mac updates.

So.. i’m putting in an order for mac server.  See how well these things can be tamed.  I’m curious. 

I literally LOL’d on this one..

6 and a half years ago i was working for TWIN internet as their network administrator.  my sister called me saying she heard a commercial on the radio that they were looking for a computer guy.  i didn’t hear the spot myself but i ended up finding it later on.

I met with Danny Fletcher, Lori and Kevin who apparently was the guy doing the IT stuff around here.  So that interview obviously went well.  I remember when i was young i wanted to work at b104 back when it was b104.  *sigh* In those six and half years i’ve gotten to some amazing things that i am truly grateful for those chances.  built 4 new radio stations, helped install HD, figured out how to run HD2, help setup other markets HD2, installed SatL and figured out how to test them, setup DID and PRI functionality, disconnected about 30 pots from Verizon, EVDO codecs, helped setup a newstalk station, did the live engineering of football games on that newstalk station, setup internet streaming.. and i’m sure lot of other things i can’t think of right now.

I got to work with allot of people who have grown to be more than just co-workers.  I’ve made friends.  and i don’t pick many people to be friends with.  I’ve gotten to see them get married, have their first child, be at their birthday parties.. laugh with them, yell with them (or listen to them yell) and cry with them.

The time has come, to talk of other things.

I did a few interviews.  I’ve always enjoyed interviews.  It’s kind of like being a pushy car-salesman for a change.  Trying to sell myself to these companies.  Back in June of this year i got an email from this company.  Due to previous commitments they were not going to be able to interview until august.  I made an appointment and let time pass.  Well.. the day of the interview came and i can honestly say i had the best interview i ever had.  I didn’t even realize that almost 4 hours had passed.  I made it conversational, i knew my talents and my abilities and was confident from the beginning that I was the best person for this position.  I made sure to dominate the conversations and not pass the control to the other teams.  Until i was exhausted and out of questions to ask.

A few days later they emailed back and wanted a 2nd interview.  We talked again and got into some more specific questions and task.  What if’s and how would you’s mostly.  With the experience i have, i was able to answer most of the questions with.. “well.. when i had that problem once i did this…”

so later that day i get a 3rd email.  This time they wanted to meet to make an offer.  I already knew i wanted this job.  The chance to be a part of a research time on the cutting edge of some of the most exciting things being done today.  A chance to get back in a network admin position.  And the chance to design a network and data infrastructure basically from the ground up.

So the next day i turned in my letter of resignation. Today i turned in my letter of acceptance with the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center part of the Texas A&M System.  My first day is Sept 1.

I am so excited.  September can’t get here fast enough.

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came back home the next day.  got one of those 100,000 mile health insurance check up things.  Everything came out good.  my LDH was a little low but i’m not going to go start a vegan diet anytime soon.

wednesday worked on a project for church.  Trying to get them ready for the HD conversion, just a few months after the switch over mind you.  If only it was as easy as it is for your home where alll you have to do is buy a new tv or converter.  i’m looking at replacing cameras, signaling, ccu’s robotics, ptz control, master control, audio-pass thru, archiving as well as down converting for the old SD stuff we still have.

thursday another early morning road trip, this time to san antonio.  Hannah and arryn in my car, megan and her friends following behind in their car.  got to san antonio and headed for the at&t center for Warped Tour.  after parking and walking up to the building the line was wraped all along the building, along the side, up to the rear of the building.  ok.. so we probably stood in line for about an hour before we got in.  it was 11 in the morning and at least 105 degrees.  out their.  we got inside finally and it was a very minture version of cornerstone only without tents and dirt and pig water.  the heat index must have been 115, it was standing room only on the parking lot of the att center.  after about an hour i found a cozy spot under a tree with all the other parents.  i don’t know how i used to do this every summer for a week.  while we were sitting there under the tree some guy came by looking for people wating to work some of the stages.  i thought about it for a second, how fun it would be to get to work a stage at warped tour, but the attempt to peel myself from the blacktop and make my body corporate with my intention to stand up was a failed attempt.  i just sat there.  and melted.

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it really wasn’t bad.  not exactally any bands i really enjoyed but it wasn’t a bad experience.  i think i had more fun watching the kids and hanging out with them.  remembering was it was like to be that age.  *sigh*

came back home the next day to finally spend some of my vacation with my wife.  she didn’t get to join us, because of work and she can’t handle being in the heat at all.  not the type of vacation she woudl have enjoyed

^1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!

^7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

^13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

^17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

^23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Wow, talk about an amazing movie. If it doesn’t win Best Picture tonight i’m going to be disapointed. Patti, Hannah and myself went to go see it last night after a fun filled sunday. We’ve had some amazing weekends lately. Yesterday we got to stay in bed until around 10 when we finally got out from the covers. We got to clean up the kitchen, did launry, patti mopped. Around 1 we went over to Marilda’s and had an amazing lunch with her and her family. I hadn’t gotten to hang out with them in quite a while so that was really fun. We got home, took another nap and once the kids finally started waking up we decided to go to the movies. I would hightly recomend you to go check it out. You won’t regeret it.

what else has been going on, well St Jude’s radiothon is today and yesterday.  After 6 years of doing these, it’s gotten really easy.  Of course it helped to find out that two of the jacks i’ve been using have deal pairs on 4&5, oh well.. a project for next week. 

Also setup a system called star fetch.  when ever one of the ladies here would get an order from one of our networks, she would get about 20 a week that would take several hours of her day to fill out.  well.. the network would send the orders too but apparently the ladies here never knew that so they were entering in all that stuff.  Today i setup our system so the order are automatically entered and all they have to do is approve each one and vola. 

what else have i done this week… ah.. the church website got a facelift.  and alot of backend updates too.  i was afraid it was going to break the podcast software but it still seams to work somehow.  i’m going to tweak the css and images a bit but it’s mostly done. 

oh and Ellie updated her site too.  Check out the Galleries…

Monday i was doing sound at church for a thing going on for ECISD.  Apprently they are required to put their paraprofessionals through so many hours of training each year.  well.. the morning was boring.  just school stuff.  but the rest of the day was.. um.. different.  the 1st part was a circus act and the 2nd part was a comedian/magician.  oh well.. as long as it was on the school’s tab.

Rodger Irish showed up last night.  well not literally, but in my email box.  It was kind of bizzare because i was thinking of him last night as i was driving to the ATM drive thru.  He drove through the ATM backwards once.  Talk about living dangeriously. 

Last night worked in helping the youth run their “new” sound board. then i spent the rest of the evening working in my building. I’ve gotten to lay out most of the what i can for now. Tonight i’m going to move the wiring to the patchpanels. that’s going to be the biggest headache of this entire process. i might end up just working on laying out the looms and hanging them up properly without even wiring it up. So far things are going according to schedule.

caution possible spoiler
So Ben always has a plan, but was THIS in his plan? Does he have a plan now?
Does Son know that Mr Whitmore wanted to kill them? I guess she must because she said they have a common intrest. not that she wants to kill them too.. but .. i dunno.. that one was wierd.
we learn about three new sites, the power station, the greenhouse and the sancutary but we only see the greenhouse and the powerstation where the gas has been sopousedly nutrilized by the people trying to kill everyone?
why was charlotte talking about being back? finding the place she was from/born?
what happened in the 3+ years after the 6 left the island on the island?
who is the black guy visiting everyone?
who was the guy who visited john when he was a kid?
what happend to john at the island after they left?
also.. remember how the island messes with not only space.. as far as where they are, but the time too. so after they moved, not only where are they but when are they?

antoher year before we can get all these answers? Patti is talking about actually watching the series this time as it airs. i guess i should get a schedule and start building a TVo since i know things are going to come up that might cause us to miss an episode and that’s just not acceptable.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Review-Lost-Season-1001219.aspx

Looks like we startup Jan 21 at 8pm