Yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days where I got a lot done. I managed to get in early and leave by 17:30 or so. Yet, a lot got done.

Hours	Description
2	Email migration Forward several folks Fix broken forward Upload new version of spreadsheet
1	IT security meeting
1	IT meeting with Terry, Pre meeting Stand up
2	DHCP for Production x64 devices
2	Misc Locate Ethernet drop for lab Track docking station recipients DHPC for engineering  (issues) Remove [person] from support group Check old tickets Crashing Outlook stand up Time Clock adjustment x2 IT Stand up on Server Inventory ss, share
1	Overhead meeting for HR

It was a very busy day. Good, but busy. In addition to the time tracking I had three full pages of notes. Typically, I only have five or six lines of notes.

Notes

This morning smelled like smoke. I wonder if those farmers down Mexico way are clearing fields again. Other folks think it is just fog. Nat and I smelled campfires. Other than that, it was a nice ride in.

Sick as a dog today. If we weren’t a man down on support I might have taken the day off sick. Not that I have any sick days left. Once I was at work I felt much more energetic.

I love the Republican saying there is no hope of an agreement between the parties to prevent the tax hikes and cuts that hit January first. We are screwed. Someone said it will cost a household that makes $50000 a year something like $2000 in additional costs and direct taxes next year just to survive. This is ridiculous. I don’t know anyone who wants that. I know few people who can afford it. I know a few people who will have to lose something important to comply.

Space time cristle The idea is to make a clock that will run right up to and beyond the end of the universe.

EscapePod is one of those audio cast shows where they stick all kinds of information in the feed besides the links to the audio files. It can be annoying when you have a month of posts to sift through to get to one story. Then they bitch about the weather. Also annoying.

Notes:

I took work home last night and did some things at home that I just didn’t need to be around for to get done. That is, some of my job is just sitting in front of a computer. That stuff does not require me to be in my office where I can be tackled and interrupted. Nor does it require me to be stuck at the office late and missing my family. I doubt my family noticed I was working. My nose is usually pressed against the screen regardless of content. This action was  a bit liberating. It was also annoying. I did after all have to get the work done on what was basically my time. Such is life.

Yesterday, I went down stairs to the place where someone said my team might be moved. I just wanted to take a look. The blinds are metal, so the midday sun will not drown me in light. The office smells normal. The carpet isn’t even stained. There is a door. This is a win for me so I can have meetings without people barging in my office and asking me a question without even a “hey Kelly” preamble.

Election? What election?

The world “lunatic” is one of my favourite. I should learn the etymology.

Notes:

2012-11-05
Ate a Snickers early this morning. I had a bunch of meetings and needed to have some sugar in my blood. Not sure it helped. The meetings went pretty well.

Pet peeve of mine is people asking to ask a question. This is followed closely by telling me they have a question  to ask me.

2012-11-06
A red state like Alabama gets hit by a hurricane and Obama waists no time hitting his scheduled campaign stops. New York gets hit by a huge storm and The president is on station.

Listened to Penn Jillette interview George Takei. Wow, that was crazy. Penn Sunday School. He spoke of the Japanese people, citizens, getting screwed over by the U. S. during WWII. It was difficult to listen to. I knew it happened, but I hadn’t heard someone who was there speak about it.

Chat Vlog

Field	Data
Title	Oh, what a tangled web
Description	My work life is more of a web tnan this web. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging web work asset tracking server IT management complaining work
Link	Link

Shall I

I want to be something that shall not be.
I shall take ove the world.
I shall be the hero.
When I dream, I see myself lead.
I shall carry the weight of the world.
I know my soul and my soul knows me.
I shall to be, that man, the one who leads.
I shall be more than the man who writes a poem.
I shall be free.

Notes

I may need to listen to a couple audiocasts this weekend to make up for the fact that I just am unable to listen to as many since I’ve been so busy at work. If I were doing things like programming I could sit there and listen. I’m in IT at the moment and need to hop up every five minutes.

I have to come in to work tomorrow (Saturday). The really sad thing is that I’m taking it easy today (Friday) as a result. The coming in is for a specific inventory thing. I’m just not looking forward to it. I wish I could have started Friday afternoon, but I didn’t have all the stuff I needed.

You stand on a podium. The thing you set your notes on is a lectern.

So very nice outside today. It is the second of November and the air is warm and not very humid. It is almost warm. I wore two shirts this morning for the picture. It is still too warm for such things.

I listened to an NPR story about a girl in Pakistan who is trying to go to school in Pakistan. The Taliban shot her for speaking out. I listened to another story on the BBC that spoke of talking ATM machines for the visually impaired. They mentioned there were more speaking ATM machines in Pakistan than the UK. Telling.

I have no idea who is going to win the next presidential election here in the U. S.. I do know the person who wins will not be the one I want to win. I want someone who will run the country like a leader. I want someone who will have the U. S. citizen and the country in mind when making decisions, not the next election.

Notes:

My allergies are trying to kill me.

It was foggy this morning. People don’t know how to act when they hit a foggy patch. They turn on their brights or speed up. People have no self control or common sense.

I’m now at a big company again. The days of everything shutting down when the old man said so and him getting the whole company’s resources dedicated to one goal are over. Something I’m remembering from my time at another large company a long time ago is that there are multiple layers to the term “Critical”. That is, if five people come to you with critical tasks, you begin prioritizing the tasks based on the clout of the people. This is human nature and cannot be changed until we only have robots doing things for us. Even they will end up prioritizing on who is giving the order. Otherwise, humans will not get the expected results.

Halloween

Happy Halloween. More coming soon I bet. Stay tuned.

No plans. doubt anyone will stop by and ask for candy. Not sure if I’ll answer the door if they do. May be stuck at work until well after dark.

Need to pay bills when I get home this evening. Not sure that will happen. You see, Nat is off with Elle trick or treating in a rich neighborhood. This means I get to walk home. I don’t normally feel like doing anything after walking home except crashing.

Weekend

I got quite a bunch of things done this past weekend.  a bunch for me anyway.

• Worked a bit from home, though what I did didn’t help that much.
• Laundry all of Saturday.
• Mowed the yard, including weed whacking around the tree in the back yard.
• Shot a video of fixing my lanyard on my flashlight

Then I made it back to work and had to do so much in so short amount of time that I thought my head would explode. I got home Monday evening and was so brain dead that I just couldn’t function. I went to bed early and got up feeling much better than the previous evening

Work hasn’t brought me down. I have a hundred tickets under my name and looking at them just makes me laugh instead of depressed. Which, is much better. I kill myself to get things done. Most stuff gets done. Some still sits.

I have an inventory to finish. The deadline is looming. I worked on it today by collecting old machines that people do not need any more. Every one I collect is one I do not need to track. My office is full of dirty old boxes. I didn’t get a single box tracked today. I got several collected and the spreadsheet set up. I’m glad the deadline got pushed to Monday. If things start to get out of hand, I can rely on at least one weekend day to make up the lost time. Do not want to go there.

The truth be told, I’m still very excited about what is going on. It is a lot of work, but it is good work that feels like I’m getting some things done. Goals are being achieved, most of the time.

Lanyard Vlog

Field	Data
Title	Lanyard Vlog
Description	Lanyard, pullups, laundry and teleporting. Heck of a weekend. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging Klarus xt10 flashlight lanyard fix repair laundry teleporting
Link	Link

What?

A new CNN/ORC International poll shows that the race for the battleground state of Ohio remains very close, just a week and a half before Election Day. In the survey released Friday, President Barack Obama holds a four-point advantage over Republican nominee Mitt Romney, with 50% of likely Ohio voters questioned in the poll backing the president and 46% supporting the former Massachusetts governor. Ohio carries 18 electoral votes. Obama's margin is within the survey's sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The survey was conducted Tuesday through Thursday, entirely after Monday's final presidential debate. CNN Headline News email

Read that first paragraph again. Someone did a poll encompassing the glove that is supposed to have told the pollsters that the presidential race has narrowed in a single state? Is that what I’m reading in that first paragraph?

What is the point in asking people outside the state in question about how the presidential race progresses in that particular state? Does this make sense to anyone else?

I want a breakdown of who was asked? Were these expats? Was anyone in the state of Ohio consulted? Was this outsourced to India or China or something?

Notes

When I get to work, I open a document and write “Notes” at the top of the page in big bold letters. This is the seed upon which I build my blogs. That seed hasn’t helped much lately because I have basically been plowing through at 100 mph the whole time at work just striving to stay afloat. I still take the time to do it.

I like shaving. That is, I like taking my time and shaving. I listened to a podcast of a fiction story about an old time barber. He shaved men who were evil and turned them good. The way it was written was amazing. Whoever wrote it knew how to describe a scene.

I am deep in hidden tunnels  Things are dark and mysterious. That is jut the way I like it.

It actually feels cool outside. I’m going to need to put my jacket back in my bag. This might be an issue because I not only carry a laptop around on occasion now, but I carry a bunch of crap in that pocket of the bag all the time. This may call for a cleanout of the bag.

Rough day

Talk about brain dead. I had one of the most difficult days at work today that I have ever had. Not sure I’m cut out for this IT stuff after a day like today. Just one of those really difficult days that makes you question your choices up to this point.

I survived.

SSL is ridiculous. The idea of needing SSL makes me ill. If only saying you were someone else didn’t pay. If only our identities were not worth so much.

Now to relax a bit at home with the family.

Vlog Robots

Field	Data
Title	Vlog Robots
Description	I for one robot overlords. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging phones customer service call center Westheimer pedestrian walking commute home sunset superman
Link	Link

Notes

There was a story on NPR talking about the death of the bookshelf. Manufacturing folks are evolving to meet demand for shelves that hold other things. They covered books by the foot. I remember looking them up before. It is funny how the name of things change, but not the content.

It felt hot and muggy this morning on the commute in. My mustaches feels the strain of the additional humidity. It will not cool off until Friday. It cracks me up how he weather people seem to flow from one evan to another. Sunny and normal just doesn’t get them the hits.

My new boots are killing me. We stopped at Academy Saturday on the way back home from my work. I got a pull on set of work type boots. Nat kept pointing me to other brands, but I stuck with Wolverine this time. The last time I strayed, the boots came apart. It was Caterpillar no less. Now I am wary of manufacturers I haven’t tried. I will probably try a different brand next time just to spread the potential for failure around.

They have issues in England in housing. They don’t have enough housing to go around. They have this thing they call the housing ladder. This is where young people enter the market at the bottom and old people die off at the top end. This is not a higher is better ladder. It is a higher is closer to death ladder. Here in Houston, we seem to have too many apartments. People who sell land for apartments are the only ones making money off the practice. Houses prices are going up. People are buying old houses, tearing them down and building a new one on the spot here.

Video gripe ideas

• Addictions
• Coffee
• Tabaco
• Alcohol
• Facebook (all social media)
• People
• The scar on my arm
• Dr falling off the chair
• Changing color
• Find a picture
• Getting older
• Get the video of me with long hair from my mother
• Riding motercycle
• Being legally blind while riding
• Following people
• Helmet and eye protection
• Shooting
• Double safety
• Double safety again
• Have friends nearby who know what is going on

Mink Oil

Title	Mink Oil
Description	Not saying I’m doing it right. Just doing it. Putting on Mink Oil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mink_oil * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging mink oil boots leathe
Link	Link

Vlog

Field	Data
Title	Weekend vlog
Description	Just the whole dang thing in a collection of shots. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging wicker chair backing up car tables paint art weekend garage
Link	Link

Notes:

When I listen to the first five minutes of Alix Jones and then turn it off because I cannot hear him any more, I listen to The Writer’s Almanac. I wish I could listen Alix.

It is funny watching videos from Canada. Their trees are snowing leaves. That is the feeling you get when you watch it happen. It feels like something so natural. I wish someone from Canada would simply video a regular time video of about ten minutes length that was simply the wind rustling the trees and the leaves falling in some quiet place where you could hear the noise the trees preparing for rest.

There are many roads leading out. There is only one way out. Everyone takes it. No one is is left behind. Do not worry.

Bus vlog

Field	Data
Title	Bus vlog
Description	Just another day. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging bus commuting walking fire trucks building
Link	Link

ow many idiots does it take to change a lightbulb?

Field	Data
Title	How many idiots does it take to change a lightbulb?
Description	Well, me apparently. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	lightbulb change anger rage fix tire tracks
Link	Link

Sky vlog

Field	Data
Title	Sky vlog
Description	Short one today. Elle dancing and sunset. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging sun set dancing Subway Houston Texas family fun happy
Link	Link

Notes:

Didn’t sleep worth a dang last night. Nat was kind enough to give me a ride in this morning. I was just plane frazzled this morning. It was good to have some sit down time before tackling the day.

When it boils down th toe accessibility options in Windows vs Linux, there is one that stands out to me. Firefox on Windows transmits the fact that you are set to high contrast to the web page and allows high contrast settings on the web page. It doesn’t on Linux. I prefer Linux. I can blow up the web pages as needed. No one designs their web page (except Google) for high contrast worth a flip.

Commute Vlog

I’ve been planning on this one for years.

Field	Data
Title	Commute Vlog
Description	I’ve been waiting for this vlog for a long time. Some people vlog only while commuting. I am not one of those folks. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging commute commuting grass busy road westheimer road legally blind walking pedestrian crossing streets houston texas
Link	Link

New stuff at work Day

Day One

We handed out a bunch of new machines this morning. People seemed happy to get them.  That was the first hurdle. We are fielding phone calls for now getting people online. Hopefully, people attend their training and at least try to get up and running soon. Honestly, gathering the old equipment is going to be more of a chore than handing out new stuff.

The new laptops have lights  This is far more cool than I thought it would be.

One of the big things today was moving printers that had already been moved and rerunning old cables. I also needed to run several new cables for people. The place i shopping. It is exciting. People are turning up on the system in droves. Some folks are already switching..

Just after lunch, we had to setup a conference room with power and wired network for 18 laptops. Our wifi has issues so we didn’t want to rely on it. We had four, eight port switches feeding 20 connections. We had to allow for an observer and the person teaching the class. This toobk less than an hour because I had less than an hour to get it up and running. Last I heard, things were at least functioning. I didn’t hang around. One of the other IT folks was in the class to keep an eye on things.

the above paragraph will really test our setup. It will also get several people on the new system. Hopefully some momentum will build and the rinkles will be flattened out a bit by the end of today.

Day Two

Today there is a bunch more running of cables. People are indeed using their new systems. I’m noticing people coming up on the networks. This is very cool. We are getting old systems in and the replacement issues are starting to get filterd through the system. At some point soon, we will be over the hump.

Notes

2012-10-08
The only real issue I have with GoDaddy is their site. I have the most difficult time navigating the labyrinth to get to the proper place to do what I want. I cannot figure out how to tell them I do not want to renew some items, ever. Let them go. It constantly asks me to renew stuff that I just don’t want any more. There has got to be a way.

2012-10-09
Nothing. No notes today

Passwords passwords everywhere

Field	Data
Title	Passwords passwords everywhere
Description	Exciting, fun and terrifying times for Kelly. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog vlogging living room window curtains passwords Lenovo Fujitsu laptop work working career Houston Texas
Link	Link

New company

I am signing in to a huge company’s network. They are not one of these places that has a single login strategy. Everything has a different user ID, password and method of connection. You just have to know sometimes when the “Enter your credentials” dialog box pops up what the hell they want from you. It is amazingly annoying for the user, but when I stop and think about it, it is another layer of security.

I feel like a borg. Trust me, if we could implant this laptop, they would have it in the contract.

We have to run extra network cables in a few places to get printers where they need to be. Everything will be changed over the next several months or year. It is exciting to be honest.

I spent the majority  of my day working on my new laptops. They are awesome laptops. The way we do things at my work is going to change on the level of the great flood.

Notes

2012-10-02
Having to get used to using my laptop in meetings. Since I have an aversion to relying on batteries, I nearly always have to find a plug.

Didn’t get anything written for the blog today. Didn’t shoot any video. Work is nuts. I need to pay bills when I get home anyway. No time for fun stuff.

2012-10-03
Glanced at the weather report for the next five days. Everything looks nice. The highs are at most 90f. Some of the lows look pretty much like snuggle weather. No real rain, but at this time in the year, we get afternoon showers almost all the time.

Marketplace had a story about  Chinese jobs leaving for other countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. . A small part of me wants to laugh and say “They had it coming!”, but that just isn’t what is going on here. China has had a run of many decades of being a low labor cost country. They are going to have to do what the U. S. has done and make themselves grow beyond making cheap wallets and everything else. They are going go have to do more than produce, they are going to have to create.

Weekend Weather

Field	Data
Title	Weekend Weather
Description	Time lapse of the weekend’s weather. Music: Porch Blues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	time lapse timelapse weekend weather sixth floor Houston Texas Kdenlive Toshiba H30
Link	Link

Shirt

Walked in this morning with my shirt on inside out. I didn’t notice until I got on the bus under the lights. I normally don’t catch this sort of thing until at least lunch. Guess I’m on the ball this morning.



Then I (smugly)  got to work and figured out that the shirt was just fine. It just has those kinds of seams. The moment I had the shirt off, I noticed the great big label in the back that clearly goes on the inside.  It was on the inside already. Humph. I had put all this up on all the typical social media networks. This is the only place I’m admitting my gaff.

Notes:

There are some cool bits to the timelapse that I shot over the weekend. Might get some useful footage.

Unics live longer. I would live longer. Much less stressful.

I didn’t get lunch today. Just a bit busy  After lunch time, I was hungry. Go figure. I went to the lunchroom where in one of the refrigerators I keep a stash of peanut butter. I haven’t gotten any bread in a while for sandwiches so I just grabbed a plastic spoon and dug in. The spoon snapped and a billion little shards of plastic sprinkled themselves all over the inside of the peanut butter jar. I had to throw it out. Half a jar of peanut butter hitting the skids. I could only imagine myself choking on some stabby piece of plastic from that spoon. Not worth it. Now, I have neither pancake mix, nore peanut butter.