Archive for the 'Work' Category

Spring Training, Red Sox and Red Hat

Published at March 18, 2008 in Geeky, Life and Work. 0 Comments
“Remember, fans, Tuesday is Die Hard Night. Free admission for anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won the pennant.“

Mid March, can you feel it? Baseball season is soon upon us. And I have already seen a Sox game. I went with Paul, Cait and Erin to Spring Training in Fort Myers, Florida. I saw one game, the Sox vs Tampa Bay. By the way, The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are no longer the Devil Rays, just the Rays. I took a few pics.

Florida was fun, I got to see my Cousin and her family, ate some crab, had dinner with Christie, a dear friend who lives in Fort Lauderdale. Florida itself was interesting. For cost savings we flew into West Palm Beach, which is almost directly across the state from Naples, where we stayed. It took about 3 hours to drive across the state, it doesnt look that long on the map. It was mostly farm land and straight as an arrow, most of the roads there seem to be that way. Naples was full of our Greatest Generation. Some where loud, smelly, scary, most were just normal old people acting old. I felt their stares, jealous of my youth, lack of a fishing cap and stomach of steel as I downed a hot dog for lunch!

I also finally went to a Sonic. For the better part of a decade I have been taunted by Sonic commercials. In college ( Hartford ), Home ( Cranston ) and here in Home 2 ( Boston ), Sonic commercials are on all the time. At this moment the closest Sonic is 300 miles away in New Jersey. And I have little to no reason to go to New Jersey. But there are a bunch in Florida, so we went to one. An interesting place. It’s a Drive-In, like the 1950s places. Or the intro to the Flintstones. They pull up in the car and the lady brings them out a side of woolly mammoth or something? That’s what Sonic is. Only the waitress is a depressed teenybopper on rollerblades with no personality. I got an Oreo Blast, it was OK, nothing to write home about. In the end it was cool to go to, but trust me, you’re not missing much.

So Florida trip, success.

I am also going on a little Spring Training myself in April. At work we use Red Hat based Linux distros for almost everything. Some of the servers have Red Hat Enterprise, Red Hat Linux, Fedora Core, or CentOS. I have my gripes with Red Hat, but it’s what we use and I dont forsee anyone changing that anytime soon. I still prefer Ubuntu these days, but that’s neither here nor there. Work will pay for training and grad school, so I am going to start that with some Red Hat Training. I signed up for Red Hat Training Course #253 Red Hat Linux Networking and Security Administration, which is 4 days of training with the 5th day being Red Hat Test 302 The Red Hat Certified Engineer Exam. The Exam has 2 parts and based on your score you either become a Red Hat Certified Technician or the higher grade Engineer. I am going to try to rip Red Hat apart on my laptop in preparation for the test, maybe I can become an Engineer.

I am also thinking about grad school. If work is going to pay for it, why not? Ive got some idea of what and where, details as I get accepted someplace. This might not be until next year though.

The Summer of Stickney is Over

Published at December 3, 2007 in Life and Work. 0 Comments
“Are you ready for a brand new day?
OK!
I’m gonna do things my own way!
OK!
Here’s what to do, rejoice to you and join me when I say,
OK!“

It is official. As of today, the Summer of Stickney is over. As some of you are aware at this point, I have found gainful employment. After several interviews with several companies and educational institutions, I have found a place at BBN Technologies of Cambridge. Without getting too technical, this is a company that has been around since the 1940s and has played a critical role in developing the technologies that run the Internet as we know it today. They invented email, for one. The company has its hands in a lot of technical pies, and continues to be a leader in developing technologies.

My title will be System Administrator II. It is of critical importance that you note the II in that title. I dont know if there is a class system of System Admins there or not, I just hope my II protects me from some sort of rebellion.

I would like to thank all of you who made the Summer of Stickney the exciting, fun, crazy summer it was. In no particular order they are, The Guys, Webster, Scrub, Mikey, Cuzzy Dave, Stew ( in spirit ), Kelley, Erin, Jen, Karen, Alicia ( F & S ), Monty Are I, The Graduate, The Audition, New Atlantic, the cities of Cranston, Boston, Tampa, Detroit, New Orleans, Toronto and Niagara Falls ( Canada, not so much NY ), Narragansett Beach, Madonna della Civita, King Richard’s Faire, the Boston Red Sox, sausage and peppers, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and craigslist.org.

Though this is the end of my Summer, this is hardly the winter of my discontent. I look forward to working at BBN and know I will learn much from everyone there.

Last Day of Work

Published at August 3, 2007 in Work. 1 Comment
“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life.“

Today was my last day of work at Pawtuxet Valley. I met and worked with some great people and I will remember them fondly. I will take with me 3 years of experiences that taught me a great deal about dealing with people. But, life goes on, and so it goes.

Boston awaits!

I Wish I Were an Oscar Meyer Weiner

Published at July 10, 2007 in Work. 0 Comments
“What’s your favorite subject?
Poetry.
Really? Well, maybe you can help me straighten out my Longfellow.“

With my time running out in my current position, I have given thought to not only other jobs to move on to, but “what if?” What if I didn’t work in the illustrious and utterly geeky IT world? Since junior high, I’ve pretty much known that computers were the way to go, but “what if?” Well, in a different life, I like to think I could’ve been any of the following ( in no particular order ):

  • US History Teacher

    • I’ve always had an affinity for the history of this country. And I like to think I could shape young minds ( high school maybe ) by teaching them about the current world we live in through history. And plus, it’d be great to have summers off.

  • Tour Manager

    • After my most recent adventure, I was told that I would make a good tour manager for a band. I can totally see myself doing it too. I like to travel, can sleep anywhere, can hold my own in street brawls, and can be pretty organized when I need to be.

  • Sports… Something

    • Baseball is my sport. I’m not counting any of my gambling as sports, as those are games. I spent 4 years in college and became involved in many aspects of college gaming. Mainly the art of scoreboard operations ( which I might try to get into in Boston ), but also time keeping, sports information, travel, accounting, and even snack bar operations. It was a pretty fun experience, and if I could make a decent wage… even better.

Though, Ive got plenty of time to change careers, so maybe all of these are possible. I only hope that as opportunities present themselves, I have the cohones to take it.

Job, Vacation, Moving, Ya Know… Life Stuff

Published at May 15, 2007 in Family, Friends, Whoa and Work. 1 Comment
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.“

Ive recently made a decision that I mostly kept to myself, for fear if I didn’t go through with it, I would look quite the fool! I gave my notice at work, planned a month long vacation and am moving to Boston. All of which were things I wanted to accomplish this summer, but due to CBMC ( Circumstances Beyond My Control ), I had to move up my timetable.

I will remain at my present job through July, my last day being Friday, August 3. My work has taught me much, and I will draw from my experiences there for quite a while, I have no doubt.

Next, I’ll take most of the month of June off, to take my vacation, on the road touring with some old friends. It should be a hell of a time, and will give me the chance to see many parts of the country I have not been to before.

After I leave work, it’s the move to Boston. The fates aligned on this one, as Mikey, Dave and Pauly were all in the market for roommates. The IT Job Market in Boston is ripe for the picking, and I do not anticipate any problems finding a job. Plus, everything else was too good of a chance not to take.

If ever there was a Summer of Stickney, this should be it, and I couldn’t be happier.

So Long Narragansett, and Thanks for all the Fish (smell)