I went with a few friends on Friday to see the new Star Trek. It was an awesome movie. It ranks right up there with the first Matrix. I’ve never seen a feature film in the IMAX format so that was unique. I think I might even go see it again locally in standard format.
Work is slowing down a tad, but is still busy. I have a lot of organization to do… mainly in regards to documentation. Software and hardware systems, maintenance contracts, 3rd party connections…. on and on and on. It will be a challenge, but I think I can manage.
Griminal Grim's Ramblings
During my first management meeting on Monday, the man that had just promoted me the following Thursday announced that he’ll be leaving the organization in mid-July. I was shocked, but happy for him and his family.
I can’t believe the number of things that all came up in just the last week. Three new site-to-site VPN connections need to be created, 3 new data transfer push/pulls to 3rd party organizations, and a bunch of personnel workspace moves, large amounts of phone equipment changes. The amazing bit is that these are just normal, routine changes. They just seemed to pile up waiting for someone to get the I.T. Supervisor job. I’ve been on the phone more in the last two days than in the last 2 weeks. There sure are a lot of interesting things going on to be sure. It makes for a quick day.
Griminal Grim's Ramblings
I stated a few months ago that I had some big changes coming up. It’s weird how everything all dumps at once. The first big update is that I’ve been promoted to I.T. Supervisor. The second change is that we FINALLY moved into our new offices. I have my own office with a window even. It’s in the basement so you can use your imagination on the window.
The promotion was a tough decision. My partner in the department is just as capable as I. I barely squeaked by him… and my boss told me so. It’s a 15% raise… and a lot more responsibility.
My site is back up. It’s amazing how moving your computer 100 yards can fuck up an XP install. The system wouldn’t see my USB KVM or my Microsoft USB keyboard. I searched the internet high and low, went back a few restore points, reinstalled SP3, deleted USB root hubs… it was crazy. I inevitably did a clean install… which took two days with all the moving and promotion fiasco going around.
Back to the site… Doing a bit of searching on 802.1Q VLANs in VMWare workstation, I was able to find that my Intel gigabit NIC could create multiple virtual LAN interfaces on different VLANs. So I created a new VLAN on the core switch, added a port on that VLAN, and plugged in a connection to our ISP into that port. I turned the port my system connects to into a trunk port. I then setup two virtual NICs on different VLANs on my computer… one for our standard workgroup VLAN and the other on the newly created “Raw Internet” VLAN. The outcome: the site is back up. I have multiple hosting accounts I could use to put this stupid little blog on, but this is a learning experience.
Griminal Grim's Ramblings
I finished the exterior of the barn this weekend. I also started putting up the support beams for the hayloft. I hope I can get the floor in by this weekend.
Griminal Grim's Ramblings
Last Saturday I was able to get the front of the barn done…. except for the door stop on the overheads. I tried to do that on Sunday but it misted all day. Big deal, right? Twenty-two feet of steel roofing collects a hell of a lot of water… which then drips right on your face when you’re directly under it.
A friend of mine has a laser transit that I’m going to ask to borrow so I can get all the support post for the hayloft cut at the right height. I would love to get this fucking building done by the end of the month.
The people that currently reside in the office that we’ll be moving into are starting their move out. I should have my own office in a week or two, with luck.
Griminal Grim's Ramblings