When you take a new job in IT, you’ve got an awkward time between the moment you finally feel competent enough to run your new network and the moment the first thing goes wrong and you actually have to respond to an outage.

Yesterday just before lunch I was brought up to speed on the infrastructure at our data center in Atlanta.  I’ve been there before (I have some of my own stuff there), but Aaron’s stuff was Aaron’s stuff, and I didn’t care about it.  Now it’s my stuff, and I have to keep it running.

So yesterday the awkward time began.  I left here feeling like I knew a little bit about the infrastructure and got here this morning ready to plow through some new stuff we’re doing.  The email came through announcing that Aaron would be out sick today, and I pressed on with the tasks at hand.

Then the awkward time ended, almost 24 hours after it began.  Aaron called to tell me we had a server down.  So I spent the day troubleshooting and repairing a server.  Then there was some other stuff that went wrong that we had to fix.  Fun times.  This server is all ready to go back into our nice little rack down at the data center, and I’ll be down there tonight to get that taken care of.

All this going wrong on a day that Aaron was sick…I wonder if he planned this.

We watched “The Number 23″ tonight.  All I knew about it was what I saw in one commercial.  I don’t usually watch a movie without knowing something about it, but with Jim Carrey, I figured I would want to see it anyway.

I’ve been a Carrey fan for a long time.  I liked the idiot movies he did in the 90’s, and I think that some of the more serious movies he’s done (like “The Majestic” and “Man on the Moon”) may not have been the greatest films ever made, but they showed that Carrey can actually act without acting like a complete idiot.

“The Number 23″ seems to be Jim Carrey announcing to the world that he’s a real actor.  I don’t want to spoil it for anybody, so I’ll be brief with this review.  Carrey did a great job in his role, though it took a little while for me to believe him in the role.  I still see Lloyd Christmas when I look at Jim Carrey, so I had to get into the story before I could believe him in this movie.

That said, once I got into it, I was hooked.  I’d say go watch it.  Don’t go expecting a comedy, because, well, it’s no comedy.  It is a good movie, but it’s certainly not a comedy.  It kept me guessing until (almost) the end, and it may end up being the movie that changed how people perceive Carrey as an actor.

If any of you saw it, I’d love to hear what you thought.

According to Wulfgar’s Diet Snapple lid, all porcupines float in water.

I, for one, would like proof.  Does anyone have a porcupine we can borrow?

Dell has outsourced their online tech support to idiots. Here is a conversation I had with one of their online tech support people. This is verbatim. I didn’t change a thing.

Ramon Thank you for patiently waiting. You have reached Dell Hardware Warranty Chat Support. My name is Ramon and I will be assisting you today. In order for me to help you, can you provide details about the issue you’re having?

Me I’m running virtual pc on my latitude, and the virtual machine doesnt have usb drivers installed (so I can’t use usb devices with the virtual machine). support.dell.com didn’t have the drivers for usb. can you point me to them?

Ramon I understand how you are feeling and I will do my best to help solve the problem. Is this a new or existing case?

Me new

Ramon To ensure we are working with the correct system, are you chatting about the LATD620 listed on your account?

Me yes

Ramon Are you chatting on the system with the problem?

Me yes

Ramon Ron did the usb work fine before the virtual pc?

Me it works fine in windows xp (not virtual pc) but my virtual machine doesn’t recognize any usb devices.

Ramon Ron what is virtual pc?

Me just assume usb isn’t working on my latd620. can you give me the drivers?

Ramon Ron what is virtual pc?

Me if you’re unsure of what virtual pc is, you’re likely not qualified for this support call. please escalate the issue.

Ramon Ron the usb drive is the chipset driver.

Me ok. thank you.

Ramon If it works for your operating system then it should work virtual pc.

What really gets me is that he has no clue what Virtual PC is (since he asked twice) and he can speak so confidently about what will or will not work inside Virtual PC.

*sigh*

This just in…Ted Stevens is an idiot.  Here’s why.

It’s been a good week.

Monday I started the new job, and I’ve quickly (even more quickly than I anticipated) adjusted to the different pace of working for a small company.  I like it.

Yesterday I got to help fix a display issue with the new version of our software, and today I got to help our support team with an issue surrounding a customer’s firewall (ISA Server, of all things).  While I don’t want to do development full time, and I don’t want to solve trouble ticket problems all day either, the chance to spread out a little with what I do on a day-to-day basis is a nice change.

I’ve been setting up servers, planning our (nice) new rack layout, configuring stuff, and pretty much having a blast (as much as is allowed while working).  I figured out Microsoft’s DFS today, and even though I’m not the biggest fan of Microsoft, I’ve got to say that DFS is pretty sweet.  Tomorrow is some group policy, a little documentation, and then maybe on to the most awesome PBX software ever.

Tonight was “The Office” on TV again, and I am finding myself amazed every week at how great that show is.  It’s consistently good, too…not just “once in a while good” like so many shows.  I’m also amazed at how Steve Carell is showing me he’s more than just a funny guy…he’s a great actor.  I can’t wait until next Thursday.  Having “The Office” on at 8:30 on Thursdays is literally like starting Friday 4 hours early.

I’ll try to get back to some more regular posting in the next few days.  I’ve got a few posts brewing…maybe I’ll finish them up over the weekend so we can get back to more Ron on a more regular basis.

I’m a network guy, and my career path, influenced by so many, would likely have been very different if I never knew my friend Ethan.

Ethan lives up where it’s cold all the time, and he’s a Red Sox fan, but I still appreciate him. He got me interested in networks, switches, routers…all the infrastructure stuff that I love to do. It was my interest in what he taught me (added to the fact that 40 hours per week of programming would be dull beyond belief) that caused me to lean my career toward network administration.

So I like Ethan. I wouldn’t name my next kid (no, Mom, we aren’t) after him, but he’s a great guy.

Back in 2000, I completed my MCSE certification. The day I passed the final test, I sent Ethan an email to tell him. His response was so fun to read, I printed it. Today while going through my home office, I found that copy of Ethan’s email. I enjoyed reading it so much, that I decided to post it here.

Welcome to the ranks of Redmond. You are now an enforcing member of a sadistic empire that will possibly, someday, rule the world. Your talents will be used and abused, but you’ll accept that, because you’ll know it’s for the best. You know that someday the whole world will bow the knee to Lord High Master and Dictator of the Known World, Herr Gates. You’ll feel a little guilty if that happens, but you’ll justify it in your mind because, luckily, you were on the winning side. After the empire is set up, and power consolidation begins, you’ll be forced to perform distasteful acts that will plague your conscience - the formatting of an innocent Linux machine, torching an Apple manufacturing plant, chanting at the ceremonial burning of all things Sun, but…your side won, so you’ll know it’s okay. The merciless slaughter of the OS children at Be, Inc. will make sense, somehow, because you were just doing what you were told.

So welcome. A warm, hearty, slap-on-the-back welcome. Millions of beknighted hordes crusading for a common cause simply must be right…right?

But beware. In pockets of rebellion everywhere, there rises a penguin. A mighty, inspiring bastion of freedom, power, and independence…you’ll be told that the penguin doesn’t matter - that it can’t compete to the wares of your master. But it does matter - and how it compares! Oh yes, the penguin matters very much. You will fear. And you will quake. And your confidence will be shaken when the upstart can’t be squashed under the sheer immensity of your master.

Watch your back, young recruit. Although the way you have chosen seems the best way now, broad is the path that leadeth to destruction. Look to the horizon - you can see the head of an enormous penguin breaking through the clouds, stepping forth with fervor and confidence. It’s a force that cannot be ignored.

/Ethan

Well, it was a hectic final 2 weeks, but we made it through.  As of this moment, I guess I’m unemployed.  That’ll last until Monday when I start over at SafeBrowse.  The next few weeks will also be busy because we’ve got lots to do at the new job.  No rest for the weary, I guess.  My annual pilgrimage to Florida for spring training baseball will come soon enough.

I’ve been told that the high number of technical posts recently is boring to the less technical readers.  I’ll try to do better.  Maybe I’ll throw in a limerick or something to lighten the mental load.  The good news is that I’m showing up in Google’s search results for terms that I’ve been using lately.  At least I’m helping somebody with my blog.

It’s late, and I guess I should head back to bed.  Or maybe to play another round of dice wars.

I thought about my friend Gaines when I saw this the other day:

Granted, it’s a Florida plate, but the guy driving it had a blue/gold hat on, so I assume he’s referring to the Tech.

I’ve been chasing the buffalo for some time now, and I finally got one. My friend Curt has insisted this is one of the best CDs ever made. I’ve only heard it a few times through, but I really have been enjoying it. That Pierce Pettis is pretty awesome, in case you didn’t know.

Thanks, Curt.