Kelly picked up the kids in Farmville today, giving me some time to help with Gerry’s Adopt-a-Highway this morning and a bike ride in the afternoon. I left Anderson Point Park at 1:55 PM and rode south all the way to Clayton and back for a grand total of 31 miles! I didn’t bring any snacks, nor did I bring my bike shorts, both of which I could have used. Even so, I enjoyed the ride and think this may be the most beautiful portion of the Capital Area Greenway.
Checking In
A catch-all, catch-up post
There are 1,126 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 22 of 113).
Sirius sets
I pulled the plug on my SiriusXM subscription yesterday, when that great six-month deal ran out and was no longer offered. I don’t know, maybe my work with Little Raleigh Radio has convinced me that radio works best if it’s local, but I never got into satellite radio. I guess being able to tune in the world on my smartphone was too easy (and free) to pass up. Also, the satellite receiver stayed in Kelly’s car (the minivan), so it wasn’t around for me during my RTP commutes.
I still admire the company though, and if it offered service the right price I might subscribe to it again.
Bosch CPSC complaint published
I got an email this afternoon from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, letting me know that the citizen report I filed on my Bosch dishwasher has now been publicly posted.
Unlike some reports I’ve seen on the site, my report does not include any comments from Bosch. At this point, anyway. I am under the impression the company had a chance to see my report before it was posted, but that’s just a guess.
On a related note, two weeks ago Bosch dispatched a local appliance technician to my home to check out the dishwasher. He scratched his head when he saw a working dishwasher and wondered aloud why he was there. He just shook his head when I held up the melted relay, saying he didn’t even need to see it because he’s seen many of these cases. I wasn’t sure if he meant Bosch issues or issues with other dishwashers.
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Now on new host
Well, the dreaded day did come when I had to move my website off the hosted VPS Farm server I’ve used since 2007. When I turned off my server for the last time Tuesday night I felt a twinge of sadness. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.
The migration to my new host, Tranquil Hosting, went very smoothly, however. I had my sites down for about two hours Tuesday night as I shifted mail and websites to the new host. I was rather pleased with myself that things went so smoothly. I guess my many years of IT experience pays off!
Will I stick around with Tranquil? We’ll see. VPS was a deal that was hard to beat but there’s something to be said about working with a local firm like Tranquil. So far so good!
Work, fast and furious
Oh, how I forgot how quickly things move at a startup company! I’ve dived right into my role as support manager, not really knowing all I need to know but trusting I can figure it out. I’ve already reached the point where I can field some support cases on my own, which is sooner than I expected. I’m still nowhere near where I need to be to feel comfortable, though, and I lean quite heavily on my more-experienced coworkers, but I’m getting there.
One of my coworkers walked into my office today and told me, “uh, hey, we’ve really piled on the stuff for you, haven’t we?” I had to laugh! It’s great to have the confidence of one’s coworkers but it’s true that I’m barely keeping my head above water now. I told my boss I feel like the kid who just had his training wheels taken off: I’m wobbling all over the place but have somehow managed to stay upright.
Getting up to speed is very much like learning a foreign language through immersion. I hear all these names and acronyms which are still fuzzy to me, so I focus on the context to fill in the blanks.
Am I working hard? You betcha – harder than I have in a while. Am I enjoying it? Absolutely! I am all in. It’s good to feel wanted and good to feel like I’m contributing right off the bat.
Little Raleigh Radio server delivered
Little Raleigh Radio
The server has a full install of the Rivendell radio automation software and 2GB RAID1 mirrored drives for a HUGE storage space of music. It still lacks a monitor and sound card but those are on the way.
Now the difficult work begins of getting the rest of the staff trained on how to use Rivendell.
Radiator work
After returning from DC with Hallie and her class, I had a rather intimidating task ahead of me: changing out my car’s radiator. I’d never done a radiator before but in the age of YouTube I had all the instructions I needed.
Having bought the replacement radiator at AutoZone a week before, I was all set to make the change. It cost me an hour of my Saturday afternoon, a few busted knuckles, one Imperial Pale Ale, and about $110 but I got it done. Had we taken it to the dealer we’d have probably been out $600.
DC and back
At the White House
Well, I didn’t get a chance to do much blogging during my DC field trip with Hallie and her class. The pathetic battery life on my smartphone prohibited me from much websurfing up there and back and when I got to the hotel I had more email to catch up on than I expected.
We had a great time in spite of the bone-chilling wind.
DC bound
I’m taking the next two days off to chaperone my daughter’s 5th grade class on a trip to Washington, DC. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for months and can’t believe it’s finally here.
While I’m gone I’ll be missing a Parks board meeting. I can’t recall if I’ve ever missed one in the 4 years I’ve been on the Board. Maybe one, but no more. This is totally worth it, though. I love helping kids, and the chance to pal around with my daughter for two days is a real gift.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll even get a chance to do some blogging. We’ll see.
Not fast enough
I had to laugh last week when I overheard a conversation in the breakroom between two coworkers. One was at the microwave, complaining that he had to enter the full cook time, rather than hit one button for a preset time.
I laughed when I realized how absurd the thought was. Here was a miraculous invention that could cook food in mere seconds and my friend was griping that he had to wait an additional two seconds. If there ever was a “first world problem” I’m sure this is it.