This is more like it.

Evidently my post about our APC Backups from before wasn’t appreciated and its daddy showed up.

It has Arrived! Batteries

This thing is a monster. Total freight weight of over 1900 pounds and too big to fit in anything but a semi-trailor. We had our work cut out getting this thing installed. Basically all we do is put it where we want it and APC comes and does all the hard work. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

I just hope that 2008 can be as great as 2007 was for me. The Lord has been good and I am constantly reminded of that. Here is a quick look at how I rang in the new year.

Rockin New Years 1 Rockin New Years 2  

 If you ever have the opportunity to go to a ‘Rock Band’ party (or host one) I suggest you jump on it. Great times were had by all.  

Recent Happenings

It has been a whirlwind. Things around here just haven’t stopped lately. Between the phone system move, data center stuff, the christmas production and closing up end of the year things there hasn’t been a dull moment and the days have been long. Here is a snapshot of things happening.

 As you may have seen on Jason’s blog we recieved our new racks and promptly starting filling them up. First with the move of the phone system.

Phone Guy 

While the phone guys were working their fingers off, we decided to start moving what other equipment we could.

  Core Switch

Once we got the core switch(HP 5406zl) in and wired up the phone guys were ready to move our T-1. (Note: Rememer when VLANing that switch port numbers do not increase linearly)

Sonicwall 

We got the T-1 and our firewall and VPN moved all at the same time and wired up and ready to go.

 When we ordered our battery backup from APC This is not at all like I expected.

Battery Backup  

The phone guys were then able to proceed through each extension and getting it punched down in the new rack. Looks much neater now.

Phone System  

Once the phone guys had finished, I took a moment to examine the cable they had removed from our previous location.

Covered 

With all this excitement stress levels can run high, Jason came to the rescue with a great Christmas gift. R/C Helicopters!

Us and our choppers Chopper Action

Once we had relieved our stress with some pilot action, I was on my way to a rehearsal for our Christmas production and noticed that our lobby was now a park…with an ice rink!

Park 

And to end things out we had finagled a couple pans of brownies out of some co-workers but our second pan must have been rushed out of the oven because it was not finished. This is Jason spreading the middle like butter. There are however some who think this is how brownies should be…those people are wrong.

   Undercooked Brownies    

 Things have definitely been crazy round here lately, but the mood is good. Christmas is my favorite holiday and this is shaping up to be a good one.

Critical System Error!

I happened to be in my local Best Buy lately and as I was going through the checkout, I found this sign

System Failure 

The sign reads: “Due to a critical system failure, our prices on the sales floor may not be correct. However, the prices are correct in the registers.” 

Evidently their system is; You shop for what you want, They charge whatever they feel they should at that time. So I understand that system problems happen, but how can you have a store where all the displayed prices are incorrect? They couldn’t just start writing prices for now? Maybe I’m being to critical. Whatever happened to stores that honor the shelf prices?

Microsoft is giving their software away!

….that is of course if you agree to take a survey every two weeks and let them monitor everything that happens on your computer for three months. They are taking some extraordinary steps to get in and see what you are doing here. In my experience even people who use their computer exclusively for freecell don’t like the idea of being watched…at all! Let alone the possibility of 24/7 surveillance.

I might do it though. Link

Great Time

Yesterday(Friday) I was privileged enough to be able to take part in the Northwoods Christmas party. It was a great time spent with staff in Chicago. I considered posting a photo journal of sorts but then I lost all of that ambition. So here are a couple of highlights and thumbnails of the whole trip.

Lunch3 GeniusBar BenEarMold Walking  

Lunch3 Lunch2 Lunch1 GeniusBar Cab Ride BenEarMold4 BenEarMold2 BenEarMold HaroldEarMold2 HaroldEarMold NewTech2 NewTech JasonHarold Walking BusRide1 ChicagoStreet

One year!

While perusing the blog of Tony Dye, I happened to notice that today is a special day. 

It seems like only four months ago that I sat in on my first Church IT podcast…. Well, it was only four months ago but in those for months I have taken part in some great discussions, met most of the people involved, and been to two roundtables. Looking back it’s a whirlwind but the church IT community is a great one.

Kudos to the ‘king‘ of course for starting the podcast. It has been a wealth of information as well as a great place to interact with peers. I’m glad to be a part of it.

It has arrived!

There is something I have been waiting for, eagerly anticipating you might say. Something that would make things better all around. Of course it’s a gadget, a cell phone to be specific. One that I have been tracking for the last 9 months. Watched the specs get released, then changed. Jumped on any early photos I could find. Saw the release scheduled then pushed back. Watched as members of the sprint family were handed their new toy, and our release was pushed back. Now, 11 months after the initial grumblings were made public. Verizon Wireless has released the xv6800

xv6800

It’s an upgrade to the phone I currently have, the xv6700. Honestly I’m glad to see this phone be released. Will I buy it? Probably not. I do intend to ask a Verizon representative why they think they can release a phone 6 months late, after sprint has already released it, and still expect $400 for the device. We’ll see how things go. Amazon sells the sprint version for $250 by the way.

Happy Halloween!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Halloween before the night ends. I hope your evening was as delightful as mine. While not everyone caught on to my costume immediately it was a hit with those who saw me for what I was.

The Grouch

 

Do I look grouchy?

Why we do what we do

 I was doing some work in our server room today and a quick glance revealed to me one of the reasons we are in the middle of our relocation.

Thermometer

 I may not remember correctly, but I thought that 80 degrees was on the high side of the scale for your server room.

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