Diary of a Network Geek

is new again!

Well, I successfully moved HavePalmWillTravel to my new web host. And, cancelled the old account. And, got my 10% discount from my new web host, The Host Group. So, I start the year off by saving money. Cool.
Of course, now, I really should update it. A Network Geek’s work is never done.

Well, it sure has been an interesting year. A little rocky at the start, but things seem to be working out okay. Of course, I’m being a little careful these days when I talk about my job. See, I’m still a contractor and I really need to go full-time for the health benefits. Sure, the folks there complain about them, but it’s better than COBRA. And, of course, there are all the issues regarding income and creditors. The less said about that, the better. But, hey, last year at this time, not only was I not working, but I didn’t know how long it would be until I was working again! So, I’m not complaining.

And, my other website, Fantasist.net is doing fairly well. At least, I like the work I’ve managed to do on it this year. Sure, I need to do more. There are some sections that really need to be beefed up, but it’s better than the lame, little page I had there before. And, just today I figured out how to make this lovely blog system cough up foregin language dates to my specifications, so I can finally implement my web-fiction idea. Stay tuned for more on that!

In the meantime, have a Happy New Year!

It’s another grey day in Houston.

Really, “winter” in Houston is just a long string of grey, rainy days piled up one on top of the other. But, it’s warm, and it hasn’t been too rainy this season. I’d actually prefer snow to rain. Sure, I don’t have to shovel rain, but I can stand on snow, at least until it melts into slush. And, I can’t make “rain balls” or build a “rain man” in the front yard. I suppose it’s nice to be able to walk outside barefoot on Christmas Eve, but I’m still a Chicago boy at heart. And, I miss snow. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas without snow. And having a palm tree in the back yard doesn’t help much either.
At least I don’t get sick as much down here. Okay, sure, I know that being in the cold doesn’t really contribute to catching a cold, but still, I think I get sick less down here. Though, I do seem to have started getting sinus infections instead of colds. Ah, the joys of hayfever.
And, I don’t hardly need to invest in long-sleeved shirts. For about 90% of the year, short-sleeved golf-shirts work just fine for me. Unless I’m getting dressed up in a suit. Then, long-sleeved, white shirts are a must, no matter the weather. But, for the rest of the time, short-sleeves work just fine. Though, I miss my winter coats. I only get to wear them for about a week or ten days. Then, it’s back to windbreakers for me. My wife and step-daughter are bundled up most of the time, but they grew up in this warm climate and it’s thinned their blood. I hope that never happens to me.

I miss winter.

How does one ask God a question?

I’m not really happy with my professional life. It’s not that I don’t like my job, mind, I like it just fine. It’s not too hard and not too busy and it pays okay. Really, I’m pretty lucky to have a job at all right now, so I’m happy to be working. But, I’m not really happy with my professional life.
Most of my life is actually going quite well. I’m closer to my wife than I’ve ever been and we can talk and listen to each other. I’ve come to find out that’s more than a lot of couples can do. But, we can also disagree and share our hurts, too, which is a spectacular achievement for any couple, as far as I’m concerned. My spiritual life is growing. It’s not quite what it was when I was a kid, but then, I’ve grown up a whole lot since then. I still believe most of what I was taught in the Church, but I’m not an active participant in organized religion these days.
But, here I arrive at my problem. I was taught that God would take care of us. That all we had to do was trust in Him and He would show us the way. But, I feel lost, at least professionally, and I’m having a hard time asking Him for directions. Or, maybe I’m just having a hard time hearing his answers.

I guess I still have a hard time believing that there’s an all-powerful entity that is intimately interested in my career. I mean, does God care if I update my CNE? Does He care enough to express an opinion to me? Does He think I should pursue my CCNA instead? Or, is it time to get my MCSE? Will angels come down and tell me to get started on my CompTIA Project+ certification so I can become a MCNE? How will I know God’s plan for my career? How do I ask Him career advice? I’m lost in a high-tech wilderness and I’m searching for a sign from God. How will I know it when I see it? Will it be a burning monitor? Perhaps a LaserJet that prints special messages to me?

O, Lord, hear my plea!

Why have I been neglecting this blog?

Ah, the answer to that is long and complicated. It involves other websites and other projects. But, it’s more complicated than that. It involves a real job that keeps me busy during the day. It’s about spending time with family. It’s about actually having fun! But, mainly, it’s about that other website……
Hey, why not go check it out? If you’re a game geek or a fantasy fiction geek you might just find something that tickles your fancy!

Save Wil Wheaton!

I saw Wil Wheaton on the Screen Savers last night and was very impressed. I think for a lot of us, poor Wil is sort of frozen in time as Wesley Crusher from Star Trek. But, he’s really a whole lot more.
First of all, he’s done a lot more than just Star Trek, of course. He’s really quite an accomplished actor.
Secondly, he’s not the kid I think so many of us percieved him to be. He’s actually pretty cool. And, unlike a lot of stars, he has a fairly good sense of where he fits in the world. He can even make jokes about himself!

Last night they looked at Google search stats for the past year and someone made a comment about how so many people had searched for Will Wheaton, the jazz musician. Megan Morrone, from the Screen Savers, made the joke that everyone should go out and search for our very own Wil Wheaton and improve his listings for next year. Wil joked that he was sure “everyone” had time to worry about his search listings on Google.
Well, when I got done laughing at his self-depreciating humor, I thought, “well, why not?” And, indeed, why shouldn’t we all help Wil out? All it would take is for everyone who has a blog or web page that enjoys Wil Wheaton to put a link to Google like this: Wil Wheaton or like this: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=wil+wheaton That way, every time a spider hits our pages, it should, in theory, hit Google and do that search. Viola! Increased search hits for Wil Wheaton! Hey, why not? It could be fun to use their own spiders against them!

“Aieee! Mozilla!”

Wondering where I’ve been lately? Well, in part, I’ve been working hard to fit into the new gig. Luckily, that seems to be working because they’re talking about making me full time. That would be very cool.
Also, I’ve been working on the web services end of an Open Source project called Ogham. It’s going to be a Campaign Manager for role-playing games, which is something that I’ve been getting back into lately.

But, one of the things that is beyond my control that’s kept me all tied up is Mozilla mail. In the space of about two weeks, it ate several of my e-mail folders, including my Inbox. Grrrr. Bad Mozilla! It was kind of embarassing to ask my Mother to send me the same e-mail three times before I got it into my Palm. Of course, maybe word will get around and I’ll stop being the family helpdesk!
What really hurt about this, though, was that I had all kinds of e-mail from various groups I’m in that’s hard to replace. Oh, for some of it, I can go to the Yahoo!Groups website and read it, but it’s not as convenient as having it on my PC. Some of these are step-by-step directions on how to do things. Like how to trim huge sections of maps down to smaller, more usable maps in Campaign Cartographer. There was also some contact info in there that I may, or may not, have in any address books. (So, if you think I need to get in touch with you, e-mail me. If you need my e-mail address, there’s a whole different problem!)

Anyway, I’m hoping that as things stabilize after the holidays, I’ll be able to make more regular updates to my blogs. Of course, that all assumes that someone is actually reading this drek.

Happy Holidays!