Tag Archives: Computers

The Year So Far

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I could sum it all up in one word. Cold. But that’s not very interesting, so I’ll think of a few other words to add to it.

The year started off with a bang! Well more accurately, last year ended with a bang. Fortunately, (after a 2nd trip to the body shop) the damage has been repaired and my truck has been restored to it’s former glory. I had my truck repaired at Riverdale Body Shop in Schererville. According to their website, their repair process involves disassembling the affected area and determining if there is any “hidden damage.” Well, they didn’t do that. When I picked it up the first time, I got about 100 yards down route 41 before I noticed that the alignment was still off. Hmmm…. the impact tore out the fender liner and obviously hit the front wheel. Why on earth would they have thought to check the alignment? I called them right away, but was told that they’d have to call me back to schedule the alignment. I was disappointed to say the least that they would have missed something so obvious. At least the cosmetic work was done well.

Training for the Chicago Marathon continues Continue reading →

I Gave it 103 Percent!

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NIPSCO seems to think I use an inordinate amount of electricity

So NIPSCO (our local utility monopoly) sends out these cool things that tell you your energy consumption relative to your neighbors. Well I’m proud to say that I scored 103% higher than my neighbors on electricity! I guess that’s what happens when you run your own web server and two Active Directory domain controllers virtualized on an ESXi 5.0 host, a Windows 2003 file server with over 3 terabytes of attached storage, an Exchange 2010 server, an HP 5300 series modular core switch, an Astaro / Sophos enterprise class firewall and a multi-VLAN network capable of keeping your guest network separate so that your neighbor who is using your wireless can get to the internet without touching your home network. That’s not to mention any of the small appliance-type things that round out my technical infrastructure such as my Cisco 1131 wireless access point, a Vonage analog telephone adapter, the cable modem, several large fans to keep the corner that my servers are in supplied with cool air, a satellite receiver with built-in DVR, oh and the stupid ink-jet printer that my wife insisted on having. (I preferred my HP LaserJet 4100, but she wanted color…)

So you see… Information Technology isn’t a job… it’s a lifestyle.