In January I finished my first year at my job, including the 5 months I spent as a contractor. It’s a fun job, and I’ve learned a lot…mostly on my own while I’m trying to figure something out. Some of the things I’ve completed or initiated include upgrading our VMWare infrastructure from ESX 3.5 to 4.0, rebuilding our Altiris Deployment server and PXE boot services, developing a script for Vista that renames a computer based on it’s location in Active Directory, upgrading SCCM, implementing operating system deployment in SCCM that is replacing the Altiris server, setting up an Apple Xserve to work with Active Directory, getting the Mac labs set up to authenticate with AD and the Xserve, and cleaning up a number of problems with our software distribution in SCCM.

Wow…that’s a lot of stuff…

Before I started here I had never used SCCM or VMWare ESX, and don’t think I would have been able to program that renaming script. My biggest fear now is that I’ve set too high expectations. I’ve also taken advantage of a free Microsoft Technet account and set up an Active Directory running in ESXi at home to play around in.

In non-geek stuff, Teresa and I are doing great in Pittsburgh. We are going to celebrate 10 years of dating as well as Teresa’s birthday next month by going to a Bon Jovi concert. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together that long. She’s definitely brought out the best in me over these 10 years.

So that’s about it for now. Here’s hoping my next post will be less than 5 months away!

Let that sink in for another few minutes.

Maybe I’m not remembering all the bad parts of school, but my last few years finishing up my bachelors degree was leaps and bounds better than my first 6 or 7. It was tough, working full time and going to class until 10:00 or 10:30 at night, but rewarding when it was all finished. I also now know what to expect if I have to do it again and am ready for the challenge.

Carnegie Mellon has a good Masters in IT Management degree that I would like to get. If not that, then Pitt and Robert Morris have similar degree programs. I’m applying to all three, but the CMU one really interests me because it requires having real-world experience in addition to the academic requirements. I think that this would help me do more than just systems administration work. I enjoy what I’m doing, but I’m looking forward to more exciting work (and more rewarding pay) down the line.

If I get into CMU, I’d likely continue to work. The classes are mainly at night, and it’d work out well with our schedules. With Pitt, I might end up going full time and try and finish up within a year or so. It would depend on costs, student loans, and how our bank account feels about that though.

We made it to Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon. My Memphis-related allergies weren’t nearly as bad as Teresa’s and were gone soon after leaving the state. Teresa’s still having a hard time with her’s. She was up and around for most of the day, and we were able to go grocery shopping to replenish our kitchen since we pretty much emptied the refrigerator before we left town. Teresa made “Taco Soup” for dinner with a brocolli-cornbread. They’re both things we had at my Mom’s, and Teresa’s versions were great! I’d say they were even better because the soup wasn’t as spicy. The Taco soup is like Chili in taste, but it’s thinner, has taco seasoning, and doesn’t have Chili beans in it.

Today I took the Christmas tree down. I don’t know if I’ve ever taken it down this early in all the year’s I’ve lived on my own. It was a pain to stuff back in the box, and I might have hurt my back again in the process, but it’s done. I miss my little 5 foot tree we had in Memphis. This 7.5 foot one is almost impossible to put up and take down on my own. It’s done though, and now we can finally get the dining room the way Teresa wants it. Before we left we got a buffet from Ikea to go with our new table and chairs (also from Ikea), and it’ll be good to finally have everything where it needs to go.

Other than the tree, I spent the day reinstalling Windows on the old laptop we have hooked up to our TV. I mainly use it for TWiT Live (or did while I was unemployed), but also use it for watching the Memphis Tigers play when they’re not on national TV. We left a Slingbox at my Dad’s before we moved up here and use that or CSTV…er CBS College Sports’ All-Access service to watch the video on TV. The quality isn’t the best, but I take what I can get. Anyway, I was reinstalling Windows on it and just barely made tipoff of tonight’s decimation of Lamar over the SlingBox.

Tomorrow’s my last day of unemployment! I’m excited and scared all at the same time. I’ve got a general idea of what I’m going to be doing, but it’s never exactly what is presented in the interview. It’s going to be good to be working again though. I’ve been going stir crazy. That might be one of the reasons I’ve reinstalled Windows on that laptop. I’ve been working almost 100% on my Mac since we moved, and I need to get back into the Windows world. I haven’t been completely without Windows, as my Apple TV syncs with a Windows PC, but it hasn’t been a major part of my life for about 3 months. It’s been refreshing, and I no longer feel burnt out and look forward to working with Windows again. Maybe after I have had a few paychecks I can start building a new PC to replace Teresa’s computer that is almost 8 years old. I want a good gaming PC, and with Diablo 3 coming out I think I can convince her it’s needed.