Be The Change...

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

What a wonderful quote... How often do you meet someone and think, I wish there where more people like them in the world? People, full of passion, displaying such a zest for life. In touch with themselves enough, to be open minded of others and are able to think outside the box. The kind of individual that makes you want to be a better person. One who helps you, to become the kind of person you hope to be seen as. These are the kind of people I love to surround myself with, learn from, grow with...

Pieces of us...to you...

So we just completed our first craft show of the year and the financial results where better than last year. We where able to add a few items to our trick bag. Ceramic tile, table toppers are one of the newest items we added and sold out of. They are very elegant looking with just the right amount of an old look to tie the two together. Amy also added 4x4 block shelf sitters. They are cubed blocks combined together to create a word or two. We also have plans to add votive glass inserts to make them candle holders as well. The only downfall this year is we are lacking in inventory. A summer long remodel of the house made it impossible to build up the usual truckload of inventory we normally have for shows. As a result we are now under the gun to generate enough stock to make a good showing at the Tonopah, Winter Craft Show. We have two weeks to put together what we can. This is my least favorite part of crafting...creating under a deadline...It seems to take the fun out of it. Amy and I have decided to sit down and create a realistic plan for Tonopah so as to not make this a miserable experience for the two of us. We also have a page full of custom orders to fill in addition to this so it will be a hectic two weeks ahead of us. I am looking forward to having the house paid for this spring and perhaps purchasing a hitch and trailer for the van. Transporting goods to and from a show has proven to be difficult for us and these things would make life much easier, as would having a grid wall frame for displaying items. We are creating a plan for acquiring these items which should make life a whole lot easier, at our next years shows. We also plan to add Ely and Lovelock, NV to our locations in the upcoming years also. So here we are beginning our two week run starting now, time to set aside the PC and start crafting...

I have a Dream.....

When I was in school, I was chosen to deliver, two speeches, for a grade in English. One was the Abraham Lincoln's, Gettysburg Address...the other Martin Luther King Jr's, I have a dream, speech. I believe they are two, of the most monumental speeches ever given. They mark two moments in time when America was at it's worst, and men chose to stand up and speak their mind about what they though was right and wrong with the world...They where met with much opposition and where told they would never change the thinking of men. Years later we are seeing proof that the thinking of man is changing. Perhaps man is no longer judging each other by the color of their skin but on their personal merit.

I was excited for my eight year old who greeted me at the door by asking me if I voted for Obama today. He also wanted to know if I casted a vote for him and his five year old brother too. I am also proud that my wife and I have instilled in our children, that the value of a person should be based upon their merit and integrity. The world needs more open minded people. We are electing a man to hold the office of the most powerful seat in the world and he or she should fit the bill and be worthy of such a post. I believe America has chosen well. (continued)

Isis is born....

What a wonderful feeling it is to create something from nothing. What was one a piece of plastic and circuitry has now become a working Server. She still has a lot of learning to do, to evolve into a powerful Domain Controller, but delivery into the world has been a wonderful experience. I have already bonded with her. She is my child. She has already received an additional piece of hardware, increasing her storage capacity to 520GB. She will need it, for today she will receive, the majority of her programming. She will take what I give her today and use it to become a great ruler. The mighty Isis.

A New World Order

I awoke at 4:15 this morning to the sound of rain. It's not a sound you hear very often here in the high desert so it was nice to lay in bed and just enjoy it. Listining to the rain makes one, feel small in the world. Eventally I decided to get out of bed and start work on our new network design. I had a consept in my head that I had been thinking about all night and it was time to record my plan to create a New World Order. This was to be my first scratch built network and should make for a very eduactional build. I have a wonderful mentor, in the IT field and she has a story behind all of the servers she builds and names...they are often named after Greek, Roman or Viking Gods or mythical realmes often associated with these gods/gossesses. She puts a lot of thought into naming them and she actually corresponds this history to the use of the server or servers. There is mighty Zeus the Network Domain Controller and Hera, Zeus's wife, who is the Domain Controller fall-back system. There is also: Styx, Midgard, Atlantis, Gaia, Mercury, Athena, Argenta and more. All serve a purpose, all have tasks to perform, or the systems fail. I have taken on some of the tasks of creating the IS Departments (Information Systems)test network. In keeping with the spirit of what my mentor has created, I have decided to use Egyptian gods and goddess.

Last week,I started by, resurrecting an old server from the dead and began to restore it to the status of Domain Controller. I shall call her Isis, Egyptian goddess of Magic: friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers and she was she was the protector of all Egypt. Ancient Egyptians once believed, that the Nile River, flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. I like the name Isis for a domain control server, because the name identifies who's server it is, by the repetition of our department initials I.S.. I also like that she is the goddess of magic, and as anyone can tell you, who has worked in I.S., there is a certain feeling of power that you have as a network administrator and it is often viewed as magical, when you are able to fix a clients computer.

We will also be needing a print, web, application and file server, as well. I shall call him, Osiris. Osiris, is the brother and husband of Isis. Being as he is being divided up into sections, to be utilized as the four differently needed servers, his name is also very suiting, for Osiris was slain by Seth and his parts where spread throughout the earth. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the parts of it that had been strewn about. The two shall work together to create a very powerful testing network.