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February 28, 2004
Two projects down, a zillion to go
After weeks of working on it, I finally got the new WillyB's Web site completed. While to most it may just look like a minor facelift, in reality the entire backend of the Web site has been re-done using PHP. Man, do I ever love PHP. Click here to view the site.
I've also gotten a couple of projects at work done. They are as follows:
1. Order new printers for the newsroom
2. Order new laptops (5) and desktops (2) for the station.
3. Run phone and data cables for the new G-Control.
Here's the projects that have yet to be completed:
1. Format and distribute new PCs throughout WHAS.
2. Install new printers for news (they haven't arrived yet)
3. Purchase new printers for the station.
4. Purchase new Dell servers to replace server infrastructure (I'm REALLY looking forward to this one)
5. Finish wiring G-Control. I found out this week that since we have the wiring ran, we have a month to get the rest of it done. I also found out that we won't be moving everything at once (whew).
6. Run CAT6 from the news studio to master control. I'm not looking forward to this one at all. I was hoping that we could get another company to run the lines, since they were running so many already, but I was told that wouldn't be possible. Dang.
In addition to all of these projects, there are still some on-going projects left over from last year that need to be completed:
1. IP address transition from 109 range. I'm going to be working on this more on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
2. Move all servers to point to new WINS server. Having two WINS servers has been causing some major issues.
And, to help round off the week, I had some great things happen.
1. I proved that certain departments were doing things that they swore up and down that they weren't doing. Now, if we can just get them to use the equipment properly.
2. I no longer have to worry about certain people anymore. This is good because it means I'll be able to stop popping TUMS.
Here's to a much better week than the past two have been.
Posted by ed at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2004
Been one of them thar weeks
I know everyone has a bad day, or even a bad week at work. It seems that this week would be that week for me. I feel spread thin, and this is even with having Kyle picking up my slack at work. Poor guy, I'm sure he gets irritated at all the crap I keep throwing his way.
Let's break out what's happened this week and run down exactly why these particular items have made it bad:
1. There are three PCs in the newsroom that are being damn flaky.
Okay, this actually started happening on Friday, which was also a bad day, which in effect brought the bad into this week. Seems that two machines in news decides to start crashing and doing weird things. Kyle and I try everything in our power to get these machines to behave properly. We try a different power source (thanks Mark for running that cable for us), we try replacing the entire news network infrastructure in a 20 minute period (if you've ever had to do this, you know how big of a headache this is), we try putting a PC on a UPS, we put voltage testers in line, and so on and so forth. Needless to say that nothing we tried worked. Then, the other day, Kyle and I hit on an idea... what if the voltage on the RF cable to the TV card was sending some kind of power surge to the PC? Well, we've unplugged the RF cable and haven't experienced any real issues since. I was told today, however, that when you turn on monitor on, it affects the other one (making it look like its degaussing). This could really be two problems at once.
2. I'm elbow deep in capital purchases for February.
Most of the capital purchases that I'm doing for the month have worked our great. I ordered desktops, laptops, memory, and software. The one thing that is the most important on this project list, our newsroom printers, has been the biggest fucking headache I've experienced to date while working at the station. Back a year ago, I recieved a quote from a printer vendor for roughly $13000 for a redundant printing solution. I put the numbers together and got a budget approved. I got a call on Tuesday that there was a problem. Apparently one of the items I was purchasing went from $2000 to $5000, and as a result, I was off by capital request for about $3000 (not including tax, mind you). As of this afternoon, I have about 97% of the issue resolved, however, and I should be finishing up the purchase tomorrow if things go well.
3. We had a computer install that I knew was coming, but didn't know when it was going to be.
I was notified on Monday that a vendor rep was going to be here this week to install some new equipment, and that it was going to happen on Tuesday. I needed to be part of the installation process. So, an engineer was assigned to the project with me and we got the first of two machines in place with little issue. As a matter of fact, we were able to clean up some really ugly cable runs in the process. The second machine, on the other hand, was a completely different issue altogether. It was buggy and worked differently than the original machine that we were upgrading from. Worse of all, even though we were given a checklist by the vendor to make sure we had specific things in place, more equipment arrived than expected ... requiring more work to be done on my part. This is time that I just don't have, people. I'm busy doing so many other things that I don't know where I'm going most of the time.
4. I'm trying to keep up with everyone elses projects in addition to my own.
The problem when you're managing a department of 1 and 1/2 people (Kyle's part time and I count myself) is that you tend to find yourself going in several directions at once. So, while I'm trying to do my capital projects, I'm also working on a control room renovation in addition to a rack room renovation. I'm placing orders for equipment and prepping for cable runs that I feel that I'm just not ready for. In addition, it takes time out of my day while I'm trying to do some rather important things to stop and look to find the best ways to make cable runs and such. Thankfully, I've had some great help from some of the Engineers and Facilities guys. I wonder if they really know how much I appreciate their help in times like these.
I made a judgement call yesterday, and asked Neal if I can have Kyle in for the entire day one day next week just so he and I can concentrate on makeing cable pulls. In all, we have quite a few cables that need to be pulled:
1) 25-pair from phone switch to new control room
2) 4-pair cat 6 from server room to new control room
3) 4-pair cat 6 from server room to weather office
4) 4-pair cat 6 from weather office to master control
5) Ten 4-pairs from new control to new audio
6) 4-pair cat 6 from new control to new audio
In addition to all of these runs, we also get to put in new phones and network drops in the new control room and audio room. This also includes moving a phone system that I really know nothing about, but hope to high hell that I can get figured out before we move it. This project is supposed to be completed by March 3rd.
There's only one thing that I can say to how this week has gone:
B - L - E - H
And you can quote me on that one.
Posted by ed at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2004
It's My Birthday
Happy birthday to me.
In other news, apparently the source code for one or more of Microsoft's Windows operating systems has been leaked on the Internet. Now, I know that the truth won't be known for a few days in regards to exactly what happened ... but if this is the real thing ... this'll be one birthday I'll never forget.
Posted by ed at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2004
Final Fantasy Links
Here's my final fantasy links:
Allakhazam
Koolaid Linkshell Gardening Guide
Fishing Guide
Vanadiel Time in Flash
Pyogenes Timer (use version 3)
Fisherman Rods Database
IGN FFXI BBS
Morgrist's Official BREAKING STUFF List
Woodworking Leveling Guide
Final Fantasy Vault (IGN) - Crafting Guide
GameFAQ FFXI
FFXI Online Crafting Forum
Stats Calculator
Killing Ifrit
Killing Ifrit - Guild Crafting
Understanding Auto Translate in FFXI
Vanadial Monster Guide (translated using Babelfish)
Where to mine ine Vanadiel (translated using Babelfish)
FFRecipe.com (translated using Babelfish)
Leveling Choboco Digging (translated using Babelfish)
Cooking Skill Level Template (translated using Babelfish)
Guild Skill Level Guide (translated using Babelfish)
Posted by ed at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2004
It's been a long time, been a long time
Okay, so I haven't been keeping up with this thing. So what, it's mine and I can do with it what I want.
I was in an accident at the end of January, on the 28th to be precise. I was on my way to work when this lady spun out of control in front of me. I ended up hitting her rear driver side tire, which banged up my car a bit. Not as much as what I thought it'd be, considering that it was only around $1600 worth of damage. I was really lucky.
I picked my car up from the shop on Friday, and was blown away by how good my car looks. It almost reminded me of the day that I bought it. The body shop did a fantastic job, as she looks like she just rolled off the assembly line. The only thing that she needs now is to have the roof redone, which will apparently cost me about $300, and my car will be as good as new.
Speaking of cars, while mine was in the shop, I got a rental car from Enterprise as part of my insurance coverage. They gave me a Saturn sardine can. I joked with Neal and Bill that in order to get the door open, you had to pull out this huge key, insert it vertically in the trunk, and start turning towards the front of the car. While the car itself looked very nice, it was very crammed on the inside and had absolutely no get-up and go. I definately missed my car.
Getting back to the accident ... the night prior I had removed my little envelope that had the registration, title, and insurance card in it. I forgot to take it with me the next morning, and sure enough I ended up in an accident. When the officer asked for my license, I immediately saw the envelope sitting on the buffett in the dining room and my heart sunk. I dug through my wallet, found an insurance card and handed it to the officer ... only for him to come back and tell me the card I gave him was expired. As a result, I received a citation for not having insurance on me while driving ... BLEH.
Cops need to have a system that allows them to verify the following things:
1. That a person's tags AND registration are valid.
2. That the driver's insurance is valid.
The only thing that a cop can verify is the tag on the back of the car, which thankfully I had the mindset to go and get my tags redone two weeks prior (they were due in December). Otherwise, I REALLY would've been up shit creek without a paddle.
Posted by ed at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)