Kevin's Ramblings…

Every week, every day perhaps it seems that someone is being let go at work. Not sure what is going on here… They are people who have been there for ages and they appear to do a good job. I don’t know for sure of course, I am in my own Department and who knows what goes on elsewhere… It is shocking anyway…

I have to wonder if there is a larger motive here. I am not in Upper Management or even Lower Management for that matter so I am not privy to anything really… I am not in fear of losing my job, I think that I do a good one and my Supervisor and Manager like what I do… It is sad to see people that you like that have been there for years let go though – life goes on and I am sure that they will succeed wherever they go.

Well, that is it for now – don’t want to write too much, not sure who is reading and who it will offend… I have had to censor some of my posts previously – don’t want to have to again… I am being a little more vague than I want to be, but, apparently free speech isn’t free, not at all… It is almost like being in some sort of communist state where one can’t freely express what they want to. What can ya do.

At any rate, DO, you WILL be missed.

Well, poker last evenings wasn’t very successful. I was eliminated first in both games that we played. I was a little aggressive and mis-read opponents a few times and I didn’t really have any great cards all evening. Oh well, still enjoyable, one can’t expect to win all the time. I left at 11pm or so, was too tired to see who finished the second game. My cold likely had something to do with that and I had been up since before 5am as well.

We only had 4 people out last night as well. A few of the people from the Region were sick or had other plans. Not sure what happened with Mike’s co-workers… Perhaps we’ll take a break from it for a month or two – maybe we’ll try again in April or May.

I am feeling better – the cold is on its way out and by out I mean out through the nose… I am sure you needed to hear that, the visuals are good… All in all it wasn’t the worse cold in the world. I got some good sleep last night, woke up at 5am (like I normally do) and then went back to sleep until 9:30 – not bad at all…

I have no real plans today. I do want to finish some of those items on my to-do list, especially the office. I have to finish cleaning and rearranging my office – that is a MUST do.

As you might have guessed, I am a procrastinator. Actually, I have my Masters Degree in that art – took me a while to get it as well. I am remotely thinking of going for my Doctorate, but that is a lot of work. Wish me luck…

Well, training yesterday went over what the instructor thought it would. On Monday he indicated that we should be done by noon on Thursday – perfect. We can avoid the traffic home. On Wednesday, he said that we were a bit behind and noon wasn’t looking good.

Anyway, noon yesterday came and went, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm … Finally, 3:20 rolls around and Matt and I are able to leave. We get to the car and out of the garage at 3:35 – it takes us an hour and a half to get to the QEW and Winston Churchill in Mississauga… We zip onto the 407 (I don’t care how much it cost me) and on our way home. I was in the door shortly after 6pm. What a trip home.

People do that trip 5 days a week – are they insane? Really though, who would put up with that? If you HAVE to work in Toronto, I think that the best idea is to live there. A 2 hour commute each way, every day – no thanks…

I find St. Catharines is too busy from time to time but rarely is it really all that bad – Toronto is insane, nearly all the time. I am glad to be outa there.

So, back to work today for one day. I have lots to do so it’ll zip right by…

Today is day 4 of training – that means that yesterday was day 3. The labs didn’t go that well and that is all I am planning on saying on that subject…

We leave Toronto today somewhere between noon and 2pm. I am hoping that it is closer to noon than 2 but I will take what I can.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to get home as badly as I do right now. I am not sure if I am home-sick, I doubt it, never have been or if I simply hate this city that much. I am not sleeping particularly well and I have had very little to do in the evenings. You can only walk around so much…

So yes, I want to leave. I want there to be a minimum of traffic on my way and I want to go home. How does that strike ya? 🙂

Nothing against the people that choose to live here – that is their choice (for the most part). There are aspects that I like about Toronto. I like the big buildings. I like the PATH. I like all of the restaurants, coffee shops, cafes… I hate the noise, how busy it is, how everyone is in such a hurry all the time.

This city is awful. I hate coming here, I really do. It is expensive – everything here is. My hotel room was $150 per night plus $30 per night for parking. It is a great hotel and I’d suggest that if you are staying downtown, stay here. The indoor/outdoor pool is amazing – especially this time of year. There are too many homeless people too – they sleep on the streets on top of air vents – right in the middle of the sidewalk. That is something that you don’t see a lot of in St. Catharines. Others sit in doorways with an empty coffee cup looking for change. I am not one of those people who give change – ever… I do feel bad for them but it is likely their fault that they are in that situation. I suppose at some point it could happen to any of us – who knows…

Anyway, it is just after 5am – that means if we leave at noon today I have just under 7 hours left. If I have to wait until 2pm that is 9 hours – I can handle that, I think…

I miss my dog, Zeus. He’s a good dog and I have really grown used to having him around. I am sure that Al has taken good care of him though. I think that Zeus will be happy to see me when I get home – I know that I will be happy to see him.

After class yesterday, Mike took us all out for a couple of drinks and some food. I had a couple of ammaretto and cokes – essentially making a Dr. Pepper. I had some hot wings – crispy/saucy. I then tried some of their “inferno” wings – not bad, quite a kick – helped with my stuffy head feeling. It was a little place just around the corner from the hotel, some “bike” restaurant/bar – one of those places that I am sure I would normally walk right by, but it was excellent.

Well, here is to the countdown. Wish me luck…

Wow, I must say that the people or person at Microsoft who designs their course material should be FIRED. More than that, they should be FIRED and banned from ever working again, other than at McDonalds or somewhere like that (no offense to those who actually work @ McDonalds). The course material for ANY course that I have ever taken that MS has prepared has sucked. Not sucked a little, but, to take a quote from a former Assistant Coach of mine, sucking “big dripping whale cock”. Sorry for the visual on that one – not very pleasant…

As I have written, I am taking SCCM training. The material is dry – most computer material is. The instructor is good mind you but he doesn’t have a lot to work with. Microsoft doesn’t help with fuckwadian server names and instructions out of left field… I have also been badly spoiled @ work with a dual monitor setup. We have a single monitor and I think it is a 17″… The screen resolution isn’t that good either – I am trying to squeeze as much as I can onto the screen, still isn’t enough…

OK – I will stop complaining now – how’s that?

Anyway, I am feeling much better today. I went to bed early last night and slept fairly well. I should shake this cold by the weekend or the end of the weekend at the latest. Hopefully I will be good to go for poker on Friday night.

Speaking of poker, I will begin praying to the All Powerful Poker Gods so that they may shine upon me on Friday. Praise be to you, Poker Gods. 🙂

Out.

Day two of training – not a bad course, learning quite a lot but it is DRY…  The instructor likes to talk, talk, talk…  That’s OK, he is pretty good.  The labs are going well.  I look forward to being able to help out when I return to work later this week.

I hate colds.  Have I ever mentioned that?  I don’t know where I got this one but I don’t want it.  Of course, I am in Toronto so I don’t have anything that I would at home to help combat it.  I will likely survive…

Not much to do in the evenings here.  My training companion is a tad boring – doesn’t want to do anything…  Oh well, we have NOTHING in common other than working at the same place.  That’s OK I suppose, he is like 10 years younger than I am I guess.

Gotta do some work on the SCMBA web site.  Later 🙂

From back in December, here is my to-do list: (http://kevinrdarcy.blogspot.com/2009/12/entry-36-2009-12-21.html)

• Clean the house, top to bottom INCLUDING the office

Well, I cleaned most of the house, didn’t get to everything, including the office.  I will…

• Move the furniture in the living room – I might put the black leather sofa in the basement and buy a new futon for the living room (after Christmas though)

Completed.  The living room has been re-organized, black leather sofa is in the basement.  Haven’t purchased any new furniture yet though

• Work on the SCMBA web site – I wanted to while away, the hotel in Washington had HORRIBLE Internet access, always dropped on me

Some of the updates have been completed – it is a work in progress

• Get the speaker wiring issues fixed – Brian will help with this – connect my three sets of speakers throughout

Didn’t get a hold of Brian – lack of funds derailed this one for now

• Move the bricks from Sister Joan’s here and build the bar in the basement

Delayed – Seeing as I moved my bedroom into the basement, I am not sure that I want a bar down there, do I?

• Dispose of assorted junk – trip to the dump (before I put the seat back into the Jeep)

Not completed as yet

• Purchase and put up either new blinds or curtains for the living room and bed room windows

Again, lack of funds has derailed this

• Get the fireplace working – HVAC guy from work will do this (I hope)

Next week – I will get Newton to drop over if he can

That’s not too bad, is it?  I will have the list done (pending available funds) by the end of January…  You can bank on it (if it is a bloated US Bank needing a bailout)

Day 1 of SCCM training went very well.  SCCM stands for System Center Configuration Manager.  Basically, it is what we use at work to push software, updates and manage the computers that are connected to our network.  It is a Microsoft product but one that seems to do a pretty good job…

As I have posted, I am staying at the Hilton in downtown Toronto (Richmond Street) and the training center is just down the street, 5 minute walk.  It is in an older building and the offices are sorta loft style with hardwood floors and view of the city.  I’d love to live here and at the same time, I’d hate to live here.  I think (actually, I know) that the hate would over-rule the love…

So, we are learning quite a lot, or at least I am.  Matt likely isn’t learning as much seeing as he was involved with the setting up of the server, etc.  I wasn’t so this is all new.  It is nice that my virtual consoles are actually working too – very different…  The last time that I took training with NM my console crashed, constantly and I think that NM did something…  I know that he didn’t (did he?) but it was irritating, and funny…

I do hope to take something back to work from this anyway.  Maybe if I get ambitious I will take some MS Certification courses.  Work will pay for them and they’ll do me good.

Well, I am off for a swim in the indoor/outdoor pool.  Have a good one.

Well, for the first time in three weeks (during the week anyway), I slept in – sort of…  I woke up at 3:30am having no idea what time it was – looked at my watch (after fumbling for a light) and said no way – I am not getting up this early.  Back to sleep and I woke up again and it was 6:50am – not too bad…  It is hard to tell what time it is when it is so dark outside so late in the morning.  The clock isn’t in a good place to take a look at anyway.

So, I get up and discover that I have forgotten something.  My toiletry bag is packed but I left it on the bathroom counter.  Damn…  So, I wander down to the front desk and they are happy to send some stuff up to my room.  I sorta laughed when they included a comb in my “care” package…  I haven’t used a comb in AGES – years and years in fact.  Who needs a comb when your hair is an inch long…  LOL

I shower, etc., etc (I won’t include pictures – don’t want to traumatize anyone) and get dressed.  Forgot something else…  A belt.  Double-damn.  I hate wearing jeans without a belt.  Seinfeld always wore jeans without a belt and it was one of my pet peeves.  I have a Blackberry – where am I supposed to clip it to if I don’t have a belt.  Oh well – I will put up with it today and will wear nylon pants the rest of the week – it’ll be more comfy anyway.

So, it is now 8:22am, gotta leave for the training course.  Have a good one.