All posts by warwick

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About warwick

I manage a team of professional technical consultants for a Fortune 100 company. I like clever uses of technology whether it's in a data center or the kitchen of my house.

Day 6: Planning is the key

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I had a minor setback today and I learned a valuable lesson. I missed my workout this morning but I still kept the suit streak. I started wearing suits to work on Monday for a variety of reasons, all of them my choosing. The best reason is it conveys professionalism plus, it’s hard to feel down about yourself in a suit.

I missed the workout because I hadn’t planned well. I didn’t get clothes ready or set out my shoes. I was tired and knew that I didn’t plan, so that made me sleep in. The lack of discipline was a disappointing, but not so bad I want to quit. I don’t think there’s very much that would keep me held back at this point.

New Steve Day 2: Soda vs Coffee

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Before I got started with the “new Steve” project, I took some time to set some goals:

* New Cisco CCNA certification by the end of May
* New stress relief mechanism to replace eating
* Add more professionalism to all parts of my job

Day 1 of “new Steve” went well. I skipped soda and made good choices at lunch and by the end of the day it paid off. I left work feeling less stressed and much more alert. Coffee was a substitute for some of the day, but I skipped much of the sugar. I think that really helped cut my mood swings. I hit the gym at 5:30AM that morning so my muscles are feeling it today. It’s a good reminder that my muscles are growing and that means progress.

I also took some time to get my work area set up to make a little more sense, pulling some shelves off the cube walls. The lighting was pretty bad with plenty of harsh fluorescent white light and little contrast. I climbed up on a chair and fixed that by twisting the bulbs so they went out, plunging the area in to welcomed darkness. The last step was to mount a whiteboard on one wall and clean all of the surfaces. Now it looks like something I want to use instead of a dumping ground for projects.

One day at a time…

Trying for a new Steve

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Its May 1st and Im taking some steps to create a new me. Today I give up soda, a drink thats lost its charm with me awhile ago. Ive also taken steps to control my food and blood sugar, to avoid the cliché of the overweight IT guy. Finally, Im committed to taking a new certification test by the end of the month. What better way to give myself a Happy Birthday gift?

Building a CCNA Lab with GNS 3

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I made the decision a couple of weeks ago to get more serious about completing my CCNA. I dug up a router simulator called GNS 3 on the recommendation of a couple of staff people at work. It’s a GUI to a couple of other tools that emulate the hardware of older Cisco routers. For certification lab purposes, this makes a lot of sense. You don’t have to spend hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of dollars to purchase actual gear. Instead you run the emulator and load your own Cisco IOS images.

Today I finished configuring the PC I’ve got at home to run the software and built a simple frame-relay lab from scratch, using Cisco 3640 routers with 16 port switching modules for the LAN side. Overall, it was a good experience and behaved as I would have expected. The best part is the realism is perfect since you’re running real IOS.

Tonight's Menu: Tandori Chicken

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It’s a cheat, but we’re using some Penzy’s spices to make Tandori Chicken on the grill. Add some baked sweet potatoes and maybe a bag of frozen veggies and you’re set. The house has really kept us homing, driving us to enjoy what we’ve worked so hard to get. What are you having for dinner?

Weekend Update

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It’s been a good weekend, even with the weather going wacko. Yesterday it was ice and today it’s in the 50s. Weird. I spent plenty of time drumming with Rock Band, splitting about half playing for fun and half learning new beats. It’s time to learn rudiments if I expect to get any better. Stick positioning and the order you hit each note can make a big difference when trying to make a fill.

Today is a chef day. Friends are coming over and we’re making a counter full of appetizers as a meal. I’ve got hummus and guacamole so far with some fruit to balance things out.

See you next week!

Rock Band Cymbals: Arrival

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I ordered the triple cymbal expansion kit for my Rock Band drum kit on Friday (go Amazon!) and it’s a blast. My accuracy went up about 4% mainly because I could think music andnot colors. Highly recommended add-on if you’re a serious Rock Band drummer.

Happy Anniversary

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Today is my 13th wedding anniversary! The weather is a little dreary, but we’ve got plans to get out in the snow and have dinner. Otherwise, it’s staying home and enjoying our house.