PT-AE7000u Review

A quick video review of our new projector. Pretty badass. Happy Holidays!

A decade

Wow, Today Sarah and I celebrated a decade of being married. Man that time flew. We’ve had a really great run so far and Im looking forward to the next 40 years with her. When I look at where I was 10 years ago it seems much farther away. When Sarah and I met I was about as mature as a 7 year old. Now Im at least 15ish. Before I met her i didnt really know what it was to be happy. I mean I had had friends and had passing times of enjoyment but until I met Sarah I never felt fulfilled and happy with myself. It sounds a little codependent but I care not. She’s my wife, and damn I love her. Watching her go from being a teenager into this lovely woman I get to share my life with has been a pleasure. She always knows what to say to calm me down and she picks up where I am weak. We are blessed to be together. 10 years is a long time for people to be Happily married today. But thats what I am, I am happily married to the love of my life and just count myself fortunate to have been able to be in her life and have a chance to make her days a little brighter.

http://www.allisnotlo.st/videoend_en.html?mid=Y0uB8WVFMzC

Term Limits

We need to impose immediate new term limits on our highest level government officials. The creation and enabling of career politicians has helped bring alive this monstrosity we call a government. These “representatives” of ours don’t have a clue anymore. They have lost their way and we need to correct the system to ensure those that are supposed to be looking out for us, are. The system today is built to perpetuate greed, corruption, corporate deals and all other sorts of nonsense. Take an individual who has been in the same position for 20 years look at all the back deals, favors, and secret handshakes they had to make to stay where they are. How many times have they comprised the greater good in one of those deals for “One” more term. We need to take being reelected off the board and get some fresh blood into our government. We hear the same things from different people right now.

Look at this Chart. Thats insane, the same people for up to 55 years – thats like accepted stagnation. Apathy and a feeling of futility must clog large segments of the communities that elect these “lifers”. Before you give me the “They have sacrificed for us” speech lets keep in mind these humble civil servants make 174,000 a year. Shouldn’t that be based on the financial situation and location of the individual.  Pay them the median of what the American People in their constituency make.

To accomplish what I would like, we will have to make a few changes, they wont be easy, but we are AMERICA and this is the kinda stuff we are famous for. Lets start with the House of Representatives, we are gonna extent their term by two years, we will give them 4 years. That should be plenty of time to make an impact.  They can get elected to the Senate(moving on up) but they can not get reelected to the same position. Today they have a Two year term. Two years. They aren’t thinking about anything other than getting reelected once they get in. They don’t have time to. So they are trying their damnest to not piss off the more senior members and do just enough to stay in the news for their constituency. Its a politics boot camp.

For the Senate we will leave them at 6 years. One term for six years and that’s it. That sounds so nice to me. It would solve so many of our problems. We have this super embedded old boy network in Washington and that’s not what we need. Its time we made a change to the system to allow it to start helping us again.

The Pres? Votes out on him – leave him at 4 and reelect or do we give him 8? I think if a president had 8 we would get more done but that’s a long time for an asshole to be in office.

Where it stands

Whew. It feels like is been a while since i have been able to sit down and take a breathe. We have had so much going on in the last 6 monthes it has been pretty insane.

Sarah is home. She had her first day of work today and starts seeing patients on Tuesday the 5th. We moved the rest her stuff back from Gville Saturday. Its nice to know we are done up there.

So now its life as normal. Not sure we know what that means for us yet but we are excited about finding that out. It still doesnt feel real. A few moments in each day I feel an immense euphoria over having her back home and getting through what we did. But shes back and we are really enjoying being together.

We had an amazing vacation in North Carolina. We spent alot of time together and really disconnected from the world. I ended up in cold ass river and lake water a whole lot but had a blast.  We spent a day waterfall hunting. We went swimming under a waterfall together and holding my wife in that freezing water feeling warmth only where her skin and mine touched was a magic and memorable moment.

Earn Love

Do you earn love everyday? We say I love you in relationships with regularity that is scary. It gets so those 3 very powerful words get diluted and almost become a given. One of my fears as Sarah returns is slipping into a pattern that takes her for granted. It freaks me out a bit. When you spend 2 days out of 7 together it becomes very easy to layer surprises and little tokens of affection almost every time we would get together. I have been kinda strategizing internally on how to accomplish this.

I woke up one morning this weekend and it kinda hit me. It simple really, Just earn her love everyday. I dont want to take it as a given that she loves me, I want to proactively engage her needs. Microsuprises – little things done throughout the normal course of a day that show you care. A magazine she likes from the store, a car wash, paying the bills or anything that she would appreciate and that wouldnt fall under your “normal” responsibilities.   Do at least one thing a day for love if I am able.

Gratitude

Tomorrow is our big day. Sarah graduates dental school. As this has approached the thing that I have been thinking about the most is gratitude. How thankful we are for those that have supported us through this time. We have been very fortunate to be surrounded by people that have enabled us to finish this undertaking.

When we examine all those that have helped us along the way I think first we have to thank my parents. 8 years ago they helped us send Sarah back to undergraduate to finish. They had faith in us from the very beginning and have stood by us the whole way. When ever we needed advice a shoulder to cry on or a little extra cash they have been there for us. We always knew if things got tough we could turn to them and they would stand beside us. Their belief in us bolstered our confidence and resolve and once again have shown us what it is to be family.

I am extremely thankful for Sarahs pals up in gainseville. One of the hardest things about being separated as much as we have is the constant worry. Making sure Sarah didn’t break down on the side of the road and giving her a place to turn and to help her through some of the dark times. Without them I doubt we could have completed this epic journey. There are 2 people specifically that I have come to consider part of our family. Yasmine and Sumaya(i always spell it wrong) I always felt when Sarah was driving off in the morning that she was leaving one family to go and be a part of the other. I have listened to these girls adventures and trials throughout the last four years and watched what I hope will be a life long friendship. They will always be welcome in our home and we consider them a part of our family.

My other family- Which is the entirety of the staff at Lanier Upshaw and in particular the CEO Scott Franklin, the CFO Bruce Bulman and my closest friend Matt Sandonato. It was almost 7 years ago when Scott took a chance on me and provided the support and opportunity to be able to tackle this task. He had faith in us and he had belief that we would be able to complete this journey. Bruce has been my personal wailing wall. He has let me vent and calmed me and helped me deal with the doubts, fears and insecurities as I have gone through them. And then there was Matt. Ever since Matt came here he has been my partner. He has picked up the slack when I had to be daddy and has always been more than willing to step in watch Dorothy take anything off my plate and just overall been there for us. Its been a blessing working at Lanier Upshaw. Like any company we have our challenges but more often than not I left work smiling and glad to be a part of a great company. We spend so much time at work that without the constant encouragement that we received from them, everyday would have been drudgery.

There are countless others that have been supportive, from my pals on twitter to my tech circle around the states to Sarah’s family that has kept her spirits raised and talked to her almost every day. There is so much for us to be grateful for and so many people to show gratitude too that it is impossible to cover them all. Know that we thank you and we appreciate all that you have done for us.

10 days

I have 10 days left before my baby comes home. Its been 1400 days that we have been seperated. We have had no more than 14 days together in the past 4 years. Its a massive accomplishment that I am probably prouder of than anything else we have been through. My wife will be a dentist and we will be reunited. The emotion that I have right now is pretty intense.

10 days, 240 hours and this is done. It is so close.

Its hard to articulate the pride that I feel for my wife. To be gone from her support system and be able to do what she did it is an amazing feat for which I will be forever greatful.

I have watched her grow from a teenager into this self confident woman that is my partner in every way. This year is such a big year for us. She finishes dental school, we are back together, we have our 10th anniversary and a side project of mine has turned into a small start-up. I am looking forward to the next decade with excitement and anticipation.

Its about love

I really think everything is about love. It sounds boheiman and flaky but truly, happiness is found in love. I would venture to say that if you are in love with someone and that person is in love with you back you have happiness. Now there may be circumstances in your life that detract from some utopian bliss ideal but in the times and things that matter there is happiness. I thought a ton about this last night trying to articulate what it was like when sarah was here vs what it is like when she is not, emotionally at least.

We have the typical concerns of any family that spends more time physcially apart than together. Trying desperatly not to screw up being a parent to badly and constant hoping that I am doing the right thing. I worry 24/7 about the job, whats next, what needs to be done, where do we have to go, how do I stay prepared all those concerns, then all the outside projects we mess with. We work hard on those and have high hopes for some of the things we are learning now as we develop together. Just like anyone I have a life full of stuff to fill my head.

But when I am with sarah they all go away. The world falls silent and its just she and I. This soft touch lovely voiced angel and me. Ive never even drempt of being able to feel what I feel for this woman. When she holds me every concern, worry, issue that I have dissapears. Just poof. I am lost in her eyes and I know, I just know that everything will be ok if we are together. Nothing is unreachable with her.

I think about what love is. Can it be encapsulated in an action and I think the closest thing is uncontrollably honest laughter. I laugh so much with her about the dumbest things. On a regular night, i have this empty bed to look forward too and I go there as late as possible. When sarah is here the bed is a place where we go to have our time. Like a fort that you and the gang used to hang out of. From the bed we can control our empire but remain untouchable. And not in a perverse way. For us we need time together concentrated time just to hang out and talk and most of that is done in our room.

It amazes me after 10 years a decade with this woman I still feel like I am falling deeper and deeper in love with her. She is my damn hero.  I have 96 days until we are together. The longest that we have been together in 1312 days is 14 days. and that has been 3-4 times. I cant wait to have an uncounted week, month and year with her. I am such a better person because of her. She has changed me not by force of will but by example and consistent behavior.

This is my valentine.

Twitter Basics – Choosing who to follow for first time tweeps

Twitter is the next evolution in collaboration. It helps me quickly solve problems and get questions answered and enables me to connect with subject matter experts in different fields.  It’s a global stream of real time knowledge that anyone can tap into and leverage, unconstrained by websites, circles, friends, groups, clubs, wealth, fame or power. There are no barriers to your answers anymore, there are only barriers to your willingness to reach them.  The answers to most questions are out there and its all kinda free.(meaning its not money we are trading as currency but personal data-Same as Facebook, LinkedIn and most other “Free” sites)

If your new or on the fringe of twitter you are probably saying mehhh, hows that again? When the new and uninitiated first get on twitter all they see is a bunch of gibberish that occasionally pertains to them.

An important part of your twitter experience will be dictated by who you choose to follow. Anyone you follow has their tweets displayed in the timeline you see when you log on to twitter.

If you follow people that consistently tweet junk(tweets that you do not find interesting, or valuable)  get rid of em and get someone new. No one is going to have hurt feelings because you stopped following, its just part of the twitter experience.

Heres a run down on how to find people to follow that will be valuable to you in the beginning as you are learning this brave new world. Again this is just one method in a million.

1. If you dont have a Twitter account go get one. Skip all the extra steps,  just sign up and verify the account.

2. Get a twitter client for your phone. Skip twitter if you are unwilling or adverse to doing that. To understand and really get twitter you need to be able to access it on the go. Its a tool, one of the best ever so make sure you keep it close.

3. Make a list of your passions, hobbies, favorite books. For example- Cooking, Running, Knitting, Dogs, Beer, 60 minutes, Camping, Republican, Liberal, Computers- Get 10 items on your list.

4. Go to WeFollow. Type your categories in their search field -

5. Look through the list and pick out 10 -20 people for each hobby or passion you have.

6. Now ease back. Relax and watch twitter work.

7. For the first week, check twitter regularly as you can. Force your self to do it. If you have followed folks that your passions and interest align with, every time you look at your stream it should be filled with stuff that has some interest to you. If you find your self looking at garbage, unfollow those that tweet about things that dont spark you.

8. Follow your timeline. Watch these folks that you have chosen to follow, interact. You will begin to understand how it all works. You will soon get what a reply, mention and hashtag is and come to understand how to use them. Interact with people. If someone you follow asks a question answer it, or ask them questions. Depending on who it is and what their personal twitter ethos is you may get a response, you may get a lot of reponse or you may get no response.

9. Twitter is no obligation. Thats a great thing. There is no obligation to reply and should be no hard feelings if not replied to. But start reaching out. Start following some folks that the people you follow, follow. And when you can contribute do so. Example- As you follow people and people follow you, you will catch questions and dialogs and all kinds of bits of conversations. Talk to them. Answer and ask questions if you can, and help people that you can.  Twitter gives you an unlimited reach. You just have to figure out if you want to use it and how.

10. As time passes and you become more familiar with your own little twitter sphere you will find out who you can reliably ask questions to about certain subjects and you will be able to identify those people that really enhance your twitter experience. I have key people areas of my twittersphere.  Cooking guru’s, sql jedi’s, and videography wizzes are just some of the relationships that I try to cultivate to ensure I have some go to people in times of need. And generally it works. You will get out of twitter what you put in.

As always thanks for reading and more thanks for comments.

You can always ask me a question or 2 @ferox11.

Why I go to Conference

Conference changed my life. That is not an exaggeration or bloated truth. It is a simple fact. NetVu conference changed my life. It impacted my life professionally and personally more than I ever could have known or hoped for.

As a fresh faced newbie I was a little nervous going to conference for the first time in 2005. I was the only attendee from our agency and was tasked with finding some tangible solutions to some technical problems we were facing. The first time you go it’s a head trip. There are so many people and so many things going on and that it is a little overwhelming. There are these amazingly brilliant people that really stand out. Folks that I wanted to be like and that inspired me and showed me what a true professional was.

The first super hero I ever met at conference was Johnmichael P. Monteith. He is this whirlwind of intelligence, innovation and ingenuity with a healthy dose of approachability and business acumen mixed in. When I first heard him speak at a session I thought, “Oh my god I am in so over my head.” These technical gurus had already found and dealt with problems that I was just beginning to understand.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to get up to speed with these great minds and contribute or even really how to speak with out sounding like a dumbass. I was in awe.

Ultimately I mustered up the courage to say a little something to JP and we had a conversation. I explained my problems and what my technical concerns were. Patiently he helped me find the right folks to ask if he didn’t know the answers and answered the ones he did thoroughly and completely. It rocked. And it set my perception for the rest of Conference.

That was my first day at my first conference. I knew I had come to the right place. These were folks that are in the trenches, that deal with the day to day tactical issues that can slowly erode any efficiencies that technology is supposed to bring. And they were approachable and helpful and friendly and fun.

That first conference was so important because that’s where I met the people that I am closest to in my life outside of my family. That first conference I made relationships that have turned out to be life long friendships. Over the next 5 years we forged a bond that superseded the insurance industry or any occupation. These are folks that I have on speed dial that I talk to weekly if not daily to ask for advice in all aspects of life.

They are my sounding board and I am theirs. When we first hit a problem its those folks that I contact to see if they have seen it, heard of it or knew of a way to deal with it. They are the ones I call to see how they liked this system or that product. And those relationships all started at conference.

Each year each we push each other to take broad steps in application of new technologies. We as a group virtualized, went to terminal servers/citrix, thin clients, sans, upgraded exchange and dealt with eforms and slew a multitude of other technically complex dragons. It’s a wonderful feeling to be in the middle of an install and something go sideways and you can call and chat with a trusted pal that has been through the same thing already.  And conference was the genesis of all this goodness.

I cant quantify the costs that I have saved because of conference. I can’t tell what the exact ROI is. What I can say is the relationships that I have made at conference have bettered my ability to deal with all kinds of problems my agency faces. Conference has given me agility that I wouldn’t have had other wise. I can absolutely state that we would not be where we are today if it were not for NetVu conferences. I would not be near as good as a tech if I didn’t know these people that are now dear to me.

I know times are tight and things are tough all over but if there is any way possible, you need to come to conference. I don’t say that as a spokesperson for NetVu or as anyone with anything to gain. I say it because I know this is true. We are stronger together than we are apart. And NetVu conferences bring us together. They allow us to meet each other, laugh together and bond in a way that can not be replicated by any other means. The people there deal with the stuff that drives you crazy every day, they can commiserate and offer advice. You will be a better stronger tech by going. And hopefully you will have success in making enduring relationships that will change and improve your life.  Come to conference, it will be worth it.

I really hope to see you there.