Power boat for a power lunch

It rained and rained and rained again today. The rain started in Goose Creek around 6 am and apparently just kept on going for HOURS. At 9 am I wandered out into the RAIN to go deliver reports and print outs to all of the respective departments on campus and I found that I needed a boat to get around. Downtown Charleston floods if you drop a glass of tea at high tide so you can just imagine how WET things were after it rained for HOURS.
I got lucky and caught one of the mail room clerks hopping into a golf cart and hitched a ride with him for several blocks to get where I was going. I made the trip there nice and dry but that did not happen on the way back. I had planned on buying an umbrella YESTERDAY so that I would be prepared TODAY for the eventual FLOOD that seems to happen every afternoon. Did I make good on those plans? No, of course not, I just found OTHER things to do than getting an umbrella. I made my deliveries and after about 15 minutes of waiting the downpour turned into a very light rain so I made my move. I walked to the college bookstore with plans on making good on my PLAN from yesterday to buy an umbrella. I arrived at the bookstore looking like a drowned "big foot" to find that they were SOLD OUT. Can you imagine that they would be sold out of rain coats and umbrellas?
As I was squishing around on the side walk headed back to my building I saw some young ladies standing under an awning in two segways. Those are the motorized humanoid two wheel "cart you around" thingies that are so cool. I tried to get one of them to give me a piggy back ride over to the building but they were not about to budge out of their cover. They offered me coupons for a free bagel and all I could think is that I would need 500 of those things to act as an umbrella to keep me dry.
Before I made it back over to our building I stopped at the HUNGRY COUGAR for a power lunch which consisted of one slice of pizza and one banana pudding parfait. By the time I got through with my power lunch purchase the skies had let up on the drowning routine on the ground below and I was able to squish back across the street and go into the building and head for the freezer that I sit in every day.
I am alone in my walkin freezer for now and I have 2 hours and 16 minutes before I am free again. Until then I will sit here and wait for a customer to request this that or another. I figured I might as well drivel about something so that it will give me something to do. The power lunch that I ate at 1:30 pm is kicking in and I can feel the eye lids starting to try and slam shut.
Have a good weekend, stay dry and for goodness sake please remember to bring your raincoat or umbrella.




James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net

Denver Colorado Picture

My friend Patty doctored up this picture and got some of the shadows out of my face in this picture. She did a good job, thanks Patty. I was in Denver Colorado when my friend James took this shot.

Drama less Monday

Today the moon and stars are lined up correctly and all is well at work central. The two ladies I am working with have not tried to kill each other yet nor have they yelled at one another either. I guess you could say that the drama needle is not even quivering this morning. Thank you JESUS for that one. I am not much into drama. I love a quiet peaceful environment to work in if at all possible. I work in a server room so I have to listen to the roar of the many power supply fans that are on the other side of our make shift cubicles here at work. I can not wait for the powers to be to allocate some new space and move us computer operators out of this computer room. It will be nice for someone to be able to talk to me and say something without me going HUH? When one of my co workers says something to me they have to talk loud or repeat themselves. I sometimes just roll my chair over to their corner and listen to what they are saying.
I wonder why "computer operators" are called computer operators when it comes to using the main frame. I would think that a computer would be a COMPUTER, wouldn't you? I mean, we have thousands of Personal Computers all over the campus and in all of the buildings that administrative folks use. We call them "users" instead of computer operators. Hummmmm I guess it has to be because when you use a personal computer you are in a client server configuration (client being PC and Server being where you log on for files, email etc) and the computer operators use a dumb terminal connection (attachmate) to communicate directly with the mainframe. So, if I am a computer operator (mainframe users) and a PC user that makes me a computer operator/user person.
In three years the powers to be have decided to ditch the mainframe and port all of the openvms code to Mickeysoft and Oracle. That ought to be fun and keep all of us busier than we care to be for years to come. LOL... I have spent the last 16 years in supporting Novell & Microsoft Network Operating Systems in five different industries so being a computer operator is quite different environment for me to be in. I am on week number 4 and I am much more comfortable with openvms than what I was on day one. Luckily for me I come from the DOS 3.3 world and typing in commands is no big deal. You just have to learn what command does what, what syntax to use and the directory the data is in and the file name you want to manage.
All is back to normal in our household. The billy goat (Ginger the terrier) is in her cage, Angel (the non destructive Lab) is gaurding Kristina's room and both children are at school, Katy is at her teaching job in North Charleston and I am downtown flying my keyboard. I have my last bowling night for the Summer league tonight and I think we might be in fourth or fifth place which means no awards money. We start our Winter league on September 17th so we have three weeks to rest up and do something else on Monday night like go to the gym.
Speaking of the gym, I am feeling much better and my shoulder is sort of back to normal after over doing things on Saturday afternoon. I guess I am not 18 any more. I can not lift what I used to. That is ok though, I need to be toning and doing more cardio anyway so I can burn some fat calories. If you burn more calories than you take in then you start to lose weight. It is amazing how many calories you can eat if you do not pay attention to it.
Ok, I think I have driveled enough for today. I hope you have a good day today.


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
moffittj@bellsouth.net

Sunday Musings

So far today has been a pretty good day. It started out at 7:30 am when my bladder awakened me to a new day. I went to bed at 1 am this morning after watching Lucky Louie on HBO. I normally do not stay up this late but this was Saturday night and I could sleep in later than normal.

Our youth at church were in charge of the service today and took care of the announcements, prayer requests and other things that normally the pastor or other adults take care of. This gave our pastor a much needed break. It seemed as if every gremlin that could show itself showed itself today during the service with regards to the sound system. We made it through the service without too many disasters. We went to lunch at Taco Hell and ate enough tacos to choke a horse. How many .49 cent tacos can one adult eat? LOL.. Well, I tried to behave myself but since I had not had any breakfast this morning I was famished.

After lunch was over we went home and I attempted to put freon in the wife's 93 Ford Escort Station Wagon. That task never was meant to happen. I think that the system is clogged because it wont take in any new freon yet the gauge shows that it is empty. I guess that is why the AC blows hot air huh? We are trying to keep from taking the car up to a garage because they already quoted us 150.00 to test for leaks and put in freon. That does not include any parts or repairs that might have to be done.

Now I am sitting in my favorite recliner thinking it is "happy nappy" time. I am so thankful that the AC works in the house and in my other car. I am wondering if there is some way that the wife and I can just use my car for us to get back and forth to work. Maybe she could take me to work early downtown and just take the car to work and then at the end of the day she could pick me up. It would mean more gasoline consumption but at least Katy would be much more comfortable. Perhaps I need to find someone that lives in my neck of the woods here in Duck Ditch and find a way to car pool with someone and share expenses.

I think I mentioned that I re injured my shoulder at the gym yesterday afternoon. It is much better now but it is not 100%. Hopefully it will be OK enough to bowl tomorrow night. Tomorrow ends the summer league and September 17th starts the winter league. Our summer league team "Not for Profit" has signed up to bowl on the Winter League. I have a whopping 139 average since I have been having some pretty horrible bowling nights in the last several weeks. I did have a whopping 143 average at one point. My bowling balls react better on wooden lanes and not synthetic ones such as the ones at the bowling center on the Weapons station. Basically speaking I throw the balls down the second arrow to the right and the ball is supposed to go long down the lane and then hook over into the head pin. I just can not seem to control when the ball starts to break so I am lucky if I even hit the head pin anywhere near the pocket. I got so frustrated last Monday that I took a house ball and just started throwing it down the middle at the head pin. I actually did much better doing that.

Happy Nappy time just caught up to me.

Drama and schedule changes

On July the 31st I started a new job in downtown Charleston. I am working in Information Technology which is probably no surprise to you. I was pleasantly surprised when a previous supervisor contacted me in the later part of July and asked me if I was available to give her a hand where she worked. When I was told that I would be working in the mainframe world I immediately told her that I did not have any experience in that part of I.T. My ex boss told me that she was sure that if anyone could learn something new quickly that I was the man for the job. So, before I know it she offers me a six month temp position and told me that it could very well turn into something more permanent. I was faced with working security 20 hours per week or get a substantial raise and work 40+ hours per week in a computer operations center. It took me all of 20 seconds to accept the position.

My contract ended in Moncks Corner when I worked as a network engineer for Systemtec out of Columbia SC. From June 23rd until the third week of July I was busier than a one armed man in a wind tunnel hanging paper trying to find a new job. My preference would have been full time with benefits but you have to walk through whatever doors are opened to you at the time. The whole month of July really messed up my schedule. I went from working 8 am to 5pm to whatever crazy hours the security company would give me. I worked mostly evenings but then wound up working some midnight shifts which really screwed up my sleep cycle.

For the last sixteen years I have worked in I.T. doing some type of pc/lan/wan/network support and most of the time the Network Operating System has been either Novell Netware or Microsoft Windows. I have always worked around the computer operators that maintain the BIG IRON mainframes. So, when I entered into this role I was already feeling like a fish out of water as I learned all the many different commands that I had to use while editing and printing and running jobs on the main frame. Open VMS is the OS of choice where I am working now and apparently it has been around a very long time.

My first two weeks were very stressful because my boss has high expectations that I will step into this role and pick up whatever skills I need very quickly so that I can be a resource for her in this department. I look back now and I remember that on the very first day I wanted to leave so many times it was not even funny. Probably the only thing that kept me there was a deep seated need for a regular paycheck that would help pay my bills and keep the toy fund alive. On top of my having to learn a completely new OS and understand the many tasks that happen on a daily basis in the Ops center I also entered into a less than perfect working environment. All I can say is that there was and still is some underlying tension between certain folks within our group. My hope and prayer is that those issues will be worked out very soon and that everyone can be a team member and we can all get our jobs done and get along while we are doing it.

Why must there be drama in the work place? I am a man working in a predominately female work environment. Usually it is the other way around however the roles have been reversed on me. The other day I was in a coworkers office and she laughed when I told her about the drama that I was having to listen to on a daily basis. This lady told me that she would much rather work with a bunch of men than with a bunch of women because the drama can be rather thick at times. I also have a friend of mine from church that works in an office with primarily women and she tells me all the time about the bickering and backstabbing ,rumor mill and drama in general. I just want to go to work and get the work done and then leave at the end of the day and forget about it all. I love technology because it allows me to solve problems. I also love technology because it changes all the time and it forces me to learn now things, like open VMS. There is not a day that I go to work that I don't learn something new and interesting.

Justin and Kristina went back to school this week at Berkeley County schools and Katy went back to her teaching job in a Charleston County school. Life as we know it is back to normal. We all scatter to the winds around 7 am each morning and then we come back together as a family unit in the late afternoon and early evening hours. Justin is in 5th grade and Kristina is in 8th grade. Thus far both children have been AB Honor role students for the last several years so I am pretty happy about that. Justin is in the gifted and talented class which means that he is taking advanced subjects of study for his age. GO KIDS GO. Get that education that you desperately need to survive in this world.

Back in May of this year I got serious about losing weight. Ok, let me correct that. I got serious about trying to do something about losing weight. Thus far I have not been very successful at that goal. I have lost ten pounds and then I will put some of it back on and lose it again and well, you get the picture. I have a 10 lb weight range that I keep taking off and putting back on. One of the things that I did accomplish was to get my blood pressure under control. Imagine that, there are benefits to regular exercise. I went from having a 140/90+ bp to 110/70 bp. That in and of itself is worth all of the exercise. I have been educating myself on counting calories and exercising. My body has been educating me about overdoing things as well. I have been using the treadmill for 20 minutes and the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes every other day and then hitting the weights. At first I was using too much weight and the trainer there told me that I needed to do less weight and more repetitions so I can tone my muscles and not build them. Muscles are heavier than fat and that was one of the things causing me to gain weight instead of lose it.

My left knee and right shoulder have been complaining to me for the last two weeks. So, thanks to the pain I have refrained from going to the gym. I finally went back to the gym today and figured out that my right shoulder does not like the bench press. As of tonight my right shoulder is not very happy with me. I am thinking it probably has something to do with my rotater cuff since it only hurts in the joint when I move it a specific way. Thus far my left knee is not hollering too much. I am going to stay away from the weights and stick to the tread mill this week. I am going to try and go early in the morning before work around 6 am. Starting over is my motto. Every day I start over learning how to eat less food, better food, less junk food and getting the right type of aerobic exercise for my heart. My focus is on living healthier more than just losing weight. If I can keep my focus right then the weight loss will come eventually. At least that is the game plan for now...

Technorati : Drama, job change, weight loss

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New U.K. rules put laptops in checked baggage - Network World

New U.K. rules put laptops in checked baggage - Network World

Well, there ya have it. Thanks to the actions of some idiots who have nothing better to do with their time now we have to place the care of our delicate electronics with baggage handlers. Now, in defense of baggage handlers I am sure that their job is hard enough with the volume they deal with to have to gently handle every single piece of luggage as if there is a laptop inside. I guess they would never get the plane loaded at that rate. What that tells me is that if I am going to travel from point A to point B with my laptop and I have to check it I will be putting it into a large metal camera case that I can put egg crate padding in so that if it is dropped or shoved around roughly it will stand a better chance of survival. Anyway you cut this pie it still means extra hassle for everyone. I am glad that those 21 folks were nabbed BEFORE innocent lives were lost.

Happy Days Boat trip uploaded again to blip.tv

I received notice that Blip.tv experienced a hardware crash on one of their servers and that two of my videos which were pretty new did not survive.  I uploaded the Happy Days boat ride late last night and I will upload the Denver trip again between now and Monday.

Tags: boat, days, special, ride, blip.tv, happy, and, times

What end-users can't stand about you - Network World

What end-users can't stand about you - Network World

I really liked this article and agree with what it says. If you are an IT pro like myself check this out and see if you are doing these things. If you are please STOP IT. LOL...

Hamster Wheel Gone Wrong - Google Video

Hamster Wheel Gone Wrong - Google Video

This is TOO funny... Poor Hamster

HD Boat Trip 2006

HD Boat Trip 2006

Watch the video

This video shows the footage of being on the Ashley River and Charleston Harbor. We took five boats to another marina and had a cookout.

Tags: scssa, james, special, moffitt, happy, times, days

Protecting against vulnerabilities in wireless drivers - Network World

Protecting against vulnerabilities in wireless drivers - Network World

This is a very excellent article that discussing security vulnerabilities with regards to different OS's and 802.11 wireless protocol.

Happy Days Boat Trip

Happy Days Boat Trip

Watch the video

SCSSA and Happy Days and Special Times sponsored the 2006 Boat trip from the Charleston Harbor. This clip shows an interview with SCSSA members, a boat captain and the children playing in a pool that was also donated by SCSSA. Five boats were used by SCSSA to transport the kids with cancer, their siblings and parents.

Tags: scssa, special, happy, times, days

High-tech jobs recovery? Don't believe the hype

High-tech jobs recovery? Don't believe the hype

I read this article this morning and have to say that I agree whole heartedly. Information Technology for a career path is not the best move for anyone these days. Once upon a time, before September 11th 2001 , I could write my own check. Today I am struggling to find a contract doing desktop support and I am making way below what I was used to making. Because of this I am considering furthering my education and getting back into the medical field doing something other than computer support.

Starting over July 23rd 2006

Starting Over July 23rd 2006

Sun, Jul 16 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,790
Mon, Jul 17 2006
Total Calories Consumed 2,182
Tue, Jul 18 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,373
Wed, Jul 19 2006
Total Calories Consumed 2,031
Thu, Jul 20 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,414
Fri, Jul 21 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,814
Sat, Jul 22 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,748
Sun, Jul 23 2006
Breakfast and Lunch thus far
Total Calories Consumed 1,360

Exercise Accountability

Mon, Jul 17 2006 Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 35 949
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 30 244
Total Calories Burned 1192.7

Tue, Jul 18 2006 Swimming - Breaststroke, General 20 542
Total Calories Burned 542.1

Wed, Jul 19 2006
Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 30 813
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 30 244
Total Calories Burned 1057.1

Fri, Jul 21 2006
Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 30 813
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 35 285
Total Calories Burned 1097.8

Sat, Jul 22 2006
Non-food Shopping - Standing or Walking 300 1,871
Total Calories Burned 1870.5

Sun, Jul 23 2006
Non-food Shopping - Standing or Walking 300 1,871
Total Calories Burned 1,871


Well, as you can see, I am committed to starting over. I feel great and have lots of energy and feel much much stronger than ever before. As for weight loss, that is not happening for now. Hopefully that will begint o happen very soon. I am counting every single calorie that I stick in my mouth and I am increasing the intensity of my workouts every time I go. I find that the Hydroxycut is giving me more energy and curbing my hunger pangs some. This next week I intend to increase the dosage of Hydroxycut to 2 pills per day, one early in the morning and one around 2 pm. Hopefully that will cause me to eat less food altogether. On a positive note my blood pressure is down to around 116/68. My exercising on a regular basis has really had a dramatic affect on my blood pressure. I am also not having as much swelling in my ankles as I once did which is a good thing.

So, I consider this last week a good week. I am still starting over...

zoomed in image of one of the boats in our entourage today 

zoomed in image of Arthur Ravenel Bridge  

Picture of Arthur Ravenel Bridge from Charleston Harbor July 20th 2006 

You can see the coast guard emblem on the side of the hull in this picture 

another view of CG Sailboat  

Coast Guard Sailboat in Charleston Harbor