Sam's Blog

It's always raining...

Yeah, right....

posted by Sam @ 4:24 PM 0 comments

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

Happy Belated Birthday to my sister Lisa!!!

posted by Sam @ 4:22 PM 0 comments

First Day again...?

Well... It turns out that my access to the many systems was disabled overnight because I didn't submit my info until after 5:00 eastern time. So... I was terminated (shortest job I ever had...). My boss had to contact HR and straighten everything out. We thought it was all taken care of when my NT account was disabled too (pic). My NT account was finally restored at noon so I could print and access email. Some other accesses were created for me too (there will be 20 or so systems that I will have logins to - not including the main work systems). Hopefully, I'll have my main access again tomorrow.

Things have been going pretty good here. Everyone is helping out to get me up to speed. I'll be walking through the data center this week and setting up a visit to the NOC in Fremont soon. Most of my employees will be remote (Chicago, Dallas, New Jersey, SoCal, Jacksonville, ...) so I'm not sure what the travel will be like...

Well... Off to my 15-block walk from work. Going to Gold's Gym for a workout before packing it in....

posted by Sam @ 4:33 PM 0 comments

First Day...

:-)

posted by Sam @ 4:34 PM 0 comments

Everyone say a prayer...

...for those impacted by hurricane Katrina.
Word is that it's going to be devastating...

posted by Sam @ 8:57 PM 0 comments

Good news, bad news, and more of the same...

We spent all morning and early afternoon preparing for our open house. Lisa cleaned and rearranged the inside while I worked outside. I took the kids and the dogs over to Dave and Christie's (thanks guys!) while Lisa tended to the house.

The good news: The house is immaculate. It is still awesome when it's cleaned up and the blinds are open.

The bad news: We had a few people stop by but only one came in. So much for all our work.

Oh, well. at 5:00 I came home and BBQ'd some steaks. Then, as Lisa cleaned up and bathed the kids, I packed my bags for my trip. It was my turn to read to the kids - what a joy for me!

posted by Sam @ 8:43 PM 0 comments

Busy day!

Took the family to Fairytale Town this morning while it was still cool. The kids had a blast. Mom and dad too (except for the food...). I thought I took a bunch of pics but I guess I only took a few...

When we got back, it was non-stop until 9:00. I had a list of about 20 things (pick up dry cleaning, get a haircut, wash laundry, print out my first day info, assemble my travel plans, ...). I got all but three things done. Whew! I'm dog-tired. Lisa's day was pretty much like mine. Luckily, the kids were pretty good (until right before bedtime - Aly was tired and grumpy!). Tomorrow doesn't look to be any easier.

One of the things on my list was to purchase a digital camera so I can have one with me at all times. I love the Sony DSC-P71 but I ended up with a Canon PowerShot A510. It has the built-in USB like the Sony but stores images on SD rather than the Sony proprietary memory card.

Update: The bourbon smell is out of the car.

posted by Sam @ 9:10 PM 0 comments

A funny story...and, I'm such a lightweight...

First, the funny story...
I was loading my laptop into my Explorer to head off to work yesterday. I was immediately hit with the strong odor of alcohol. Ah geez! I left the bottle of Woodford Reserve that Lena and Dave gave to me in the car. It was 102 outside the other day and Woodford has a cork and the bottle was at a 45-degree angle and... One-fourth of the bottle spilled all over my notebook and several of my technical books (I had to throw one away...). I gathered up the books and the bourbon and went into the garage (Lisa was feeding the kids so I didn't want to go back in the house). I laid the books out and decided to put the bourbon in the garage cabinet until I got home from work.

I opened the cabinet and was reaching up with the 3/4 full bottle in hand when the garage door opened and Lisa was standing right there. Well... this looks incriminating I thought. "What the heck are you doing?" Lisa asked. I explained and (luckily) the bourbon-soaked books corroborated my story..... BTW. The car still reeks of bourbon.

I'm such a lightweight...
...not that that's a bad thing. Tony came by after we put the kids to bed. We went to a local pub to play some pool and have a couple of beers. Dave caught up with us and we stayed until about 11:00. We only had a few beers and a shot of Patron - thanks to Dave. However, on the way home I was feeling pretty tipsy. I woke up this morning with a nasty hangover that lasted all day. Did I mention that the car still reeks of bourbon? Yeah...not good....

posted by Sam @ 7:56 PM 0 comments

Last Day...

Well... the day finally arrived - My last day at Sutter Health was today. Leaving a job is difficult. You're there 9 or more hours a day, 50-weeks a year. Inevitably, you make some good friends. I made a bunch of them at Sutter. I will truly miss them. I worked with a lot of outstanding technical professionals and leaders at Sutter also.

My last day was uneventful but very busy. It was non-stop from the time I got in to the time I left. I didn't even have time to take any pictures. I do feel good that I left the Network Operations workload in some very capable hands. I had a pizza lunch with some of the crew - Martin, Jon, Kerry, Lena, Dave, Scott, Chuck, and Don. One of the conversations was who was going to step into my role. When we got back, I finished up on the exit interview form and went to my exit interview. I believe that Sutter really does want to have happy employees and uses the exit interviews to gather important information about the quality of work and of the work environment.

I gathered up the rest of my belongings, shook a bunch of hands, exchanged well-wishes, and headed to the door accompanied by Martin and Scott. I loaded everything into my (still reeking of bourbon) car, shook hands, and hit the road.

One of the items that Rudy (my boss) and the crew got me was a framed copy of the ad that ran in Prosper Magazine and the Sacramento Business Journal. It was signed by many of my co-workers. (pictured in the ad are Rudy, Lena, Peni, Joyce, and me)

posted by Sam @ 7:44 PM 0 comments

Party Time!

My boss and co-workers threw a nice going away luncheon for me today at Chevy's on the Sacramento River. Had a decent meal, a couple of good margaritas, and scored some really nice parting gifts (pic). Wish I didn't have to cut out so fast but the family was a-waitin'. We really need to go out and cut loose sometime...

I really need to get another digital cam. I didn't get any pics from the luncheon because the wif neeeded the cam.

Man! The wife and I have been worn out lately. I'm glad that the kids have been so good for the past few days. I'd go get a drink, but I'm too tired to get up. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

posted by Sam @ 7:50 PM 0 comments

Winding down...

Things are winding down for me at work. A lot of the work is going around me (In the bottom pic, Martin, Scott, and Jon are discussing a bad Sup 720 while Joe scopes out a new vacation spot - looks like Uranus). I spend my time working on minor issues. I'm also trying to mentor one of the engineers who may be a candidate for my position. My desk is immaculate (see pic).

I went to lunch with the boss and the Quest guys. We went to Ernesto's and (mostly) discussed work and me leaving. I returned to work to see a derogatory sign across my cube - obviously left there by the NetScout probe installer... :-D

My daughter was sick today. So, I left work a little early to help out. We could tell that she was very uncomfortable with her head cold but she was in great spirits. The kids were both angels today but dad and mom were tired and slightly grumpy...

posted by Sam @ 7:51 PM 0 comments

Cleaning out my desk...

I got into work today and started cleaning out my desk. Man! I am a packrat. I had paperwork that I haven't looked at in 2 years. My recycle box is full.

Many of my co-workers have the wrong impression of me. They think that, just because my last day is Friday, I'll have a short-time attitude. Because of this, they're leaving me out of many of the day-to-day activities. The truth is that I enjoy my work. I'll try to help "transition" but I am happy to contribute until the time I walk out of the door for the last time and even after - if needed.

I met with the boss at 4 at the Mather golf club to talk about transitioning over a couple of beers. I left at 5 but traffic was lousy - it appears that an RV caught fire on the freeway. It took me more than twice as long to get home. I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening at home.

posted by Sam @ 7:47 PM 0 comments

Family goes to State Fair

We took the Aly, Mitch, and Jessica to the California State Fair today. We all had a great time but didn’t get to stay as long as I wanted since the kids have to go down for an early afternoon nap (or they become monsters). Aly had a great time in the petting zoo where she got to pet goats, deer, llamas, and (her favorite) a pig. Mitch would have none of it. He stayed in mom’s arms the whole time. Dad attempted to feed the goats by pouring the food out of the cone – the food promptly bounced off their noses onto the ground. Mitch enjoyed a ride in the teacup (as long as he could hold onto momma).

posted by Sam @ 2:06 PM 0 comments

House on the market...

Well... With our big move from Sacramento to Seattle looming, the house was put on the market. I really liked this house for the year-and-a-half that I lived here. The location was good (not like living in Davis though) and the house was huge. Lisa would like the house to sell as soon as possible so I'm not separated from her and the kids for too long once I start the new job. She's already stressing out because the MLS listing wasn't on time, the wording doesn't meet her approval, and we're out of flyers on the for sale sign in front of the house. I'm installing a color printer (HP Officejet 6210 All-in-One) so I can scan and print some more flyers...

Lisa doesn't sit down. From the time she gets up, she's cleaning, dressing the kids, making phone calls, and, most of all, worrying. I try to help out where I can but I can't keep up. Good thing I'm the computer guy around here and I can sit in my office and print flyers. :-)

posted by Sam @ 7:43 AM 0 comments

Created my blog today

We'll see how this pans out....

posted by Sam @ 7:39 AM 0 comments