Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time

Yesterday the new tables for the lab were delivered. We got them installed so quickly the guys brought the computers and monitors over that morning. After lunch we unboxed them and set them up. Today we finished the cabling. I hope to get the lab completely done by Thursday the latest. Tomorrow the printer is getting delivered. Still need to set up the printer, image the lab, inventory the lab, and test everything. I had one DOA machine, so hopefully that will get fixed quickly.

Tom, Max, and Jeff – the best tech crew I could have asked for. Thanks guys!

Empty lab, nice and clean.

Tables fresh off the truck.

Tables installed. The teacher’s station is in the foreground. The student stations have recessed monitor shelves.

Action shot.

End of the day Monday. No more pictures from today, I’ll take some more later this week.

Today I removed the last of the cables, power strips, speakers, security, etc. from the lab.

3 boxes in a cart was all that was left. I beat the rain by about two minutes.

The only thing left in the room were the tables and chairs. The chairs will be used again in the lab, but the tables are being replaced. I am not involved in the removal of those or the cleaning of the lab, so the next installment I have pictures for will be installing the new tables on Monday. Thank you to all those involved in getting the room ready for the new equipment!

The old equipment in storage awaiting its new home.

The new equipment and the box of stuff returning to the lab, waiting for next week.

Today was the first day of the Houghton Lab renovation at work. That means that today was tear down day. I spent a very hot morning pulling computers and monitors. Then after lunch Tom and I moved the computers, monitors, and printers into storage until they are ready to be installed in their new location. Tomorrow we will finish clearing the room so it can be cleaned. Then next Monday we will start installing the new equipment. I am very sore from it all, but am glad we got as much done today as we did.

This is the first year I remembered and had a camera available, so I started photo-documenting the process. This is the hidden work that gets done while most people are not even on campus. I feel it is important to show what is done and who does the work and have wanted to do this pretty much for the last seven years. I’ve started a Flickr set for this project and will add pictures throughout.

This is the lab ready to be torn apart.

Many of the tables were on the point of collapse. The worst one is being supported by an empty ink cartridge.

Gum was one of the more disgusting things I found on and around the computers.

The row of computers waiting to be removed from the lab.

Tom and the van full of computers and printers.

Microsoft is finally producing interesting commercials. Below are the 2 laptop hunter commercials so far. I think they have struck an important fact that is often overlooked. There is nothing wrong with Apple computers, it’s just that you can get better for less with a Windows PC. I view Apple like a religion. I have no problem with your belonging to the denomination of your choice, but stop trying to convert me. I don’t care if you think Steve Jobs is God or that Macs are the most bestest computers in the world because they can do things like run Windows while looking good. Really, STFU. I don’t want to hear it. A computer is a tool. I don’t really give a damn what it looks like as long as it works. And it’s not like Dell and HP are molding steaming piles of horse crap into computer cases. They just don’t have a piece of fruit on them. You want to be a Mac, good for you. Now let me get back to the real world and work on my PC. Interesting fact, Karen and I each bought PC laptops recently, and the cost of both of them combined was less than one Macbook and we got better specs too. So yeah, I’m a PC. And the only reason I bothered to mention it is because I’m tired of all the Mac evangelists preaching and trying to gain converts.

I am pleased to announce the completion of the Pronunciation and Meaning of Estonian Names website I have been working on with Dr. Edwin Lawson.

Due to various time constraints on my part, as well as a few revisions, this site has taken about a year to complete! Needless to say I am very pleased to have this project completed. Check it out, I hope you find it as interesting as I do.

Wow, I just found out that not only can I watch movies online through Netflix, and TV shows through Hulu, but now MTV has made many videos available online as well. Thank you interwebs for providing so much content that I can now waste time on so many different levels!

I wonder what convicted felon Sen. Stevens would say about all of the streaming media that is clogging up the tubes?

I have been a strong supporter and denfender of Windows Vista since I first installed it so hearing about the Mohave experiment made me smile.

Basically, what Microsoft did was take a bunch of people who had never used Vista but hated it anyway and offer to let them use the next Windows codenamed Mohave. After loving the Mohave the participants were told that they were in fact using Vista. That is just full of Win!

The Vista blog post about it. (link)

The Mohave fact-sheet. (link)

The Mohave videos. (link)

As I run out of working days before the start of the semester I start to get nervous. Will I get everything done? Will everything work? I am sure I and it will respectively. However it is a stressful time of year. So if I don’t blog much it might because I am too stressed. Or maybe I’ll blog more, since it is an outlet. The days are counting down and fortunately so far things are running smoothly and on schedule. Let’s hope they stay that way.

Well it’s the last Friday in July. That means it is System Administrator Appreciation Day.

So cheers to all of us who keep their respective systems up and running!