It’s been way too long since my last post. It seems as if I forget about my little corner of the world here and forget to drop in and reflect on my life, which is the main reason for this blog.
At the beginning of last summer, I accepted a position with VICOPS (Collaboration Technologies) at Indiana University. This small department handles all of the videoconferencing/collaboration resources for the entire Indiana University system and outside affiliates. I work for the help desk, where we take telephone and video calls for assistance with issues regarding technologies such as desktop videoconferencing, Adobe Connect, Telepresence, etc.
At the beginning of the fall I was offered and accepted a full time hourly position with them. I no longer have to worry about finding multiple jobs to fill hours. It has been a great relief to my family as well. I never realized how much I actually treasure steady working hours.
I’m only 10 credit hours away from graduating. This semester I’m taking nothing but Informatics and Computer Science courses. Most of these are just introductory courses, which are a cakewalk for someone with my knowledge in the subject.
My business has received a much needed injection of attention. After changing the name from LML Video Services to Magic Media Services, things just died out. I then put a request on reddit for someone to help redesign the logo for my business. I was more than surprised at the results when someone obliged my request. I am now working on redesigning my website, which will be located somewhere on the rox.com domain temporarily.
Rachel and I finally got “grown up” furniture for our bedroom. With the assistance of my neighbor Bill we got a new dresser, chest of drawers, headboard, armoire and night stand. We also purchased a new mattress and box spring, which was needed greatly. Our old, borrowed furniture went back to my grandma who lent it to us over 10 years ago. I can’t thank her enough for the kindness in her heart.
Over the weekend I replaced the first of three sinks in our home. The one in our utility room (they are all exactly the same) started leaking about a gallon of water a day. The drain was rusted out, but I couldn’t replace it as it was seized together. The shut off valves for the water lines were seized as well. With all of the water problems this area had previously, we knew this was going to be ugly. Since we needed a place to give Amelia a bath while remodeling our main bathroom (which will be happening soon) we decided to purchase a utility sink for the space. 8 hours and 3 trips to Menards later, I was both finished with the project and worn our physically and mentally.
On the ROX side of life, I’m currently downloading the latest finished episode for distribution to CATS. #96 will be on the air soon in Monroe county.
Hopefully I’ll be back soon with more organized and focused posts.
Those are the words my mind tricked me into believing were true. I heard a fireman say something that sounded like that on the night of May 25th, the night a EF1 tornado touched down very close to my home.
My wife, a person who is always concerned with the weather told me that the night was going to be a rough one. I hear this on a fairly common basis, but something told me that I should stay on alert that night. She had radar from WRTV 6 up on her computer, and we had a combination of the local weather and The Weather Channel on our TV the entire night.
I remember the exact moment when I knew we were going to be in for something. While watching the TV, they were showing all of the tornado warning/watches in Illinois. The state was covered in red; meaning the state was covered in tornado warnings.
Around 10:19pm our power went out, and almost instantly after that our weather radio went off; it was a tornado warning for us and we knew that this was serious. My wife headed for our basement and told me to grab Amelia from her crib if I thought it was appropriate. While I knew this was a serious situation, I had to see it for my own eyes. That’s when I picked up my flashlight and looked at the large maple tree in my backyard. It’s large canopy was swirling in a clockwise motion, something I had never seen before in that large of a tree.
I immediately ran to grab Amelia from her room and rushed to our utility room where Rachel was waiting. Even though I had experienced a similar event when I was 12, I had never felt the urgency or threat that I felt at that moment. It was the first time we had ‘ran for shelter’ from a storm. While in our utility room, we could hear the intensity of the storm. There was no sound like a train, rather the sound of a large volume of air moving at a high rate of speed. It went away after a minute or so, but we decided to stay in our safe place for a few minutes, just to be sure.
Immediately, I went outside to inspect for damage. The first thing I noticed was that a large limb from one of my trees had broken and fallen on my neighbor’s fence. I called him to let him know, and that was when my mental state took a dive that it hadn’t had in a very long time.
He told me that his daughter had called him and by listening to the scanner, she had heard that the trailer court right next to our neighborhood was completely wiped out. I felt a tremendous urge to go see what I could do to help. I got in the Kia and discovered that a war zone now existed less than 1/4 mile away from my home; I was also trapped in our neighborhood.
I discovered another one of my neighbors outside, I asked him what he knew. He said that there were several children trapped in one of the trailers. He told me that he offered his assistance, but they didn’t want anyone who wasn’t trained in search & rescue to help out of the fear that they might also be hurt.
I then heard those words that I couldn’t get out of my head, “the little girl is dead.” I had to run back home, I couldn’t help and I could barely hold my tears back.
Out of what seemed to be pure survival instinct, I started tweeting. Besides our land line, it was my only way of communicating with the outside world at that point. Here they are:
I’m a prisoner in my own neighborhood and there are people dead less than 1/4 miles away from me
Trailers stacked on top of trailers, it’s a sickening sight! If I only had a line to the outside world besides this
I can’t sleep knowing that my poor neighbor children lost everything, almost their lives tonight. I also confirmed with the fd, no death …
I now wish it would stay dark so I cannot see the remains of what was #didthisreallyhappen
I’ve only lost a few trees, which I loved -I feel bad for mentioning it, but I think it should be noted.
Please put the children who just lost everything in your thoughts and/or prayers. They really didn’t deserve this
You never realize how much you appreciate freedom until that freedom is taken – quote me
I then went back and found a larger group of my neighbors. One of which had a friend over who is a policeman. We went back and actually did some searching with the fire department. I snapped some photos on my phone, but due to the atmospheric conditions, they didn’t turn out too well.
I went back home and told Rachel that I couldn’t go to sleep, and that I was going to leave as soon as I could. I felt disconnected from what was happening, I needed information. Around 3am, I started seeing headlights from cars driving around our neighborhood – the road must have been finally cleared. I packed up my laptop, phone and associated cables to charge everything and headed into the unknown. My destination was the IU Wells Library, but I wasn’t sure if I would make it. I had to try.
The journey is only about 6 miles, but it seemed like 50. The entire west side of Bloomington was pitch black. No stop lights or street lights. When I finally made it to campus it was even worse. Trees were down everywhere, what is normally a somewhat linear route ended up to be a criss cross puzzle.
I finally felt okay. I sat with some of my TCC co-workers and briefed them of the situation. I logged onto a computer and started my hunt for information. I printed every article I could find, from the Herald-Times, to the Indy Star to even MSNBC.
Once everything was charged, and my search for information was complete I headed back home. Little did I know that the drive home would be even more treacherous than the drive in.
Still no lights or businesses open. It was daylight now, I what I had feared was true; it had to have been a tornado that came through. While there were spots here and there in town and on campus that had tree damage, there was a defined path of destruction starting just west of Curry Pike/Leonard Springs Road on Highway 45. This defined path followed me on my journey home, and that’s when I encountered the sheriff’s deputy blocking the road to my home. “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked me. “Home” I passionately stated. He let me through.
The next day we left on a planned vacation to Michigan. We felt it would be better to leave the sadness and destruction, than to stay and be constantly reminded of it.
My first semester as a student at Indiana University was very hard on me. So hard that I became “out of sync” with the world around me, and the normal activities I participated in (including this blog).
Too many events occurred to even begin to try to catch up with one blog post, so I won’t try. Instead I’m going to mention current events.
This week was the first semester of the spring semester, for which I’ve decided to take some 100 level courses in an attempt to give my mind a break.
I’m also adjusting to some changes in my work schedule, as I now have some very long days. I work from 7:30a until 10p two nights a week. While this may sound horrible, it allows me some freedoms. I don’t work on Wednesdays, and I only work 5 hours on Fridays. It’s a trade off that I’m willing to pay for.
During the winter break, I was able to catch up on ROX. I have edited 11 of 24 episodes for the season one DVD set. I hope to finish editing by the end of the semester, and begin DVD authoring.
The plan is that I will be able to re-connect with my family, and more importantly, my life during this period.
I just thought I’d leave a quick note, as I haven’t written in quite a long time:
I didn’t realize how much work my classes this semester would actually be. It’s taken up much of my time as of recently. I also had a bout of pneumonia to which I recovered and now am dealing with some serious sinus issues.
Most of the time working with computers is fun, when you’re sick it’s quite the opposite.
My “second” day of being a student wasn’t nearly as crazy as I thought it would be. You see, I have 15 minutes between the time I leave my job to when my class starts on the opposite side of campus at Swain Hall East.
The trip wasn’t as stressful and energy sucking as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact I made it to class with 5 minutes to spare!
The class on the other hand seems like it’s going to be one I have to pay close attention to, and keep up on. It’s the first statistics course I’ve ever taken! A few of my co-workers recommended the course and said it was “easy.” With those kind of recommendations I couldn’t pass this one up. A fellow co-worker is taking it this semester as well, so I’ll have him for any help I might need.
As soon as I’m done with class, I have a quick bike ride back to the IMU, where Rachel and Amelia should be on their way or waiting on me. Not so bad.
Essentially I will be doing this “day one” and “day two” routine twice each week, with my Friday’s being split amongst Kelley and some study time at the library.
The one thing I have to change is the seat on my bicycle. It’s never been comfortable in the 15 years I’ve owned it. Now that I’m using it 4 times a week, it’s downright painful. I ordered an awesome seat last night from amazon, and hope to have it installed this weekend.
My first day as a student at IU was exciting, exhausting and fulfilling.
I first worked my job at Technology Services at KSoB. I then rushed over to McNutt for my other job with UITS/TCC. When I arrived and started to settle in, I received a call asking me to go to Read due to some staffing issues. So I rushed over to the other end of campus as quick as I could to fulfill this request.
When I arrived I was in shock. Whomever had worked there last had left the supply cabinet unlocked, and all of it’s contents inside unlocked. We keep a radio, laptop, hubs and other supplies in it. Someone could have simply walked in and taken them without worry.
The consultant that should have been there arrived about 30 minutes late, he’s obviously a underclassmen, he didn’t show any sense of responsibility. We had many tickets and a few appointments to go on as there are many people around campus having problems connecting to IU’s network. We called many people and were able to resolve the issue on the phone, or close the ticket because the issue had been fixed.
Printing was also basically down across the whole campus. The printing system was migrated to a new system without any time for testing that is normally done. Basically what was once many was migrated to a few and all hell broke loose. As I write this printing is down again. I hope this issue gets resolved soon, as I genuinely feel bad for these students who rely on university printers.
It was a good, hard and hot shift, but we were productive.
I then rode my bike over to Ballantine Hall, where my American Studies class is. I arrived almost an hour early, so I had time to relax from the fast paced day I had.
I was amazed to find that my class is very small, only about 10 students! The topic of this class is how the computer changed history and culture. I think it’s going to be a fun and interesting class. Since I’m the geek that I am with regards to computers and history I think it’s the perfect fit for me.
After class I caught the Bloomington Transit, the city’s public bus system. I get to ride it free since I’m a student at IU. My bike and I rode over to Wal-Mart where Rachel and Amelia were waiting on me. This is a better alternative than Rachel packing her up and driving back to campus to pick me up. I haven’t rode the bus since I was in middle school! The one thing I can say is bus design has changed significantly since then.
Once we got home, I basically crashed from the days’ activities. I hope I can keep up the pace.
Today is going to be a whole new adventure that I will update you on tomorrow.
The schedule for my job with UITS came out over the weekend, which has me working at Briscoe, McNutt, Foster and the Information Commons. While this is great where my working life is concerned, it’s horrible for my academic life. I have classes at Ballantine Hall and in Swain East. They are on the opposite side of campus. For those of you that don’t know, the IU campus is quite large.
To make matters worse, on two of those days I will get out of work 15 minutes before my class starts.
To try to expedite my travel I’m currently working on solutions to get my bike on campus. With my bike on campus, I think I can cut down the travel time significantly. Since I live a good trek away, biking to campus isn’t really an option. I’ve got some options to figure out. I’m going to either leave my bike on campus during the week and take it home on the weekend, or take it with me each day. I’m going to test whether my bike will fit in our car tonight, if not we’ll have to order $300 worth of gear ( a hitch and hitch mounted bike rack).
I haven’t seriously rode my bike in about 10 years, which invokes something else, a more active lifestyle. I’m sure I’ll be really sore for the first couple of weeks, but after that I’ll in much better shape. Something I need to do.
I am currently between semesters, my last one at Ivy Tech and my first one at IU. In this downtime, I’m working in some editing of the “good” episodes of ROX that I have, which are a majority of season one.
On a good night I can crank out 2 episodes. Last night I was only able to complete one.
Most of these episodes are in pretty good shape, they still need a look over to make sure they meet my high standards before I’ll allow people to pay money for them. The biggest issue seems to be with transitions between shots and the beginning and end of the show. Luckily I have a ton of “stock” clips to use if one is bad.
If you look at all of my blog posts regarding ROX, you’ll see many ramblings about technical difficulties or just not having time. I’m finished with giving excuses. I’d like to get season one ready and launch it with my new LML Video Services website.
Once this “easy” process is over, I will start the tedious heavy editing process. Dissecting each episode ensuring the audio and video tracks are synchronized and making sure there are no other transitional issues.
After the editing process is complete, DVD authoring and design begin. This is where I actually create the look and feel of the DVD. Then I design the case and labels. Once the producers give their words of approval, it will be released.
The biggest difference between this time, and the last time is I have an active backup solution. My computer is backed up every night, and those backups are backed up weekly. If my hard drive fails, I haven’t lost any work. That is what put me over a year behind. I had to recapture everything and start from day one.
This summer is wildly different than the last couple of summers. I’m actually working a regular schedule! That means we have the means to do more!
I’m also taking my last semester at Ivy Tech, the school I have learned to despise. Since I am transferring to IU, I didn’t have many choices because there are a limited amount of classes that transfer. So I am taking Econ-101 and Hist-125. Economics is well, economics; there isn’t much I can really say about such a dull class. History is a different story however, as the focus for this class is “The History of American Technology.” There is nothing that gets me as excited as history and technology, well I can probably name a few things but I must digress.
I also made the deans list for the Spring 2010 semester!
My econ class is online, and my history class was originally a “hybrid” class, which is essentially online; with the option of coming in for lectures and discussion. I guess not enough people registered for my section and it was canceled and moved to a online section. So no rushing to class for me this summer! Score!
Interestingly enough, one of the first classes I will be taking at IU is a similar class, but it is in relation to how the computer changed America. It is through the American Studies program.
I have had an average of 100 pages of reading per week thus far, and I expect that pace to stay the same. For someone who only reads something if it’s necessary, that’s a mountain of reading. Luckily I’m able to read and do my homework while at work, which opens up my time away from work for activities I’d much rather be doing.
Speaking of work, it seems as of the last few months that more and more people on campus are moving to Apple computers; the pressure for us to offer support for them has grown exponentially. I haven’t seriously used a mac since the original Macintosh. So with some preparation, I will be purchasing a macbook sometime this summer. I hope to learn the systems inside and out in the only way I know how; enveloping myself in it. Some think that it’s a large expense for just a learning tool, but I think it’s a small investment in my learning. Plus it will elminate our current battles over who can use the laptop. Even Amelia wants to play on what we call “the magic box.”
We’re currently talking (and planning) on adding a HTPC (Home Theater PC) to our endless collection of technology at home. The key issue is price at this point, neither of us want to spend too much money. With the lack of abilities a DVD player provides, a HTPC can offer us endless opportunities for whatever we want to do. I have many movies that we can simply watch over our home network, plus with things like Hulu, Boxee and my new fave, Netflix – we’ll never have the excuse that “nothing’s on.” With that in mind, I’m currently working on getting our LAN up and running. I just have to install the box, an outlet, and connect the wiring.
I’ve all but completed the new website for LML Video Services. I just need to raise the $60 I need to re-up my hosting package. I built this website from scratch through my Computer Information Systems class last semester, and then tweaked it for “commercial” use. It’s simple, just my style. I’m currently trying to make the decision to leave PayPal and use Google for checkout options, but that’s still on the drawing board. I also have a “Latest Updates” section that is essentially a blog. I would like to use Word Press or some other blogging type script to update this rather than hand code it. Unfortunately I cannot work on this until it is actually up and running.
Due to the economy and cutbacks in state funding to Indiana University, Technology Center Consulting has decided to strictly enforce a policy that hasn’t been enforced before. Effective this fall, they will no longer employ persons who aren’t students at the university.
This has posed some hard and serious questions about what I want to do with my education, and my life. My nerves got the best of me and I “fell off the wagon” and bought a pack of cigarettes.
While I enjoy many aspects of Ivy Tech, such as a laid back atmosphere, very cheap tuition and it’s proximity to my home, I don’t want to be out of work. I have spent almost 4 years trying to find a full time position that suits me, and I have yet to find it.
So this fall I will be enrolling in the continuing studies program at Indiana University. I will still be pursuing an Associate’s degree, but in General Studies instead of Computer Information Systems. Luckily most of my credits will transfer, so I will still be able to graduate in the same time frame. I had thought about transferring to a Bachelor’s, but 7 more years of school is just too much for me right now.
My application is complete on my end as of now. It’s in IU and Ivy Tech’s hands now. IU’s website states the application process takes 10 to 12 weeks, so I hope I am admitted early enough to enroll in classes I want to take unlike my father who always waits until the last minute and almost had to take Yiddish Studies last semester.
Part of me is glad to leave Ivy Tech, as it’s become a place of non-learning as of late. It seems as if most of the student body enrolls to get student loans or grants for some quick cash and leaves as soon as they can. It’s very hard for someone like myself to be in the same space as these people. I’ve learned that many of the classes I’m taking at Ivy Tech are “dumbed down.” That very well could be the reason why I don’t feel pushed there. I’ve had a long drawn out battle with education, and I’m finally enjoying education like I should have the first time.
I hope that IU leads me to more fulfilling educational opportunities and enlightens me. While doing this, I can sleep at ease knowing that I also have a job.
The shut off valves for the water lines were seized as well. With all of the water problems this area had previously, we knew this was going to be ugly. Since we needed a place to give Amelia a bath while remodeling our main bathroom (which will be happening soon) we decided to purchase a utility sink for the space. 8 hours and 3 trips to Menards later, I was both finished with the project and worn our physically and mentally.
