Pulp Free

As one who has more than the normal 40 hours working, I too bring work home - either literally or figurativle. Previously it was more related to “support” issues where turning on the laptop and VPN’ing into work to fix something or whatever it would be. Now it’s more about thinking about work - problems to solve, developing solutions from a hundred different directions, planning designs - well, you get the idea.

Today I saw a well thought out post about how to leave work at work @ Dumb Little Man… A recently discovered Web site that has some relevant postings. In the post, Jay provides a few gems to get in a little more life outside of work…

• Change your route: What I mean by this is literally “change your route home”. If you have a bad or overly stressful day at work, take the long way home. During the first half of your journey home, turn the radio off and think about what you have to accomplish at work and how you will execute. During the second half of the drive, turn on whatever music you like, talk radio, (whatever) and begin the process of thinking about things outside of work. Do not think about work during the entire commute, you must separate before you get home!
• The boss at work does not equal the boss at home: Just because you are an important guy at work doesn’t mean that you get to make demands at home. You have to remember that the people you live with are not paid to take your BS. If you love them, you will treat them better than those that report to you. On the flip side of this, your being an entry-level employee at work doesn’t mean that at home you can get the “power trip” your ego begs for.
• Vent: Venting is the art of blowing your lid and we all do it. Once you get home after work and kiss the kids, give yourself a 15-minute window to let it out. You should set this up in advance with your spouse but leave the time limit at 15 minutes. During that time, they have to simply listen and let you get it out. After that, you must agree that work is over.
• Blackberry/Laptop: Occasionally we all have to work at night or on the weekends. The key here is to set an expectation when honestly important projects arise. If you really don’t need to work, keep the electronics off. Don’t login just because you are curious. As we all know you will find reasons to email people or start completing tasks.
• Questions first: When you get home, immediately ask how your spouse’s day went (AND LISTEN). Many times their response is enough to get you to think of family tasks and break you away from work. In addition, you will probably earn some points for engaging them in the conversation. Remember, it’s human nature to want to talk about yourself so resist the urge.
• Survival: Whether you believe it or not, your company will survive without you. It is key to remember this as you choose where to spend time. If it is after hours and you haven’t turned off the blackberry, you have to resist the urge to get involved in something that isn’t really ultra-critical.
• No work, no matter what: This is a tough one but at my house we practice it like a religion. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-10 PM I have sworn not to do work. These nights and times actually have a place in my calendar and I have told co-workers that I am absolutely unavailable no matter what. If I were a CEO making 10 trillion per year perhaps this would change but I am not so…I’m booked.
• 25% Rule: When I plan my days, I leave a minimum of 25% of the time open. This time is used for emergencies, task lists, etc. It is during that time that I accomplish smaller tasks that I would have reserved for off-hours.
• Get up earlier: Don’t be a crybaby about this one. If may sting in the beginning but if you are constantly running out of time, take time from you and not your family. As your family sleeps, you can easily get some stuff done by heading to the office early.

These are pretty good examples and I think they definiatly have some impact. Life includes work, but it’s not about work. Too often I find that the same amount of work is sitting there the next day. Are you really getting ahead if you’re 90% work? Perhaps for your work efforts - but what happens when you get home?

I like playing with software, hardware, servers, networking - you name it - I’ve probably done it. Lately I’ve been pondering how to increase my current 2+ TB of storage to something more useful. At least something more suitable to having the abilty to rebuild my servers without the possibilty of losing any of that data (I’m currently using MS built-in dynamic drives to extend 4+3 hard drives into primary and backup.)

So far I’m looking at:

• Thecus High Performance NAS Server (5-bay SATA @ 3+ TB)
• Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ (4-bay SAT)
• New server build (Already have a few of those under my belt - thanks NewEgg!)

But now Microsoft’s Home Server product sneaked up on me and I’m in a delima… Should I push my primary file server requirements to a NAS or build another one from parts and play with Home Server or something more akin to a Linux NAS system (Such as FreeNAS and the likes…) I need lots of fast (and cheap) storage! (Really now - who doesn’t need 4+ TB of disk space for home usage??)

I suppose the real problem is about not being able to wait to get selected to beta test the Home Server software… I’ve been reading the forums, searching the Web, hitting the BT sites… nothing! Please… I need an invitation fast!! Heck - you couldn’t walk down the streets without getting hit upside the head with an ISO image of Vista - but where are the Home Server copies!! Help!

Of course, I’ve vmware’d what seems like a hundred Linux and Windows systems - so there’s no telling how much play time I’ll get either way. I think I like building systems for the fun of it… Because I don’t think I have to many online systems to show for it! That probably went for the two or three Symantec I3 systems I installed at home as well…

Our already world famous Lisa Merriman made the news in Boston again!!

Now in its 60th year, the annual Filene’s Basement Bridal Event draws crowds of hundreds in search of the perfect gown. Brides-to-be and their faithful bridesmaids, mothers, friends, and a few fiancés lined up today outside the Downtown Crossing store well before the sale started at 8 a.m., braving the ice and cold for a bargain on designer wedding dresses.

Bride Bridget Cuffney (left) from South Boston hoped to find something lacey and “designer for cheap.” Lisa Merriman from the Back Bay (second from left) was looking for a lacey halter top gown. Also pictured are Merriman’s fiancé, Bryan Barth, and Hilary Vandam, both from the Back Bay. Was Merriman worried about her fiancé seeing her dress before the wedding day? “We’re gonna get all the dresses, and when I’m trying them on he’s just going to have to turn around,” she said.

I truly enjoyed the matching fuchsia colors with Lisa leading the pack with a fully colored jacket in the midst of standard black overcoats! Even better is the fact that Lisa matches so well with the colors of our Web site as well! Congrats, Lisa! (Way to go Bryan, as well… For saying “no” to the pink do-rag!)

Ah yes… The glory days of computing prowlness… I wonder if I could of handled changing out those reel-to-reel tapes?

I missed this some how… Felt like somebody smacked me upside the head when I went into a meeting a few weeks ago and read the first part of a written out technical summary… I said out lout to the group, “Is this some kind of Latin?” - Oddly enough, another member of the meeting question the same words as I did (yes, I arrived a few minutes late…)

So…

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Yeah - you don’t know what it is either, do you? At least I thought it was Latin! LOL - I should have put “Lorem Ipsum” as the first two words…