Category: Work News

No More Vista… For Now

That’s it for my Vista running for a while. I’m gonig back to XP. Why? Well, over all, Vista is great, but there are a couple of issues that bother me for my specific needs.

  • First, there’s the fact that I cannot use the Microsoft RAW Photo Viewer to view my RAW photos. I have to use the Canon utilities and that means that no thumbs show up in the Windows Explorer.
  • Second, my laptop “loses” the monitor when I toggle to another computer on my KVM. Aparently, this is a known bug with the nVidia drivers [not a MSFT problem…]
  • And finally: [the big one] my laptop has never run hotter and the batter dies after about 15 minutes of use while unplugged. I don’t like that.

So, it’s back to the factory image for me. I like not having to install all those drivers. I will definitely go for Vista again, but the question is whether or not I wait for the RTM version due in Q4 of this year.

Oh – and I forgot: Virtual PC 2004 doesn’t work real well on Vista. I need that, too.

Deutschland

It looks as if I will be going to Germany in September – the week before Oktoberfest. Looks like I’ll miss it by a couple of days. Not to worry, though – I’m sure it will be fun anyway.

I’ll be getting some training, well, maybe not training as such, but it’s an expert community meeting for one of my technology specialties, so I will certainly be learning a little. And it will be on the company’s dime – which means Frequent Flyer Miles! [It’s been a while since I got any of those…]

So, I’ll be staying in Hamburg – anyone been there? What’s it like? Anything cool I should be sure to check out?

[UPDATE: Make that Bad Homburg, a suburb of Frankfurt…]

Fiscal Year’s End

This week marks the end of the “fiscal year” for my employer. This is good news – I’ve been working non-stop without a break so that I can make the numbers I need and Friday is the end of that working streak. This means I’m SO ready for a vacation. I really want to take some time off – but not as much as last year: moving and other absences killed my utilization numbers [which is why I’ve had to work so long without a break].

So, in July, I’ll be glad to take a vacation. I might even get a few days off next week for bench time. Haven’t had THAT in a while.

More Fun With Vista

I’ve decided to upgrade to a later build of the new [not yet released] Windows Vista. I’ve been running the official “beta 2” version, but now I’m going up several builds to a more current build to see what happens. Maybe I’ll get some more stability out of my machine.

Or – maybe it will explode and smoke will come out of the speakers… just maybe.

Certificates

Do you just love to work with X.509 Certificates? Well, I have just the job for you!

Actually, I’ve been learning a lot about certificates in Windows. This has been a long, but educational week at my customer. We are all learning about the different types of certificate authorities and certificates and templates, etc. I think we’ve got a handle on things now, but for a while there it was looking bad.

For those of you who don’t know, certificates are digital keys – they allow the encryption and decryption of information from one computer to another. And if you don’t care, well, that’s probably a good thing.

One Year!

I have passed my one-year-with-Microsoft anniversary. Actually, it was the 23rd. And it has certainly been an interesting year – one that has taken me from Texas to the DC area and put me on the bottom rung of the ladder to climb again.

I also got vested in part of my stock award – which is nowhere near as large as it should be anymore [what with the stock price and all…], but it will do.

“Go, stock, go! Let’s see you hit 30 again!”

Finally: A Work Complaint

I know – it’s been a while, but my new job isn’t perfect. I’ve been asked to cancel my reservations for the conference I was planning on attending in California next week. What’s really compounding this issue, though, is that Laura was going with me, so I have to cancel both tickets.

The biggest issue with this is that the conference starts Monday and today is Friday… talk about poor planning on their part – especially since it constituded an “urgent need” on my part.

I won’t go into the politics here since some of them might read it, but I’m certain that because of my place relative to others in the reporting chain that I catch all the crap that flows down – and this is certainly a pile of it.

Don’t You Hate It When…?

2012-01-08 23:29:25

I was all set to go to work tomorrow with my customer and have a nice meeting, solve problems, and otherwise do good consulting work when I get a “Dear Jeff” letter… well, not quite. They have just moved on to another phase of the project and will not need me for a while yet. This totally messes up my schedule.

Now, I’m going to have to go work for a different customer with a good friend of mine… Bad thing is: I have to be at work at 5AM! Yeouch! Not sure how that’s gonig to feel, but I’m sure it’s not good. At least that will only be for a couple of days. Then, next week I’ll get to go to a training class in Dallas for a few days. I’ll be visiting my old friends the Priddys [for those of you who know them] whom I haven’t seen for about a year.

After that? Well, I’ll probably be back at some old customer locations and back riding the bike on long road trips in the mountains… Yes!