Diary of a Network Geek

Well, last week, I saw black helicopters flying over fields West of my office. Now, Anne thinks that I've been watch too much First Wave, but I swear there were military helicopters flying around out there. Gosh, it's weird having a window... I saw all that, incidentally, because I was using my second machine to get the screen captures that Novell wants for my corporate licensing agreement self-audit. (Oh, boy, is my job fun, or what?) Anyway, that machine faces the windows in my office. Well, for those of you that care, I've just about gotten my new bookstore done. I decided to redo it from stem to stern, as it were. Not only am I doing away with the JavaScript menus, to make it easier to navigate without having any security concerns, but I'm adding a lot of new books! Don't worry, though, all my old favorites will be there, too. On another note, Allie, Anne's daughter, started piano lessons on Saturday. Apparently, her Nana (grandmother to you Northern carpet-baggers) has done so much work with her that Allie skipped right to the second or third lesson! Good for Allie, but it makes me wonder just what she's been doing over at Nana's... Anyway, she seems to have enjoyed the first lesson, at least. We'll see how long she keeps at it. Hopefully, she'll stick with it. I'd like to think that music positively influenced my life, even if I don't make my living via music. Speaking of family, Nancy and Tim, her new beau, are getting married! Yikes! I don't think her divorce is even done yet!! (Ah, if only her sister would take a cue from that...) So, we'll be flying up there in October for that wedding. Big fun. Hopefully, Anne will get the time off. I already have, but... Well, the life of a contractor is a little different. I think it'll be okay, but you just never know. Well, more later in the week, but that's all for now. Stay tuned for the latest wedding plans and developments.

Okay, so I've gotten a little deeper into the network and I'm finding more "little" things wrong. For one, the servers aren't all on the same version of Directory Services. For those of you who aren't Certified Netware Engineers, that's a bad thing. NDS, or Netware Directory Services, is the distributed database of everything, including security, on the network. If all the servers don't have the same revision of the NDS programs, called NLMs in Netware Land, there can be problems with security and access between servers. Enough of those problems and the network stops running. But, so far, that hasn't been a real issue. So, I'm not too worried. I'm working on correcting the problem, but it can wait until the next "maintenance weekend" to reboot the servers so this will take effect.
The other "issue" that sticks out for me is a bad time synchronization plan. I don't think that it got this way on purpose, but time synchronization is all wrong. Mainly, it looks like the last Netware Admin had no experience on Netware 4.x or greater. I won't go into the details, but... Well, let's just say it needs work. This is something that I can work on, and implement, without taking the servers down. I've started working on that, too. It'll take a couple of days to get straight, but that will improve network performance quite a bit.
And, of course, there's virtually no network documentation. Not a big surprise, if you have any experience with taking over a network. How many Network Engineers really want to write documentation? But, I know it needs to be done. And, I also know how good that looks to management. (Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm kissing butt already. *sigh*) Anyway, I need to go get my sleep so I can be early to the office and hard at work. Updates soon!

Well, so far, so good. I've survived most of the first week of my new job. (For those of you who are joining us a little late, I just started at Kirby Marine Transport Corporation on Monday of this week.) I have a whopping three employees, one of which leaves for vacation next week. The network doesn't quite run itself and there's more than just "proactive maintenance", just like I suspected. For one thing, I've got an e-mail system that looks like it was designed by a drunk monkey. Now, I'm sure there was a really good reason to have three e-mail post offices in the corporate HQ, but I have no idea what it could be. Also, I have at least one server that has wholly inadequate drive space for it's one e-mail volume. That's a fire that I'll have to put out, right after lunch. On the upside, I have a nice, new office that has a wall of windows and a door and everything! This may not seem like much, but after surviving a bankruptcy, it's like heaven. And I have three really nice *wood* desks. My PC is a laptop, which isn't really all that great, to be honest. The damn thing locks up all the time. But, all in all, the new gig is pretty sweet. I'll keep you posted.

Okay, so it's been a while since I had an update, but there's a good reason. One of the headhunters finally came through for me and I've got a new job! DÜT, whose real name I'm still not going to reveal, got me an interview at Kirby Marine Transport and I apparently fit their search requirements pretty darn well. When I first went to see them, I didn't think they were going to work out, but I guess I made a pretty good impression on them, because they totally rearranged their department structure to suit me. Go figure! My "official" title will be Supervisor - Local Area Network/Desktop Support. I'm still not clear on how many people will actually be reporting to me yet, or if I've replace the Desktop Support Supervisor that I talked with when I was interviewing, either. But, no matter which way it goes, I'll have a pretty sweet new job. They've got mostly Netware 5.x, but with at least one Netware 3.12 server, two Citrix MetaFrame servers, two AS/400's, and at least three Solaris servers, including one that runs the web server.
Anyway, I have to pass a drug test, which should be no problem since I've never used drugs, and then I start on Monday, 8/21/2000. I've already given a week's notice at what used to be Harbor Financial, then I'm going to take a week off to "clear my palate" as it were, before starting the new job. After all the time I've given to Harbor and their successors, I think a week is enough notice. It's not what I'd normally do, but given the circumstances of the bankruptcy I think it's actually quite fair.

After I actually start the new job, I'm going to do my best to chronicle the start of my new job. You can bet that my semiweekly updates will get more personal than they've been. Keep in mind that this new job is going to let me and Anne save my bonus money from Harbor for a down-payment on a house. But, before we can get a house together, she has to get he divorce finished up and then I have to get her to marry me. (Don't worry, after living with her for 2+ years, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes.) So things will bet pretty darn personal! Also, I hope to spend some more time on my other two web sites: www.Fantasist.net and www.HavePalmWillTravel.com When I start the new, more personal portion of the Diary of a Network Geek, I'll archive this part. Stay tuned!

Well, not much of an update today, but I thought I'd add in some personal stuff. Just for variety.
Last weekend, the girls went out to a Celtic Fest and left me at home. I thought it would be nice for them to get some "girl time" together. Anne has been working really hard and hasn't been able to see Allie as much as she'd like, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to "bond". This weekend Anne isn't feeling too well, so I might just end up taking Allie out shopping for a little while. We need to get a book on telling time for her. I've instituted a work-for-allowance program that requires some knowledge of telling time. (Okay, so what I've done is tell her that I'll pay her $2.50 per hour of cleaning up and other chores that she does. She might as well get used to the idea young. It is how the world works, after all.) Besides, I also need to get a book on the current version of Red Hat Linux. After looking around the Internet at stuff, it seems like everything for Linux of any real value assumes that you have a version of Red Hat installed. So, in spite of the fact that I've been enjoying Storm Linux, I'll be learning Red Hat.
Speaking of learning... One of the reasons that I'm focusing more on Linux is that my studying for my CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate, for the uninitiated) has been slow going indeed. I'm still working on it, but with the lack of sleep that house guests create, it's been hard to slog through the issues relating to sub-networking. It's especially bad since I'm already familiar with most of the material! I just have to get the Cisco methods down for the test. Shoot! I've been doing TCP/IP since Novell used IP tunneling!! (That's over 8 years, incidentally.)
Anyway, this is going to be a light weekend. At least, it is if I have anything to say about it. I'm in a good mood since I got two calls from headhunters on Friday. They're looking to fill Network Manager positions, which is what I think I need to have next. I changed my resume on Monster.Com to reflect the fact that I managed people for the past two years. It seems to have made a difference! So, like I said, I'm in a pretty good mood this morning, so, if Anne is feeling up to it, I may just take my two girls out to our favorite little Greek place for lunch, Niko Niko's.

See you next week!

Not much going on this week, so I might as well have an update! Anne's sister has been with us for a couple of days and I'll be taking her to the airport later this afternoon. In spite of some setbacks, it looks like she'll be doing the move to Pittsburgh just fine. She's a little worried about the whole thing, but so was I when I moved down to Houston. I think she'll be okay, once she starts to adjust to living in a new state. I'm not sure that her parents will adjust, but that's a different story.

Speaking of different stories... I activated a second resume on Monster.Com yesterday that has more of a focus on management than my other one. It's gotten about 25 "views" so far, but I've already had two calls. I'm not sure that either of them will pan out, but at least someone's showing interest. One of the things that might have been slowing folks down was that I had mistakenly left March as my out date. Yikes! I wonder how many people passed me over thinking that I hadn't found a job in four months!! Or, almost as bad, that I'd already found a job and wasn't really looking anymore. Well, at least I've corrected that problem.
On a related note, since I'm taking Nancy to the airport, I won't get out to the "job fair" at WIZARD. I called J. to tell him, but I had to leave a message. I haven't heard back from him, so I can't help but wonder if he's wise to me. Or is that, that he knows I'm wise to him? Cheap, shady tactics result in cheap, shady jobs. And, that's all I have to say about that.
Speaking of not getting a call back... I haven't heard from D. at the Waco Syndicate, so I called her this morning. Unfortunately, I had to leave a message there, too. I really wish I could get more information on the job she had dangling before me. Or, if it's passed me by, I'd like to know that, too. *sigh* Ah, well, it's a bit of a waiting game. I figure that if I haven't found something permanent by the end of the month, and we don't get extended again, I'll just start contracting. In fact, that's what I've saved my other Monster.Com resume for, contracting. I reworked it with a contracting slant to it. At least I have some kind of fallback position. Thank God I'm in an industry that lends itself to that.

Well, it's been a while since I put in an update, so hold on to your hats! A lot has happened in the past two weeks.

First off, I went back to Binder and made my sales presentation. It actually went quite well, in spite of the fact that I was very nervous. I didn't sleep for two nights before the day of the presentation I was so nervous. But, I know I did okay, because they made me an offer. In fact, they made me a nice offer. The base salary was a 9% increase over my current salary, and with the "sales incentives" it would have been a 39% increase! Yikes! But, I had to turn that job down. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, I just didn't think that either Anne or I could quite cope with the 75% plus travel that I would have to be doing. And, I just wasn't sure that this was the direction that I wanted to take my career. But, I have to admit, I'm going to be thinking about that decision for a long time.
One of the many reasons that I thought the travel would be too much for us both is that Anne would be almost totally alone. Her sister, who she's very close to these days, is getting a divorce and moving to Pittsburgh, of all places. It seems she found her first fiancee, whom she was ready to marry at 18, and they're getting back together. It seems her parents didn't approve at the time, but now she's old enough to make that choice for herself. I say, good for her! After all, I moved down to Houston from Chicago two years ago, and things have worked out pretty darn well for me. Well, except for the whole job search thing... She'll be coming back this week for a couple of days to stay with us. She has a few things to wrap up before moving up to Pittsburgh pretty much for good. She'll come back down to get her stuff into a U-Haul and take it back up in a month or two. I wonder how that will effect how Anne's mother talks to her?
Well, sorry for that departure into Way Too Much Personal Information Land, but it's a pretty good example of how personal stuff effects the job search.

On other fronts, I've been talking to D. at the WacoSyndicate about that management job. She expected to get the job description last week. I haven't heard from her yet, but she still seemed positive about the whole thing, so I hope I will this week. (D. if you're reading this, I have my cell phone with me most of the day!)
I never did hear back from T. at DÜT about their position. I suspect that it was because there wasn't a position at all. I found the exact same job description on Monster.com and I applied there. Also, I think DÜT is part of the WIZARD "family" of companies. And I'm growing more and more disenchanted with them as time goes on.
Which brings me to J. from WIZARD... He wanted me to come to a "job fair" to look at positions they need to fill. Mind, he didn't have any in particular that he wanted to show me, but he suggested that there might be one that he "missed" that I would like to do. To be honest, after having someone there not return my calls, having another person tell me that I was making too much money for my skill set, and then not having any real jobs that fit me (i.e. no management positions), I really don't think I'll be able to make their "job fair". Also, Anne has worked with the WIZARD people before, so I know that their "job fair" is a list of jobs that they need to fill taped to the wall in their office. Wow. Sounds like the big time, hunh? Luckily, I gave them the excuse that I was going to have houseguests again this week, so I might not be able to make it. Nothing like thinking on your feet, eh?
On yet another front, someone I used to work with at Harbor has found a job at a financial firm. She called last week to tell me that they're looking for Network staff, so I sent my resume over to her. Her boss, a Vice President walked it over to both HR and to IS, so hopefully, I'll hear something from them soon.

Well, until something breaks, I'm still pounding the digital pavement. If anyone reading this has a Network Management position, y'all let me know! Anything for a medium to small sized company would be great. I can run a help desk, too, so a position that combines both would work.

Whoo! What a day of interviews yesterday! I started off with S., the Director of Network Engineers at Binder. She was interesting. She surprised me by asking if I was all geared up to do my presentation. Gulp! Presentation? Well, it seems that I missed a voice-mail at home about that, so I was totally unprepared. Luckily, she saw that right away and waved it off until another time. If I made it that far... It was a pretty standard interview otherwise. She mainly went over stuff that R. had already told me. But, she did keep hammering away at me to get me to ask questions. I didn't really have any to ask her, but I tried my feeble best. She also surprised me by asking why I was "taking a step backward" in my career. That one caught me by surprise. Until then, I hadn't really thought of it as a step backward. Honestly, I had thought of it as a total step sideways, but not backward. Hmm, I'll have to give that one some thought.
The interview with P., the Regional Director of Sales, went better, I think. He was very relaxed and open. He was not what I think of as a "typical" salesman. He was really low-pressure and personable. Of course, that is one sales technique that is growing in popularity. Anyway, we talked about all the sales aspects of the position and how I might fit into it. He asked some of the standard interview questions, too, but I think he was mainly trying to get a feel for my personality. He also told me about the way they're reorganizing the sales-networking setup. He explained that S. was new to Binder and that they were still working out the new Sales-to-Network ratios. It should mean less travel for the Network Engineers when it gets all worked out. That was good news!
Finally, I talked to C., who is an Engineer already. He was mainly excited to find someone who was as crazy about Japan, martial-arts and anime as he is! (Check out my Interests on my Resume, for details.) After we got a feel for out mutual obsession levels, we got down to the actual interview. Again, it was pretty standard stuff, but I did get to ask questions of someone who actually does what I would be doing. The good news is that Binder really does supply the training that they promise. Now that is refreshing! Also, he reinforced for me just how great all the benefits were at Binder. Not to mention the fact that part of my salary would be tied to how well the Salesman that I work with do. Obviously not as big a portion as the Salesmen themselves, but still it's a nice bonus.
I also met someone from Sales on the way down in the elevator. She was nice, too, even if she was a little too "bubbly" for my taste. Still, she was open and friendly like you'd expect someone in Sales to be, but more so. That seemed to be a kind of theme with the people who have worked at Binder for a while. They all seem to get into a kind of relaxed and laid back mode that's really refreshing. It makes it tempting... Ooops, there I go again, assuming that I'm going to get an offer. Well, we'll see what happens. I'm still not sure if this is the right move for me. It would be totally different than what I've done. And, I'm not sure about the travel, either. Though, they all told me that it would be reduced down to 50%, or less. I'm pretty sure they're going to make me some kind of offer, but we'll just have to see I guess.
I left T. at DÜT a message to call me back on Monday. I'd really like to get another interview series going before I get an offer from Binder. I'm hoping that it will be a position that I'm interested in, too. It sounded more like what I have been doing, and I think I might be more comfortable with that. I haven't really decided about the position at Binder, yet, but I'm starting to have second thoughts because of what S. said. If she sees it as a step backward, how many other people will, too?

Well, it's been a busy week! I got a call from Binder and I'm going back to see them this afternoon. This will be a grueling three interview application triathlon. First, I meet with R.'s boss, the Director of Network Engineers (not her real title). Then, I meet with a Regional Director of Sales, and after that, I meet with a guy who already does what they're considering me for, Network Engineer (also, not the real title. Notice a theme here?). We'll see how it goes. If they're all as laid back as R. then I'll have a hard time not liking the position. Of course, I'm getting a little ahead of myself and assuming that they're going to make me an offer. For all I know, that last personality test tells them that I'm some nut that pours out his thoughts into a web page!
I also got a call from T. at Discovery Über Technology, who had a position at an undisclosed medical company that sounded like it was right up my alley. She said she was going to call back this morning, but I have yet to hear from her. I'll no doubt leave her a message this evening after I'm done at Binder. The position sounds about like what I've been doing, but in a totally different industry. It could be interesting.
I'm also hoping to hear something from the WacoSyndicate, about a position that D. hinted at there. She told me about a company that is hiring not only Network Engineers, but a Network Manager of some kind. It sounded interesting. It's a little more management than I've done before, but it could be that next step I'm looking to take next. I'll have to give her a call on Monday and see what's happening there.

I had the Big Interview with Binder yesterday. I thought that I was going to see a Sales Manager of some kind, but ended up seeing a top-level Network Engineer. To tell the truth, I was rather pleased. First of all, I get a little uptight about interviewing with sales-type people. I may have a degree in Marketing, but I *know* people who do sales for a living pay a little more attention to the details of appearance than I do. Shoot, that was one of the many reasons I shied away from sales in the first place! Anyway, R. was a pretty okay guy. I could very easily see myself working for him. He was very personable and I could tell he knew his tech when he ran me through a little bit of a techie quiz. Just the basics, like "what is NDS?" and "What is an NLM?" and "What is a 'service' in NT?" Nothing I didn't know, but stuff that only a real tech would know. He was also a pretty relaxed guy, considering what he hinted at his schedule being like. A *big* contrast to H. at GeoTech Global! The only downside I see to this position, so far, is that I still loose my management stuff and I'd have to travel 75-80% of the time. Yikes! That could be a little too much, but then again, they haven't offered me a position yet either! They did give me a "personality" test, though. I'm not sure if they were checking to see if I was an axe-murderer, or if I was a salesman, but it was sort of an interesting test. At least part of it was related to how "honest" I am, or think I am. And another seemed to be either testing my memory, or checking to see if I had any animosity towards my parents. I'm not sure what they were looking for, but they repeated the *exact* same questions about my perception of my memory and my feelings toward my parents. Kind of weird. Go figure.
On another note, I notified all my search agency contacts regarding my status. It was interesting to see the reaction I got when I told them I took a pass on the GeoTech Global offer. For instance, I bet that I don't hear from J. at WIZARD again. I have a feeling they cater to a different end of the market than I'm looking to be anymore. On the other hand, D. at the WacoSyndicate seemed to think I made the right decision. She also indicated that there might still be something in the works over there. She has me in the category that I think I belong in now: management. *sigh* I'm over 30, so I can't be trusted, but now I'm going to be The Man, too!