It's time to Power-On Self-Test (POST)!
Okay, I admit that was a poor excuse for a computer joke / subject line. But I've run out of fun and witty things to put there. And besides, I never denied my inner geek.
Anywho.....
I have been trying to post on this thing for a few weeks now. But every time I get bogged down by one thing or another. So, without further ado...
Last time I posted, I had talked about getting to meet the wonderful huntersglenn! And then I did the whole conference thing. As for the conference, again, not much was learned in the way of real information. But getting to see the people and meet some bigwigs was nice.
After all was said and done that Thursday afternoon, I called up Cathy and we headed out again. This time we were able to eat at Doumars. They had good hamburgers and delicious hot fudge sundae! Yummy!
Then we drove around for a bit, Cathy showing me around the area and various parts of the town. We landed at Ft Story and went to see the memorial on the post. There were some impressive lighthouses (although we didn't venture up one, it was too hot!). The memorial pretty impressive and I got to get my first good look at the Atlantic seaboard since flying in.
Cathy was full of impressive info about the history and culture of the area. She really knows her stuff. :) And I loved hearing the stories. I wish Craig had been there at that point, he is such a history buff himself I know he would have loved it.
After that, we took off for Virginia Beach and strolled on the boardwalk. Okay, so there wasn't much strolling, lol. It was late afternoon and we were able to find a nice bench in the shade at that point. We sat and talked for a few hours about any and everything; Friends, family, fandom, shows, actors, etc. I REALLY enjoyed this! This is the kind of thing I like about meeting online friends in real life, getting to have that in person interaction.
We then headed out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Well, this turned out to be an adventure! I ordered the cheese steak sandwich. It even came with extra cellophane! Yuck! lol. The manager and waitress were very apologetic though, but my appetite was ruined on that. So I then choose a steak. Well, I guess they were in such a hurry to get it out to me that they ended up burning whole side of the steak. *sighs* Oh well. It just wasn't meant to be.
The plus side was that they gave me a free dessert! Cocoa-coffee Kahlua cheesecake *dies and goes to heaven* I took it to go and had it in my room later that night. Guh, just guh! It was heavenly.
The trip home wasn't eventful, which was a good thing! Made it back without issues or delay.
Last week was busy trying to get caught up from being off work for a week and this week has been crazy with all kinds of issues. I have been wanting to hit something for the past few days, in regards to issues with NMCI. They've really pissed me off now and I'm about to get really nasty about it. They are now telling me they can't deliver a computer that I ordered and had the stuff in on June 22.
Apparently something got lost and the order languished in the system somewhere. Now it's all, "Oops, we are really sorry about that, but we can't process your order now. It's too late because of the end of the current contract." And the NMCI person I work with says, and I quote, "You are welcome to take it up with PMO office, but really I have bigger fish to fry". OMG. I want to scream! My one computer may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but hello?! THIS WAS NOT MY DAMN FAULT! Grrrr.
I can't remember if I posted about the Information Assurance Manager (IAM) position or not. It was the civil service position that was coming open in my office. I was going to put in for it, HR lady wanted me to put in for it, CO and XO wanted me to put in for it, but did I get to? Nope. That's right, you heard me, no.
Lomax, my boss, already had someone HE wanted and he got his way basically. The job only opened up to current federal employees. As I am a contractor, that took me out of the running right there.
I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I would have loved to have the GS position and benefits. Some aspects of the job however, not so much. It's a very bureaucratic job and would entail LOTS of policies and procedures and instructions, etc. So that part.... no, I can pass on that.
Lomax told me point blank that he didn't want me to put in for it because, "I'm too valuable where I am and in what I do." I want to take that at face value but it's hard when he tells you he doesn't want you to apply for another job in his own department. He also says he's working on trying to get my job converted from contractor to civil service, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I'm very happy with SAIC as my contractor, so I can't complain there. They are a great company to work for and my contractor has told me several times that if/when I ever left Meridian that I could have a job with them. I looked really hard at the Huntsville area, several times.
It's not that I don't like it here in Meridian, I do. And I like working at the base, but I know my options are limited there. There is very little ability to move up. So, I've done some thinking about things and decided to pursue another certification.
I'm going to go for the new MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional - Enterprise Administrator) It has everything I want to go for: Active Directory, Network Configuration, Print and File Share services, Server 2008, and Windows 7 Management and Desktop Support.
I've already ordered the study guides but it's going to be 5 exams and LOTS of studying! But I think this is what I want and another step to further my experience and credentials. This can even go a long way with my contractor.
Another personal note, I went to a local eye surgeon that lots of folks were telling me about. I have been blind pretty much all my life. I started wearing glasses in the first grade, but really needed them before then. I endured the coke bottle glasses and four eyes jokes all through school. I was able to wear contacts in my teenage years but eventually my eyesight got so bad that I couldn't do that either. The contacts had to be so thick that they dried my eyes out. Without my glasses, I am in fact, legally blind. I have -11.0 in my left eye and -10.25 in my right eye with an astigmatism of like 5.4 or something like that. In a word, BLIND!
I went to this surgeon with some hope but little expectation. Turns out, he will be able to help me! I have been turned down for LASIK before, but given no options. Again, LASIK is not an ideal fix for me. My cornea is barely thick enough for the procedure and there wouldn't be any room for touch ups or repairs later on down the line.
He suggested I go with ocular lens implants. They will literally replace the lens in my eye with a new one. This is what is generally done with cataract patients and since I am sure to have cataracts later on in life, this takes care of that as well. He said it will correct almost all of my nearsightedness.
However, I will still have to go back for a third, LASIK like procedure to work on my astigmatism. And I will still have to wear prescription reading glasses as well. But.... to be able to SEE! I mean, see how to get out of bed in the morning, see the clock and not fumble for my glasses just to see what time it is. To be able to go swimming with Carter and not worry about holding on to my glasses.
I go in Aug 18 and they will do the right eye. Then I go back the next week and they will fix the left eye. Two weeks after that, I will have the laser correction for some of the astigmatism.
It's not a cheap surgery by any means, but the cost is worth it. Esp. when I consider that a pair of glasses runs me around $700 a pop. The surgery will pay for itself over a few years.
So that's life in a nutshell for now. Only took me an hour to write. Guess that's what happens when you try to write and watch Burn Notice at the same time. :)
On other fandom notes: Eriq LaSalle is going to be on Covert Affairs next week! I'm so excited! And I can't wait for Noah Wyle's new series, "Falling Skies" to start, it looks so interesting!
Anywho.....
I have been trying to post on this thing for a few weeks now. But every time I get bogged down by one thing or another. So, without further ado...
Last time I posted, I had talked about getting to meet the wonderful huntersglenn! And then I did the whole conference thing. As for the conference, again, not much was learned in the way of real information. But getting to see the people and meet some bigwigs was nice.
After all was said and done that Thursday afternoon, I called up Cathy and we headed out again. This time we were able to eat at Doumars. They had good hamburgers and delicious hot fudge sundae! Yummy!
Then we drove around for a bit, Cathy showing me around the area and various parts of the town. We landed at Ft Story and went to see the memorial on the post. There were some impressive lighthouses (although we didn't venture up one, it was too hot!). The memorial pretty impressive and I got to get my first good look at the Atlantic seaboard since flying in.
Cathy was full of impressive info about the history and culture of the area. She really knows her stuff. :) And I loved hearing the stories. I wish Craig had been there at that point, he is such a history buff himself I know he would have loved it.
After that, we took off for Virginia Beach and strolled on the boardwalk. Okay, so there wasn't much strolling, lol. It was late afternoon and we were able to find a nice bench in the shade at that point. We sat and talked for a few hours about any and everything; Friends, family, fandom, shows, actors, etc. I REALLY enjoyed this! This is the kind of thing I like about meeting online friends in real life, getting to have that in person interaction.
We then headed out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Well, this turned out to be an adventure! I ordered the cheese steak sandwich. It even came with extra cellophane! Yuck! lol. The manager and waitress were very apologetic though, but my appetite was ruined on that. So I then choose a steak. Well, I guess they were in such a hurry to get it out to me that they ended up burning whole side of the steak. *sighs* Oh well. It just wasn't meant to be.
The plus side was that they gave me a free dessert! Cocoa-coffee Kahlua cheesecake *dies and goes to heaven* I took it to go and had it in my room later that night. Guh, just guh! It was heavenly.
The trip home wasn't eventful, which was a good thing! Made it back without issues or delay.
Last week was busy trying to get caught up from being off work for a week and this week has been crazy with all kinds of issues. I have been wanting to hit something for the past few days, in regards to issues with NMCI. They've really pissed me off now and I'm about to get really nasty about it. They are now telling me they can't deliver a computer that I ordered and had the stuff in on June 22.
Apparently something got lost and the order languished in the system somewhere. Now it's all, "Oops, we are really sorry about that, but we can't process your order now. It's too late because of the end of the current contract." And the NMCI person I work with says, and I quote, "You are welcome to take it up with PMO office, but really I have bigger fish to fry". OMG. I want to scream! My one computer may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but hello?! THIS WAS NOT MY DAMN FAULT! Grrrr.
I can't remember if I posted about the Information Assurance Manager (IAM) position or not. It was the civil service position that was coming open in my office. I was going to put in for it, HR lady wanted me to put in for it, CO and XO wanted me to put in for it, but did I get to? Nope. That's right, you heard me, no.
Lomax, my boss, already had someone HE wanted and he got his way basically. The job only opened up to current federal employees. As I am a contractor, that took me out of the running right there.
I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I would have loved to have the GS position and benefits. Some aspects of the job however, not so much. It's a very bureaucratic job and would entail LOTS of policies and procedures and instructions, etc. So that part.... no, I can pass on that.
Lomax told me point blank that he didn't want me to put in for it because, "I'm too valuable where I am and in what I do." I want to take that at face value but it's hard when he tells you he doesn't want you to apply for another job in his own department. He also says he's working on trying to get my job converted from contractor to civil service, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I'm very happy with SAIC as my contractor, so I can't complain there. They are a great company to work for and my contractor has told me several times that if/when I ever left Meridian that I could have a job with them. I looked really hard at the Huntsville area, several times.
It's not that I don't like it here in Meridian, I do. And I like working at the base, but I know my options are limited there. There is very little ability to move up. So, I've done some thinking about things and decided to pursue another certification.
I'm going to go for the new MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional - Enterprise Administrator) It has everything I want to go for: Active Directory, Network Configuration, Print and File Share services, Server 2008, and Windows 7 Management and Desktop Support.
I've already ordered the study guides but it's going to be 5 exams and LOTS of studying! But I think this is what I want and another step to further my experience and credentials. This can even go a long way with my contractor.
Another personal note, I went to a local eye surgeon that lots of folks were telling me about. I have been blind pretty much all my life. I started wearing glasses in the first grade, but really needed them before then. I endured the coke bottle glasses and four eyes jokes all through school. I was able to wear contacts in my teenage years but eventually my eyesight got so bad that I couldn't do that either. The contacts had to be so thick that they dried my eyes out. Without my glasses, I am in fact, legally blind. I have -11.0 in my left eye and -10.25 in my right eye with an astigmatism of like 5.4 or something like that. In a word, BLIND!
I went to this surgeon with some hope but little expectation. Turns out, he will be able to help me! I have been turned down for LASIK before, but given no options. Again, LASIK is not an ideal fix for me. My cornea is barely thick enough for the procedure and there wouldn't be any room for touch ups or repairs later on down the line.
He suggested I go with ocular lens implants. They will literally replace the lens in my eye with a new one. This is what is generally done with cataract patients and since I am sure to have cataracts later on in life, this takes care of that as well. He said it will correct almost all of my nearsightedness.
However, I will still have to go back for a third, LASIK like procedure to work on my astigmatism. And I will still have to wear prescription reading glasses as well. But.... to be able to SEE! I mean, see how to get out of bed in the morning, see the clock and not fumble for my glasses just to see what time it is. To be able to go swimming with Carter and not worry about holding on to my glasses.
I go in Aug 18 and they will do the right eye. Then I go back the next week and they will fix the left eye. Two weeks after that, I will have the laser correction for some of the astigmatism.
It's not a cheap surgery by any means, but the cost is worth it. Esp. when I consider that a pair of glasses runs me around $700 a pop. The surgery will pay for itself over a few years.
So that's life in a nutshell for now. Only took me an hour to write. Guess that's what happens when you try to write and watch Burn Notice at the same time. :)
On other fandom notes: Eriq LaSalle is going to be on Covert Affairs next week! I'm so excited! And I can't wait for Noah Wyle's new series, "Falling Skies" to start, it looks so interesting!