Hobby #9 - Geocaching

 

Picture of my daughter Katey and her first Geocache in Mandeville, LA.

Geowhat?

Geocaching: Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value. Today, well over 800,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to the pastime. Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

So, after that but of formality...I enjoy geocaching. I am not an avid hunter, but I do enjoy to go out and seek the GPS treasure about once a month, mostly with my daughter, Katey. (See photo above) - It is a great hobby to keep yourself in good shape (especially if you complete the hunts on major trails/walks/etc) --- you can easily walk for several miles a day easily. That combined with a dog, and a backpack is generally enough for anyone. (not to mention my photog equipment) --- :) Plus you can find a ton of really cool treasure (geocoins) which are trackable and several of the ones I have found have logged well over 50,000 miles around the world and back!

Might go out caching today.... WATCH OUT FOR THE MUGGLES!!!

Cheers,
Andy

Gustav is Gu...Gone.

So, here I sit at our Ops Command Center in Houston as lead on the Network Infrastructure & Operations. The systems all performed flawlessly
and it was literally just another day. The contrast between the bank's infrastructure during this disaster and during Katrina was literally akin to the difference between the two aforementioned storms themselves. I guess it pays to design, build and implement a world-class network if you want quality results. :)
So many people contributed to the collective vision, and it is really nice to observe
its realization when it is truly needed.

So, Gustav is gone...hopefully I will be doing the same...shortly.
I have no damage at home for now, but I heard that there are a multitude of tornados inflicting major damage right now in Mandeville, LA area...so I am not clear yet.

Heading home...mending my life and getting back to some bit of normalcy.
Just another chalk up to my path & life experience...
Cheers,
Andy

Hurricane Story

I had to evacuate for yet another major hurricane. This time for Hurricane Gustav.
Right now it is looking like it will slow down and be a little milder than expected originally. I had to evacuate due to deployment orders with my work to Houston. We have been working in our Disaster Recovery Ops Center non-stop since Saturday. 45 mins of sleep in last 2 days and counting. Going to let the team grab a few hours, then head back out from tonight until the storm passes tomorrow. How will the house hold up, who will flood, who will not? Another rebuild or just a really rough shower?

We shall see. :)

Hobby #10 : Pyrotechnician

 

I thought I would make a list of my 10 favorite hobbies. :)
Starting in no particular order and counting down.

Hobby #10: Fireworks
This is a picture of me (in black t-shirt - click on image for bigger picture) loading aerial shells for a big fireworks show. I was working as lead on the Pyrotechnico Fireworks Crew for a recent casino fireworks show in MS. The power and magic of a fireworks show is simply amazing but pales in comparison to the work it takes to prepare a barge for a show. We are talking 18 hours of hot, grueling work for a 12 minute show. Not the best trade-off, but loads of power packed fun! :)

Cheers,
Andy

Working away again.....in packetville

It has been quite some time since I posted anything about work. This week has been crazy with getting things prepared for some upcoming major projects. Designing large networks, preparing configurations, drafting up major hardware orders and putting the schedules together...it is all part of the job. It is definitely not all technical anymore, but certainly a measure of managing resources, engineers and assets that combine to keep our infrastructure working properly. I stayed late tonight rebuilding some older Cisco routers, updating them and testing them on the network. I always find a special joy when I can pull something old that hasn't functioned in years (in this case, it was about 5 years) and put it to use. For some reason firing up those old machines, putting blood (electrons) back into those unused veins (circuit paths) makes me smile. I plan on putting one of these units back into use if nothing else, for some routine, but fun task. :)

Can I route the peanut butter over to the toast? Yummy

Staying up with yourself...

Last night, I sat awake pondering about the current state of my life in general, strangely not looking in the unforgiving past, nor worried at all about the future that the morning sunrise would most certainly bring...just thinking about then - the absolute present. Oddly enough, I felt a sense of calm --- a sense of fleeting peace.
I have never said this, but I never had a strong belief in my soul that I would live until old age, even though my ancestry's genetics might disagree. :) I am not sure if this is divine knowledge, pessimism or just foolishness, but I always had a strange belief that I would die at at earlier age than most. Morbid negativity or something more, governor?

In any case, the time was good to reflect and figure out what in the heck I was doing and where I need to pilot this wayward ship. What would I do if I didn't have to work? I would travel around the world taking pictures and taking in all of the adventure that I possible could in one lifetime. Does this mean I should quit and follow my passion? Isn't that what everyone always says about following your dreams and doing what you would do if you didn't need the money?

Perhaps I think too much....perhaps I just need to be content.
Ironically today as I drove the laborous drive in across the longest bridge in the world (Causeway) --- I saw a small sticker on a Mazda that read, "Live in the Present" ---

Funny, huh?
Cheers.

Changes...Daughter moves back home.

Well, my 12 year old daughter (Katey) decided to move back home here recently, and it has been an adventure. In my heart, I felt it was a good thing for her and would provide us a chance to reconnect, bind and provide her a new start. I got her registered for school last week and she got into Honors (4 Honors courses) - I am proud of her capabilities and adaptability. She is an amazing child, and I think she will really florish in this environment. The biggest battle is deciding if she is going to bring her lunch or not, not much else. I will now have to jump back into parenting mode full-time and that will be interesting to adjust to ---

Outside of that and the overall expenses of late, life is good.
I need to get all of my pics formatted for my website and a few other things, but
the Saints are starting up soon and I am still alive and kickin' --- so things could be worse!

Will try to update more frequently than once every 2 months.
-Andy