Andrew Hale: IT Talk & Other Topics

We're moving this weekend. Not far; Just across town actually. But, lo, we're still moving. That means packing, cleaning, sorting, laboring, carrying, fixing, painting, aching, etc. That has pretty much my past couple weekends. Weekend before last, Sunday night, I was a bit nervous about my first day at my new job. What if nobody liked me? What if I sucked? What if I trip or throw up or do something embarrassing? What If I'm completely amazing and they make me the manager and Lord of all things electronic on campus? Yes, these were the thoughts stirring in my mind as I went to sleep. I got about 90 minutes of sleep before my brain was wide awake with questions and wonderment of the day to come.

If you're reading this, you've already probably bought your first motorcycle and are looking to upgrade. That, or, you're my grandma. (Yes Grandma, I'm fine and I've been taking care of my self. I love you too.) But this article is geared towards riders, not Grandma. She hates the idea of her baby riding on a motorcycle anyway. Back to the topic, so you're looking for your second motorcycle, eh? Well, it's very different then buying your first. It's harder in some respects and easier in others. Read-on.

About 2 and a half years ago, I went through a really rough breakup with my, now, ex-fiance. We'd recently moved across the country together, became engaged a couple months before that, and had been together for nearly 3 years. Well, seemingly out of the blue, she had a change of heart. I get it. It happens. We're always changing and the unfortunate truth is that couples don't always change together. One of the things I look back on is what got me through such a tough ordeal; My friends. One of them was a mutual friend named Jeremy who took my side in the break up (I joke that I got him in the divorce), and the other I met a little later on in my dating adventures. I got friend-zoned but it was for the best and Heather is now one of my best friends. Now, these friends of mine aren't miracle workers or anything. They aren't psychiatrists, therapists, or anything of the sort. They're just normal young adults. They helped me get through a very tough time in my life...

I'll start by saying that I'm no expert at job interviews. I'm not an HR person, never interviewed someone myself, nor can I recall those daunting, double-edged questions that interviewers tend to ask. However, I did just go through an interview and got the job. Come to think of it, I've gotten almost every job I've ever interviewed for. I'd say that's a decent track record. Below, is my advice and general tips for an interview.

The short of it is that I got a new job. My official title is a NOC Assistant and I'll be working for the Department of Housing at a large university. Part of the duties include managing MS Exchange and Active Directory servers, 2 things I have 0 experience with. It also calls for managing RHEL servers so I'll get to dip into my homebrew Linux experience. Yay! I'm excited and nervous but I know I'll be fine. To be honest. I'm still coming to grips with the idea of actually leaving my current job. In some ways, I love my job but I dislike the company. A little history is in order.