That was AWESOME!
So we had the work mentor program today. By the way, thanks to ![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
infinitehotel, oceanic, inahandbasket, faux_eonix, muffyjo, pasquillacious, and hermitgeecko for the varied advice (and apologies for not responding to each of you individually on said advice). I actually pulled together something of a melange of ideas from each of you and went into it with the possibility that they might not know squat about IT. It turns out they were all super interested in IT and I got them even further amped up about it.
I did a brief talk just to go over what I do in a day. Then I showed them a bit of Perl and how it’s useful in day to day work. I had one of them build a CentOS install from scratch and set the root password. I then gave them that system, told them we lost the root password, then showed them how to fix it by booting into single user mode. Then finally I had one of them prop data to an FTP site while I showed the others how to kick off backup jobs.
After it was all said and done they loved it (or at least said they did). At least to my face they said that this was the best mentor visit they ever had. They wanted my contact info so they could get in touch and ask questions, which I gladly gave them. All in all I had a really great time and would definitely do it again.
I’m posting on Dreamwidth a fair amount these days since LJ access can be spotty due to the DDoS attacks. You’re welcome to comment here or over there.
New Member of the Family
Over the weekend Nora and I paid a visit to the Salem Animal Shelter. We came away with an adorable new member of our family:
This is the first time I’ve ever been to a shelter to adopt an animal, and the first time I’ve ever been involved in raising a puppy. So far it’s a sizable mix of awesome and daunting. I really have absolutely no idea what the hell I’m doing…but we;re doing it. I was even able to calm the cat and dog down all Aragorn-style. It seems like at least for now the dog is acceptant of the cat being in a dominant position in the house which I imagine is going to be safer for all involved (as the dog will invariably get bigger while the kitten shall stay the same size). There’s been a fair amount of hissing and raised hackles so far but they’re in the same room right now and the cat is eating, which seems like a good sign to me.
Any advice from those of you who have raised puppies before?
I’m posting on Dreamwidth a fair amount these days since LJ access can be spotty due to the DDoS attacks. You’re welcome to comment here or over there.
Well that was unexpected…
We’re having a job shadow day here in the office on the 8th and they asked for volunteers from the groups if they had the time (high school kids follow you around to see what you do). I thought it might be fun so I told them I’d do it, since IT tends to not have much representation in such things. The other teams have at most 3 kids shadowing them for the day (most only have 1 or 2) – i just got my list and I have 11. I had no idea that IT was going to be that popular. This is going to be interesting…
So I have these kids for the entire morning in which I provide an introduction to IT. I’m then supposed to give them something fun to do. What activities in IT would you have high school juniors and seniors do if you were trying to interest them in IT? I’m still coming up with ideas but would love to hear what you guys have.
I’m posting on Dreamwidth a fair amount these days since LJ access can be spotty due to the DDoS attacks. You’re welcome to comment here or over there.
State of the Monkey
It’s been ages since I posted anything substantive here. For the most part I don’t really make use of LJ anymore, other than occasional technical rambles and random assorted bitching. Still when a huge life-changing event occurs I like to talk about it a bit. For those of you just catching up, Nora and I are now officially married (w00t!!!!) as of 9 April 2011. My praxis after such huge events is to dissect it so I can fully understand each individual component, but I find myself unwilling to do so here. The day is hazy and wonderful and I would fight to have it stay that way in my memory. I’m normally bothered by trivialities…plagued in fact many times, but the small things that were off during the day hardly even register. I’m just overjoyed to be married to Nora and that’s enough.
[locals] Signal Boost – Roommates in the Camberville Area
I have a friend from VA moving up here in the fall to attend Lesley University for her Master’s degree. She’s a 30-something friend, stable, reliable, laid back. She’s looking for a place to live in the Cambridge neck of the woods. Are any of you guys seeking roommates or know someone who is? She’ll have a car so if you’re a little outside Cambridge I imagine that would be OK too. Respond here or drop me an email and I’ll make with the introductions. Thanks much 