I’ve finally managed to re-arrange my desk at work to be slightly more functional than it was before by putting my main workstation in the “L” of my desk between the desk and return. It’s weird, but I’m getting used to it. I now have my back to my assistant and incoming traffic from the workcenter adjacent to our corner.

The upshot is that now with my computer at the center of the action, everything is neatly organized into Left and Right productivity centers. A turn of the chair to the right and I’m into the stacks of papers, notes and documents I’m working on. A turn to the left and I’m into my netbook and various other gadgets attached to the computer or the network.

Yes, I am a geek. The organizational efficiency geek.

I’m by no stretches of the imagination a minimalist, but certainly an org freak.

Back to the “L”…

Gregsta’

I’m at a tech conference today. Most of what I’m doing is networking with different vendors and getting an idea of who’s who in the IT vendor and service provider realm these days. It’s always changing and barely resembles what I saw even 5 years ago.

Most of what I’ve seen today has been really interesting stuff. Security, storage, video conferencing, VoIP phones, communications service providers, infrastructure providers – they’re all here.

One of the disturbing trends is outsourcing – most of which happens in Financial, Healthcare and Government markets. There’s not a lot of outsourcing going on in companies as small as mine.

I’d like to believe that there is some market for some of my ideas for services and products, but my hopes continue to be dashed as I look at the profitability of working with smaller companies. I think the tech industry has it all wrong. We should be embracing the needs of small business in the same way we are capitalistically embracing the needs of large organizations.

Much of what I’m seeing talking a lot about compliance – have you heard of SarbOx, PCI or Hippa? That’s just where things get started. Fortunately, most companies aren’t required to follow these guidelines. Those that do can generally afford to put the solutions in place to keep them in compliance, but not the smaller companies. It’s a great way to keep the competition down in these markets, I suppose.

My feet are killing me from walking around since 9:00 this morning. Sitting here and responding to emails on my dinky netbook is really great. I needed the time to relax.

Gregsta’

Spring is finally starting to rear it’s head and show itself. I couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s been such a dreary, weird winter that the change is quite welcome.

This weekend is what I not-so-lovingly refer to as a work weekend. I’m working today and it’s starting to look like most of tomorrow as well. Between a phone system upgrade and a manual recovery of a file server in bad shape, I’m going to get little personal time this weekend. Sadly, next week is looking fairly booked and inopportune for taking of a day or two. It’s sometimes the way of my job.

Unlike wigs in other companies with deeper pockets for technology, I’m the cook, dishwasher and waiter. I do it all. Most of the help I have by means of my assistant is with the waiting on tables part – by that, I mean the desktop support end of my department responsibilities. The rest of it is largely my beast to tame. I’ve got some money for consultants, but it’s never enough to really do it right.

My home office is fairly deserted and unloved at this point. Papers and projects are strewn about my desk and workbench. Piles of filing continue to be piles instead of neatly organized folders of useful information. My guitars are gathering dust. The whiteboard is going to require cleaner to take of the scribbles upon it. The carpet sadly needs vacuuming. Equipment in need of being sold sits waiting for it’s day on Craigslist.

It’s depressing to say the least.

Meanwhile, my mojo to actually be domestic (i.e. cook, clean, etc.) has been cut into to the point where we can reliably get two home cooked dinners a week in and the rest is all dining out.

Betsy is in a similar boat – her work is quite demanding and takes it out of her. All we want to do at the end of the day is just relax and think of nothing. We end up forcing the issue, even though we really should be reading work-related books and publications and staying on top of the domestic duties.

What does one do in these situations? I’ve given up coffee as a mainline drug. It’s just recreational now – perhaps on weekends. I’ve cut back my drinking to the point where I rarely get even a little buzzed on a weeknight anymore.

How much more healthy living can one person take!?

Food for thought.

Gregster

Lots of exciting projects at the moment that are keeping me busy. Most of it involves work, but some of it doesn’t. With any luck, I’ll get down to the coast soon and relax a little bit. I could use it about now. I can’t even type a lengthy sentance. That’s weird. See? It’s not possible. Brain too overwhelmed. I may start typing in shorthand nxt. Tht wld b awfl. Th eng lang is dyng at my hnds. Ug.

I’ve got a great blog post that I’ve been working on for the last few days. It’s not particularly lengthy, but it is something of a thought-out piece. That is, as opposed to the normal twaddle on this site.

What, you want a preview?

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away…

There’s your preview. Happy?

Didn’t think so.

Gregster

…and by that, I mean the Downtown’s…

I’m tired of downtown. After 10 years working there, I’ve begun to wain. It’s just so much activity all the time.

I’m ready for something magical to happen to sweep me out of downtown and somewhere else where I can prosper without being asked for change every time I step out the door.

Gregsta’

It’s another Monday full of excitement and routine.

You should know that I’m lying about the excitement part, right? Right.

I’m beginning to understand why cube dwellers and middle managers find themselves drawn to fantasy and sci-fi novels. The real world is, well, too real. Boring, one might add. It’s one of those crazy things about being early or mid-career. Everything that’s immediately around you lacks severely in the ‘exciting’ factor.

I’ll watch CNN or Fox news before I start reading that fantasy/sci-fi stuff, though.

Conversely, my life isn’t what one would readily call ‘exciting’ either. Nobody wants to hear about how I slayed Malware (okay, Gooch might) or crossed the street legally 5 times in a row to get to my office. B-O-R-I-N-G! Nope. What’s a guy like me to do? I find everything around me mediocre and unexciting this time of year.

Make shit up? Nah, boring. Besides, I couldn’t lie my way out of a paper bag.

Knock over a few 7-11’s and pop caps in some pimps? Please, I’m too much of a wuss.

Join a bowling league?

Maybe.

Time to prepare some taxes.

Gregsta’

Part of the joy of being me is the constant ingesting of wine. It’s not always fine wine, but better-than-3-buck-chuck. Most of the time.

How is it that something in nature can so easily be turned into an amazingly intoxicating solution? The mind boggles. It boggles even more at the casts of thousands that turn their nose up willingly to the fermented goodness in the name of morality or righteousness.

Aside from the arguably insane eschews, I think the Catholics and Episcopalians (know as ‘Catholic Light’) have the right idea. Communion is by far my favorite right of passing. I didn’t learn to appreciate wine from my delinquent juvenile friends. Nope. I learned it by worshiping Jesus and drinking out of the chalice held by Father Stevens.

If Jesus were alive today, he would own and operate the most amazing vineyard in the world. In fact, he would have the advantage of being able to harvest rainwater, perform a little magic trick, and have caskets of fine aged wine. Try THAT, Mr. Beringer.

My appreciation of the grape is constantly growing. It seems I cannot find a bone in my body that doesn’t yearn for the delicacy. It is in fact my weakness. Who knew that would be my destiny? As a child, I always saw myself as a purveyor of fine electronics in adulthood. How I am grateful (as my wife undoubtedly is)  that didn’t actually come to fruition.

Finding your passion in life is something that we all must do, or be forced into an adult life of mediocrity. There is no wrong answer for a passion (unless it’s illegal or hurts people). Your passion should give you joy, no matter what it is. Depending on your ambition in life, it may even bring you a very easy paycheck.

Off to the store to find some new wines to try at dinner this evening!

Gregster’

Apple released their new iPad which is nothing more than a souped up iPhone with a big (10″?) screen and home-grown processor.

Forgive me if I’m not jumping up and down in excitement. Neat idea, people with excess cash will buy them.

Back to work…

Gregster’

After cleaning off a rather nasty fake-AntiVirus off of a family members computer last night (for the 2nd time!), I’m convinced that this is not a glorious age for computer security.

One thing that runs common in all the infections I’ve seen lately: Internet Explorer. Every one of them. I’ve stopped asking people now if they want Firefox and I’ve begun installing it, migrating over IE favorites and setting it as the default browser. Not that I don’t like the occasional job fixing a malware infested computer (the money is nice), but it gets old and isn’t what I would like to be known for. I’d rather my small customer base like me because I keep their computer running for longer periods of times between virus infections.

I’m working from home this morning. The insulation company is coming by to insulate a pipe in the attic that froze earlier in the winter when we had some obnoxiously cold weather.

Tonight, Bets and I are going over to a good friends house for Wine and SUSHI! Not just any Sushi, but homemade by our friend! I’m super excited. I’ve never had Sushi prepared anywhere but a Sushi Ya.

Off to productivity-ville!

Gregsta’