KevinPeterson.NET

Sunday will mark the day for my second triathlon.  These are indoor triathlons, so shorter distances, but still fun and a heck of a workout.  Just found out my heat schedule:

http://www.ymcawichita.org/UserFiles/File/flyers/wtri-heats.pdf

 They schedule the heats based on your estimated swim time.  I’m actually feeling pretty good about being in heat 12 of 18.  For someone who’s not the biggest health nut, it’s respectable. 

The last one of these I was in this spring only had 37 entrants, so I’m impressed with the numbers for this one.  I’m wondering if I’ll finish up middle of the pack like the last one.  With these events, I tend to push myself harder than I normally would otherwise.  It hearkens back to the time I spent in the Army.  No matter how harsh the conditions or the stress, you knew it would eventually be over.

Seriously, even if you’re not in the best shape of your life (like me), triathlons can be fun.  Something about pushing your endurance levels and finishing what you start can really be rewarding.

 I’ll post the results when they are in.  Good, bad or ugly.  Wish me luck!

Well, after quite a few hours of study over the last month or so, I sat down and took another Microsoft certification exam yesterday.  You can probably guess how much fun it was by the exciting and creative name:  Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure. 

It was the feel-good exam of the Holiday season.  I did manage to pass, after surviving the heart stopping moments between clicking the ‘End Exam’ button and the display of the results.  Some of my clients think it is agonizing waiting for their Word document to open.  Try waiting twenty seconds for the score of an exam your career is based on…

I won’t go into many details, as I don’t want this to be overly technical, let’s just say there is a lot more to a Windows 2003 Server Network Infrastructure than you might think.

I had a user today call and inform me that their HP Laserjet 2100 printer said ‘offline’ in the status window and would not go online.  They had checked all the doors, paper trays, toner and the USB connection to the printer and to the computer.  Earlier in the day they had moved their computer from one location in the office to another, then reconnected everything.

The solution ended up being one that is common for some USB devices.  Namely, Windows only recognized the device in that particular USB port on the back of the computer.  I see this a bit with USB keyboards and mice, where a perfectly functional machine will have no luck when the plugs are moved around.  Sometimes Windows will pick them up, but sometimes it may not, or at least not quickly.

This was the case with the HP LJ2100 in question.  The user called back and was able to get the printer to come back online after some serious reconstruction of the desk, which begs a plea from all techs.  When you’re configuring your desk and where your computer sits, remember that someday, someone, perhaps even you, will have to get back there and plug/unplug things!

This was a cake I made for my son’s 6th birthday.  He requested a lego cake, so I started planning early.  Here’s what I came up with:

Each of the big pieces are an individual cake serving consisting of cake and buttercream frosting coated with colored candy melts.  The little pieces are individual chocolates, some with peanut butter filling.  The central figure was sculpted from fondant.

My favorite comments on the cake were ‘Where did you get the big Legos?’ and the even better ‘Where’s the cake?’.

Kevin

Dickens with two k’s, the well-known Dutch author.  The obligatory Monty Python reference having been thrown out like the proverbial first pitch, I feel comfortable moving on to more serious topics.

There is no real purpose to this blog other than to share some of the things that I enjoy.  If you’re interested in a particular topic, you may want to filter me by category.

WARNING:  I will jump around a bit.

Topics you may expect to see may include the following:

Parenting
Cooking
Gardening
Computer Networking
Cake Decoration
Triathlons

Has the curiosity been aroused yet?  I hope so.