Many people who read this blog know that I have been supporting educators for over 20 years. I have been honored to have known some of the best in many different schools. All of these teachers know when they called with a technology issue, I was there quickly to assist them and ensure them that they can do what they do best, teach! I know that in helping them, I have learned a lot about teaching and always felt that I missed my true calling, which is to share my passion for technology with others and pay it forward for the younger generation.
At the beginning of this School year 2020-2021, I was excited to accept a job as a technology teacher for one of our local Carrer and Technical Centers. I had many people ask me if I have ever taught before? I always responded with a definite yes! I have taught teachers summer courses on ways to use technology in their classrooms. I have also been teaching adults online using YouTube as my classroom. But I have never taught young students in a classroom, and I have always wanted to have a chance to share my knowledge and pass along my technology skills to a younger group of students.
When I was hired as a teacher, The Superintendent told me I would have to attend IUP College and be accepted into the VOED teaching program. College at the age of 57, am I nuts? Well, I talked it over with my wife and kids, and they all felt that I would be able to handle going to school and teaching at the same time. So I applied and was accepted into the college program, and I am now happy to say I completed my first semester with an A! Yes, my daily was right for believing in me and supporting me in becoming a teacher.
I had my second review yesterday, and the Administration told me that I am teaching at a proficient rate which is what I was hoping for. I was then asked if I made the right decision to teach? I answered with a definite YES! I also told them after graduation the day before that I have to find a way of leaving my seniors go to do great things. It is funny how you spend an entire year with students, and then one day they are gone. But I know that I gave these young men enough technology skills to seek out a college for more education or head out into the workforce, and I guess that is what all of us TEACHERS strive to accomplish!
I always knew one day I would get older we all do and it is something that no one has ever found a way stop. Each day I look in the mirror and I can see signs of aging. I really hate the gray breaded look but my lovely wife say not to color it any more. I really need to color it before I head back to a college campus. But getting older is just a part of the life that we all live. I think that is why when we start to have grandchildren it gives a new outlook on life seeing a baby where we all started slowly grow to an adult over some years. But the clock keeps ticking and the lines of aging keep coming across our faces and bodies.
Now let’s talk about being overweight. I have fought my weight for years sometimes even beating it back. The other day I got off of the couch and my belly came off a few seconds later this is telling me I am getting way to heavy. It could be the beer which I have cut way back or the chips which I can’t put down or maybe even the love for food? What ever is causing this belly of mine to grow has to stop! I started once again today back on the treadmill and watching what I eat. Everyone always says never watch what you eat during the holidays. Well let me tell you my friends and you stuff those big meals down your throat it will be even harder to loss any of that weight. I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions because they just set you up to fell. No I believe in the old way of exercise and watching what you eat.
Today I weighed in at 230 lbs. There I said it. Out loud for the entire World to read. That is if you read this blog at all? My fast goal is to drop to 200. I am not sure how long this will take but I am hoping before Spring. I will track my progress with everyone here and share my ups and downs of weight loss. Stay tuned!
Getting older does not mean that we can not learn more. Education is something we should be doing life long and never stop looking for more knowledge. Heading back to classes and buying new books for school at my age seems a little crazy at best. But when you begin a new career path you must earn a degree to allow you to follow your dreams.
As I move through the process of earning my degree I will give all of you more updates and my progress and let you into the world that I have now entered. But I am proud of my current career change and I am also proud that I can give something back to this great field that I love so much TECHNOLOGY!
With so many ways to read a good story these days how can anyone not give reading some of their time? I started reading Stephen King’s book The Outsider with the paperback book. I then downloaded the ebook version of the book onto my Kindle which also transfers to my iPad and my old Kindle Reader as well as my phone not in the picture. Why is this important to today’s readers?
Without me having to carry the paperback book around with me everywhere I go and finding somewhere to put the book in my pocket which it will not fit. I am able to grab my Kindle and slip it into my pocket and take a ton of books with me. What is nice with the Kindle is that the book will sync to whatever page I am on and keep each device updated. And when I switch back over to the paperback I just move to the location I am on the Ereader.
The main part of today’s posting is to say even if you don’t want to carry around a paperback or hardback book with you just also pick up the E-Reader edition and take you E-Reader with you. Or install the Kindle App on your Smart Phone and you will always have a book with you. Keep Reading!
As I was sitting in my office at lunch the other day a thought crossed my mind. Reading is the most affordable entertainment that you can give to yourself. It also opens your mind and allows you to sink into the world of the writer. I read across many genres and enjoy being lifted into new worlds that our mind imagens. It is the job of the writer to not only tell a story that you can sink into but to paint the scenes in our minds and to pull us into the story. As you can find on this site I have written a few short stories as well as one novel and I enjoyed the way I had to create the scenes so that the reader is pulled into the world I saw when I wrote the book.
Here is an example of scene building. In the first act, I will show you what a book would be like with no scene building then I will follow it up with a scene that your mind will see.
Act 1: The little boy was carrying a ball and thinking about finding some friends to play with. (No Scene building)
Act 1: Sammy was carrying a ball down a street and noticed a basketball hoop hanging from the side of an old run-down building. He thought to himself that he needed to run three houses down the block to the house with the chain-link fence and get two of his friends Billy and Jimmy to come down and play a little basketball. (With Scene building)
Sometimes people say writers build to much fluff into their stories. That is why some books have 600 pages and some others have 300. But it is the fluff that will pull you into the story and allow you to understand a character better. This is the reason, Stephen King’s books are so long. He has a remarkable way of pulling you into the story and keeps you there throughout the entire book no matter how long it is.
And these days if you have an e-reader you can find so many great FREE books which makes the reading endless. I would recommend signing up for a free account on Book Blurp. I get FREE book offers every day. I would also suggest that you read works from authors you have never heard about you will be surprised how it will open your world.
I have a new title at work to add to my list. I am the new HIPAA Security Officer. Since we deal with some medical information we needed a point of contact for all of the HIPAA Security-related concerns. The first step the company did was send me to a HIPPA Security training where I became certified to perform this new duty.
I always take the jobs given to me with great respect. When someone puts their trust in me that I will be performing a job for them and in return keeping us from ever having to worry about court cases. I started what has never been done at our company. I created a security and computer training once a month that is mandatory for everyone to attend. Doing this I get to answer questions about security issues. It also allows me one on one time with the staff to hear about any security concerns. I received positive feedback and everyone was scared and much more aware of Passwords and how to better secure not just the workplace but also their personal lives.
Another way I stay in constant contact with all of the staff members is to use Microsoft Teams. This is a great communication tool that all of us use every day. We are a technology-driven company. We only use the phones on our desks to conduct business outside of the company. All internal communications are completed using Teams. So I sent up a new Team and it allows me to post current topics on Security and Technology.
If you ever need someone from the outside to speak to your companies or educational staff about security please email me and we can set something up to help you out. You can never take security lightly.
I have been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember. When I was very young I can remember sitting with my mom at the kitchen table having a cup of coffee with her. But I also remember it was more milk and sugar than coffee. These days I normally use Almond milk at home but when I get to work I just like it black. I think part of that reason is I don’t keep any Almond milk at work and there is normally no creamers around so black it is.
So where do you like to get your coffee from? are you a Start Bucks type of person or are you more of a McDonald’s kind of maybe some other little store on your way to work? We like 1/2 cafe at home and straight-up 100% caffeine at the office. Let me hear how and where you get your coffee fix?
If you plan on or even if you are working in the technology field you need to learn and have an understanding of programming. It really does not matter which language you want to learn as long as you have a good understanding of how to automate tasks. I have been writing custom code and automating tasks for nearly 20 years. I have found a use for this talent in every job I have had in the technology field. Even working at a school district recently I was able to automate importing new students into the library software from the student information system. Once I had the connection up and running I was told that no one else has been able to do this. They were asking for this to be done for 10 years. The reason I tell you this story is because once you learn how a process works and if you can write some code you to will be able to automate a process.
I am currently writing a large project to automate build SQL statements. Right now the job is done by hand each time the database needs to be updated or split I am asked to run my SQL UPDATE query by hand on the SQL database server. This is time-consuming so it is a great time to automate this process. I will keep you updated on this process. The bottom line is not to be afraid of programming and take your time. You will hit snags once in a while but take it from me you will be saving hours of manual coding in the future.
If you have a process and you do not want to program it please contact me. If you can show me what the process is and what you need it to do I will be happy to contact writing the program for you.
I have been asked many times what I prefer to use to monitor my servers and networks. I have found that using PRTG has made it so I can watch my networks and my servers no matter where I have them. I monitor servers in the cloud as well as networks all over the World.
If you need help with your PRTG deployment please drop me an email and we can set up a time. I am also available for on-site work and travel.
I spend some time upgrading my home server to the newest VMWare 6.7. We have been using this new version at work and I wanted to dig into more if the features. At home, I like to run to servers for testing. I run Windows Server 2012 as well as Ubuntu Server.
I have spent most of my weekend setting up a new VM of Ubuntu Server and preparing it for testing out automation scripts. I want to create my scripts using Ruby. I am using the IDE called Ruby Mine from JetBrains.
If you have any projects that you are working on or need assistance with any of your servers or need new scripts please let me know. I am also always available for remote training.
