Tonight I received an e-mail from a former student assistant of mine who is a now working for a major microprocessor manufacturer in California. (Hint: It’s probably “inside” most of the computers you use today.)

He started out by saying:

“Thanks for teaching me how to fish Yoda! Hope all is well -j”

I thought he was referring to teaching him how to fly fish for trout back in the day, so I asked him if he had caught anything.

Turns out he meant something different:

“…sorry, didn’t have time to finish the email. Thanks for helping me fish…aka learn linux with the rtfm comments…”

By way of explanation:  Back in the day at the University, we shared an office space.  He was eager to learn Linux, and I was happy to have his help with my projects and daily work.  Whenever he would get “stuck,” instead of giving him the answer so I could go right back to work, I’d take a little extra time to give him hints and guide him to find the answer on his own.  I can’t tell you how many times I would say, “RTFM, dude.  It’s in there.  I found it, so you can too.  Now, let’s start by looking here…”

Eventually, he was given some of his own projects and systems to design on his own.  At first he would ask me how he should build things. Eventually, as I let him have more space to spread his wings, I would turn it around and ask him “So, how would YOU like to build this?”  It was a great feeling to watch him grow.

He finished his E-mail to me with this:

“This has helped me a ton in my life ever since. ”

Wow.  What a great feeling.

Now, back to the coworker that got me thinking about this post again.  Earlier this week, my coworker took and passed his CCNA on the first try.  This is no small feat, especially considering he only came on board a few months ago.  I congratulated him on passing his CCNA, and as we we talking he stopped and said, “I wanted to thank you for something.”

“Ok…what?”

“When I first started, remember when I asked you [something about subnet masking within firewall rules]?”

“Sure I do, but…what’s special about that?”

“Well, you didn’t just give me the answer.  You told me where to start looking, and I learned much more from than if you had just answered the question, so thanks for that.”

I guess it’s like they say:  “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

As of now, my fingers are sore because I haven’t put the ends on twisted pair cable in over a year or two.  After the first connector of tonight, I got back into the groove and knocked out the remainder in short order.

My fingers are sore, and I'm kind of rusty, but I got it done.

So, now that I have the upstairs wired in again, what next?  Well, I’m not really sure yet.  I do know I need to get some kind of Linux server back online for various network maintenance jobs and the like, as well as possibly acting as a VPN gateway.

I’m also considering playing with OpenSolaris.  I hear the filesystem is pretty amazing.

Oh yeah…I also still have a nagging “itch” to scratch from that asset tracking database project I was working on at my last job.  I always wanted to be able to tell how often an asset had been moved and then see if I could correlate it with breakage rates.  I figure if you move a computer around three times a week, treating it like a bale of hay when it’s handled, eventually things like hard disks are going to give out.  So, having a database server to test on again will be nice…maybe I’ll even get crazy and play with database clustering.

Regardless of what I do with the network upstairs, the important thing is now I can start moving the computer equipment back into place.  Hopefully this means I’ll be able to see the floor up there in the office soon. Maybe I’ll have a functional office and ham radio station again before the hockey season starts up.  Time will tell.

Random thoughts:

1. Perhaps twitter has fried my brain and I can’t write more than 140 characters at a time?
2. This is a weekend of some historical significance–
3. Three years ago, The Shaner died.  RIP, my brother.  I haven’t been on a motorcycle since.
4. Two years ago, I was at Norwich University graduating from my Master’s program.
5. One year ago, I was at my brother’s graduation in Houston, obsessively checking the iPhone for updates on the Stanley Cup Game Seven, and texting my favorite hockey fan about it.  The next day, I drove one of my brother’s  cars home from Houston to Kentucky solo.  That was a LONG trip.
6. Tonight, Dad and I met the guy who builds covered docks down at the lake.  I hope this covered dock thing actually happens.  You have no idea how much easier it would make life down at the lake to not have to struggle with that messy, nasty “canvas.”
7. Nashville once again reminds me it is a fun town…I had a great time on Monday at the NHL Tweetup and flood relief fundraiser.  There might have even been some photos. Shortly after that photo of me was taken (you did look, right?), the ladies confiscated my belt clip for my iPhone.  Katie called it “Chick Repellent.”  Ok, so looking at the photo…she might have a point.
8. Mike is here tonight, we continued our tradition of watching non-family-safe movies while he’s away and has the chance to do so.  Tonight’s selection: Shutter Island. Freaky.
9. I got the Jetta back!  More testing is needed, but we think it was all due to a faulty crank sensor. Time will tell.  For the first time in my life, I now have a backup vehicle.  It’s about time!
10. I’ve managed to spend time in Nashville the last 2-3 weekends (I think), it’s all a blur.  It’s true what they say about time seeming to go faster as we age…is it really June already?  I never thought summer would get here, now it’s flying by WAY too fast.
11. I’m still hoping to make it to Wisconsin for a summer visit, but I don’t know if my [lack of] “vacation” schedule will allow for it.
12. I’ve been slacking on the running due to injury and illness.  Time to get back on the horse.  Also:  Strength training.  Time to push through the soreness and pain.  Ouch.
13. I discovered there will be a Field Day operation here in Hopkinsville.  I think I’ll offer to help out as an operator rather than try to set up my own single-op station.
14. Clark Milam is the best dog ever.
15. Oh, and I hope to cross a couple of “bucket list” items off this weekend.

Finally…I’ve been staring at this quote from a text I sent a while back for too long and I need to just drop it here and get it over with because I’m sick of seeing it in my drafts folder:

“I just wonder if anyone in the old Nashville crew ever wonders what happened to that Chuck guy from Kentucky.”

When I wrote that, I was kind of maudlin.  Now, after some recent events…I’m cool.  The old reliable Nashville crew never forgot me…and there’s some new members that are all kinds of awesome.  With that, I’m out…time for bed.  Friday tomorrow!  Oh, that reminds me:  Fridays used to be party nights…now it seems they’re for rest, packing and preparation for the weekend, and it’s not just me doing it.  We must be getting old.  Heh.

As we continued down one road, the GPS directed me to “Continue Straight on Old [Something] Road.”  As we got about a mile down this older winding road, I started to get déjà vu, but I figured that was a little crazy.  There was no way I had been here before…or was there? As we continued, I looked over to the left and saw a large concrete wall, part of some kind of round retaining basin up on a ridge, surrounded by a fence with distinctive warning signs on it. I knew I had seen that before.  I finally said it out loud: “I’ve been here before. I know it, even though that seems impossible.”

Further down the road, I began to notice some familiar-looking country and large estate-style ranches.  I still couldn’t believe that I was where I thought I was—even though everything looked so familiar. I mean, even if it was, I would have only been out this way maybe once or twice—three times, at most—how could I remember that?

Finally, we came to a “T” intersection with a sign that confirmed it.  I stopped for a bit and just looked at the sign, taking it in.

“Hello, Leipers Fork.  I haven’t seen you since…Thanksgiving?”

Editor’s Note:  I was going to link to the main Leipers Fork web site I found via Google, but it has background music.  I don’t want to encourage that nonsense, so no linking from me.  Google it for yourself if you’re interested, but turn down your speakers before you click on it–there’s no warning before the music starts blaring.

I take back what I said earlier about burnout and suggesting that I might look forward to a summer break from hockey.

I was wrong, I was selfish.  I admit it, and I take it back.  I don’t want this season to end until the Predators hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup in triumph.

No more personal pity parties. No more stupid, silly nonsense, no more burnout, no more hesitation. Let’s do this, and let’s do it right.

Let’s go, Predators!

By my calculations, I have tickets for the remaining four regular-season Predators home games, but I’ll be lucky to make it to even one. Only time will tell.

Do I have hockey burnout? Maybe a little. I’m always a little conflicted when hockey is still going on when soccer, fishing and boating starts up in the spring. There’s more to it than just seasonal issues this year, of course. I’m actually looking forward to the summer break and the hockey off-season. I kind of just need to step away from the “superfan” craziness of the last year. Sorry if that offends or gets me labeled a bad fan. I want the best for the team, I really do. I’m just looking forward to shutting it all down for a little personal rest. I’ll get over it by next season and be ready to go, don’t worry.

Also: I tried a new recipe for Irish Whiskey BBQ Glaze on some ribs. The recipe calls for Jameson and Baileys. It was delicious, but I was painfully reminded by one batch how sugar-containing sauces can burn quickly over direct heat. It’s great to get to cook and grill again. Life’s little pleasures make it all worth it.

Speaking of running, being in shape makes a world of difference.  The mud and the uneven footing made running while keeping an eye on play difficult.  There were several points during the game where I took an awkward step and felt a pull or tweak—but it didn’t really bother me.  I realized that had this been five months and 30 pounds ago, I would have likely been injured at some point during this game.

Excellent.  Must. Keep. Running.