Me:  You’re not a fan of snow?

Her:  No. I really dislike winter.  It’s depressing and inconvenient.

Me:  Um…You live in WISCONSIN.

Her:  Yes, I know this.

Me:  Winter isn’t depressing. You know what’s depressing?  Living somewhere where there is no winter.  Like here. Where it swings wildly between 60 and 20 degrees, often several times in the same week…no snow, no ice, nothing but bare trees and mud often so deep you can’t even walk in the fields. So, yeah…give me Wisco any day, at least you can go sledding.

Her:  Ok. I will shut up now.

Now, with that rant out of the way, I need to get back to my efforts to convince the [mythical, nonexistent] future Mrs. Milam that living here is all kinds of awesome.

I know.  Good luck with that.

This year, I’m thankful for where I am and where life has taken me. Is there room for improvement? Yes. Are there some regrets and mistakes to be corrected? Of course. Stay tuned for those. This could get interesting!

In general blog news, I’m going to try to be less of a frustrated perfectionist and just publish something here from time to time. I mean, if I’m going to take the time to keep the blog software up-to-date and managed, I should at least use it for the intended purpose and actually publish some content.

Sitting here at the Lake House, where there is just barely any cell phone coverage and certainly not any Internet service, I’m reminded how our computers have really become nothing more than Internet terminals. Without the network, I’m relegated to using my computer as a media center for movies and music, doing some writing as I’m doing right now, and…

I’ve now deleted the file, and I guess it did serve its purpose, as it did make it into a blog post. The previous sentence contains many occurrences of the word “it.”

By the way, happy Rush day: 2/1/12.

I did a lot of my initial learning about VMS and UNIX on a VT220 terminal back in the day. When I couldn’t find an open PC, I’d opt for the mostly-forgotten terminals along the Clow Computer Lab wall. When your network is in doubt, a hard serial connection will get it done.

I need to keep an eye out for a VT-series terminal at the auctions. This could be a fun little project.

What is the CISA? It stands for “Certified Information Systems Auditor” and is one of several certifications by ISACA. Note to my pedantic academic friends: Yes, that’s a Wikipedia link back there. Get over it.

I’ll be honest, waiting EIGHT WEEKS for my exam results made me a little stressed, and a perhaps a little saltier than usual. Passing the exam is great, but it’s only the first step in getting certified. I have submitted my application for certification, which verifies my work history, experience in the field and my education. Now, I get to wait…for up to EIGHT WEEKS…again before I can officially use the CISA designation. Sigh.

Let this be a lesson, kids: What you post can be quoted and re-posted far outside of the little box you think you’re operating in. I’m just glad it wasn’t anything embarrassing. Not that I’d EVER post anything embarrassing, of course.

Uncle Bernie’s Last Phone Message

Uncle Bernie was also a big fan of the Internet, but never really got into those newfangled things like facebook.  He loved E-mail, especially forwarding jokes.  He also was one of about four regular readers of this blog, back when I actually used to update it.  Therefore, it’s only appropriate he gets a mention here.

Bernie C. Milam

Bernie C. Milam, 82, husband of Jane Anderson Milam, died Saturday, February 19, 2011. He was born October 28, 1928 in Shepherdsville, son of the late Bernie B. and Bertha Wise Milam, and was a graduate of Shepherdsville High School. He was also a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.S. degree in Agriculture and M.S. degree in Extension Education. He was drafted in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict and was honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant. After completing his tour of duty in Korea, he returned to the University of Kentucky to complete his degree. He taught Vocational Agriculture at Meade County High School before going to work for the U.K. Cooperative Extension Service. He went to Nicholas County as a 4-H agent until December 1957 when he became the 4-H agent in Bourbon County. He served the people of Bourbon County for 36 years before retiring on his 65th birthday.

He is survived by his wife Jane Anderson Milam and three sons, James, John, and Robert (Sonya). There are 10 grandchildren; Christopher, Daniel, Elizabeth, Josh, Adam, Lauren, Alexandra, Justin, Conner, and Matthew. He is also survived by one sister, Helen Newton; and one brother, Dr. Robert Milam.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 22, at the First Baptist Church of Paris, KY. Visitation will be 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday at the church.

Casket bearers will be his nephews, Mike Milam, Charles Milam, Steve Milam, Todd Milam, Kevin Cundiff, Eric Cundiff, Mark Cundiff, Mike Anderson, and Brad Newton.

Donations in lieu of flowers are requested to First Baptist Church Building Fund, Hospice of the Bluegrass, or one’s favorite charity.

www.hinton-turnerfuneralhome.com

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.”

From the article:

“Most of the positive reviewers described Norwich University’s programs as very rigorous, and detractors agreed: from their perspective, Norwich’s workloads were too demanding.”

I remember during a class conference call, one of my professors stated he honestly felt that the reading requirements exceeded those of many doctoral programs.  Wow.  Maybe I should go for the doctorate after all.  Dad would like that, anyway.