Today marks my 1 year anniversary at Secure-24. I can honestly say it seems like it has been a lot longer. When I first started working here everyone referred to time in S24 years, and I found out that it was a running joke amongst the engineers. It is in reference to how the years at S24 seem to be much longer than at other places. This is due to the constantly changing environments due to the nature of business that a Managed Service Provider runs. I laughed it off for the first few months until I slowly began to feel it too. Now, here I am, one year later and I find it hard to believe that it has only been one year. During this time I even managed to meet a personal goal, and change teams. I’m not even sure I could manage to list all of the new things I have learned between the two positions, or the things I have had access to here that I would never had had access to at my old company. The people I have met here are all incredibly talented and great to be around. The company culture is amazing and the events that encourage us all to come together outside the office are terrific. What I am most thankful for though, is the fact that it has been a year and I still enjoy coming to work everyday; with the exception of the commute anyway! I’m working on that…
Author Archives: Ed
EMC Tailgate
Today was the annual EMC tailgate and customer appreciation event, and honestly, I wasn’t very impressed this year. There were a lot of changes this year, some from EMC and their sponsor partners and some from the general atmosphere. You can tell this year that they didn’t go as “all out” as they have in past years. For starters they didn’t hand out as many tickets to the game, in fact this is the first year that I didn’t have tickets. That’s not a big deal though as I am not a super fan or anything. Besides they have TV’s there with good sound so we can watch the game too. Well, at least that is half right. They had the TV but no one bothered to bring the sound cables to connect them into the speakers, so we had no commentary. Also, the food this year wasn’t up to par and the caterers were downright rude, and they seemed to be understaffed. So it took forever to get anything to eat, at least the drinks were flowing good though! In addition my old co-workers, Chuck and Dan, whom I was really looking forward to seeing, didn’t show up because they didn’t get tickets this year either, and that is the main reason they go. While it was still a decent time, it just didn’t live up to what I have come to expect from an EMC event, in fact, Melissa and I left right after half-time. Hopefully next year will be back up to standard….
WatchDOGS Intro
Kylie’s school is starting something new this year, it’s called WatchDOGS. The “DOGS” is an acronym that stands for “Dads Of Great Students” and the introduction meeting was tonight. The program is an attempt to get more Father figures involved with their students. As part of the program participants sign up for a day that they can spend at school with their student. They will assist around the school going from classroom to classroom and providing aide to the teach and class, monitor halls, help at lunch, play with the students at recess, and other various activities. The day is typically scheduled in advanced and the program organizers for the school work in conjunction with the school and teachers to ensure the WatchDOGS’ day is planned out to allow for maximum benefit. From the WatchDOGS website:
WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) – Engage men, inspire children, reduce bullying and enhance the educational environment at your school.
WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) – Is the father involvement initiative of the National Center for Fathering that organizes fathers and father figures in order to provide positive male role models for the students and to enhance school security. Today, more than 3,793 active programs in 46 states participate in the WATCH D.O.G.S. Program.
Who are WatchDOGS? Fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, uncles, and other father figures who volunteer to serve at least one day a year in a variety of school activities as assigned by the school principal or other administrator.
I have signed up to participate in late November, and I am really looking forward to it. Kylie doesn’t know though, and I am hoping to keep it a surprise!
First Day of Third Grade
Another first day of school has arrived and this one finds Kylie heading in for the start of third grade! This year Kylie did not experience any of the nervousness that she felt at the beginning of second grade. This year she was rather excited and confident, and really looking forward to seeing all of her friends and starting off another school year. Maybe it is because the school routine will add some much needed structure for her, something steady and constant. Kylie is more nervous about some rather large changes that are going to take place in the coming months, that of Mommy and Neil’s wedding. While she is very excited for the occasion, she is also unsure of what changes it will bring so returning to school and dealing with a new teacher, a new classroom, and possibly even new friends seems like a rather small change to deal with. Additionally Kylie still really enjoys school, just as Mommy and Daddy did all through their grade school years, so going back is exciting. She says she is looking forward to science this year and really hopes they will learn about rocks! She has always liked rocks, maybe she’ll be a geologist when she grows up? Hopefully that won’t be too soon though! Here’s looking forward to another great year!
Pre School Checkup
Today was Kylie’s yearly back to school check up and the numbers are looking just as good as last year’s. This year she measures 51.25 inches tall (4’ 3.25”) which means that since last year she has grown 2.25 inches. I know I said this last year as well, but it seems like she has grown more than that. Maybe it has to do with the continual development of her personality, vocabulary, and the evolution of her own style that makes her seem even bigger. She weighed in at 79.5 pounds today which is only 10.5 pounds more than last year. So compared to last year she appears to have had an overall smaller growth spurt, but that is ok with us as we don’t want her growing up too fast anyway. Her blood pressure this year was 98/60, and that is still good for her age. She is now all set to start third grade, even if we aren’t fully prepared for her to be this old yet!
Company Picnic
Today was the first company (Secure-24) picnic I have gone to that I was also able to bring the family too. This was a nice change for me, at my old job (Truven Health / Thomson Reuters) the company picnic was always held during the week and during normal business hours, which meant you could only go if you could get out of the office without impacting work and that it was employees only. This was a nice change indeed! Melissa and Kylie were both able to attend and there were lots of things going on. In addition to all the normal picnic foods and drinks being supplied the company also bought out an entire ice cream truck. So we were able to walk up and order anything we wanted that they had, and it stayed there all day until they were out of everything. So they literally bought out the entire truck! The kids all seemed to love this. I think Kylie most enjoyed the bouncy house, as she stayed in there pretty much all day. A number of the management team took turns in a dunk tank and certain people had a very long line trying to dunk them! We stayed for quite a few hours and had a really good time hanging out with my co-workers and friends. So far working for Secure-24 has a lot of benefits and a really great culture and even after 10 months I am still really happy I decided to accept a position here.
Company Tiger’s Game
Tonight Melissa and I took advantage of one the perks my company extends to the employees and enjoyed complimentary tickets to the Tiger’s game. This was a special night as it was also Melissa’s first major league baseball game, not that I have been to so many more, as this was only my second or third. We rode down with Nicole and Alex and met up with Brian and Aimee, and prior to the game the company opened a tab at the Dirty Trick for some pre-game libations. Even though the Tiger’s lost it was still a very fun night with some pretty awesome people! Hopefully we can have the opportunity to do something like this again in the future.
Repair Estimate’s In
Received the estimate for repairs from Nicholson’s today, and the total cost has come in under the amount of my deductible ($500). On one hand I am happy the damage is not overly extensive, but on the other it is still more than I was hoping to have to pay. It will cost $434.66 to cover the cost of the parts and the labor to carry out the repairs. As part of the work they will be replacing the entire front fender and the covers on the front forks. Luckily there was no damage to the actual forks under the covers. Luckily it won’t take them very long to carry out the repairs, so I will have the bike back in few days. Hopefully I will be able to get some additional riding in before the end of the season.
Damaged Again
Once again I found damage to the motorcycle in my parking lot (the last time was in 2008). This marks the second time the bike has been damaged while parked at home. Looks like I will need to make another claim and get it in for an estimate. This time it looks like a truck with some type of trailer hitch backed into it, more than once even. My first indication was a mark on the cover and a small rip surrounded by a rust imprint. When I removed the cover I found a crack on the front fender and multiple dents in the fork covers, leading me to believe that someone backed into it more than once. Judging by the damage I am truly surprised they did not knock it over again. I am beginning to think more and more that I need to buy a house so I can have my own garage to safely store the bike in.
Monster’s University
Kylie, Melissa and I went and saw Monster’s University today. It was pretty good, but I think I liked the first one better. Kylie got a kick out of the props around the movie theater that she could take a picture with though.
