Welcome

To those of you who have received an invite-I've done so because I get sick of sending emails or copying and pasting information from one person to the next. I never remember what I've sent who-and who's requesting what. I figure if it's all in one central location, then people can look when they want.

This blog is about typical or unique days in my life which would include work, school, home, and most importantly, my children. I don't intend on posting every day, heck once a week will probably be a feat-but I will do my best.

Basic information about myself. . .

Work: I work fulltime at Ripon College as Assistant Director to the Information Technology Services department w/ an emphasis on "desktops and student computing". Many people wonder, what does this really mean? Basically, I get paid to:

• configure computers that are rolled out on a 3 year lease cycle, every year we have a "batch" of systems that needs to be refreshed


• asset manage where our current systems are


• proactively troubleshoot known issues prior to returning current systems to keep casualties to a minimum


• coordinate purchase orders and returns for all systems (fancy word for box old systems, and make room for new ones) And I've actually graduated to hiring my own student workers for this purpose-man I'm moving up in the world


• create master image, deploy to all new systems, and deliver new systems to end users


• support end users


• manage a student worker staff which provides troubleshooting services to the student body


• and many other little trivial things that come with working in the IT department

Wow, I didn't realize how much I do-guess I know where to look when it comes time to start polishing up that resume!

School: I'm currently attending Moraine Park Technical College as a part-time student to obtain my IT Tech Support Specialist Associates Degree. Many people think to themselves "why associate?", well for some reason I'm doing this ass-backwards and getting my degree in what I actually do. I figure it gives me some competency in my position, RC has offered to pay for it, and if for some reason I ever decide to leave RC-I may have given myself a few more options. I also don't have the time or mental ability (at this point in my life) to devote to a Bachelor's. It is my goal to eventually obtain a BS, but for now baby steps are good enough for me. I have about a year left (at my current pace) until I graduate. I'm hoping to graduate w/ a cumulative GPA of 3.9 or better.

Home: Well most of you know my home life, otherwise you probably wouldn't be here. Anyways, Jason and I live in our recently remodeled farmhouse. It was what we would call our "labor of love", while I can attest that those 10 months ensued some of the best and worst times of our life so far-it was well worth it in the end. We live at home with our two children, and Mag-my 9 year old dobe.

Children: And most importantly I will wrap this up with those two little angels who give me an even better reason to wake up every day. Alex, my son, is quickly approaching 3 years old; and Laura who is almost 9 months old. These are the subjects that will probably receive the most attention on this blog, as you know-I love to snap photos, and update people on their latest milestones.

So, welcome to my world.