But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Unraptured. How ’bout the rest of y’all?

-k-

Well, the aught-one Saturn has been swapped out. After nearly 125K miles of dependable service, in the main, it’s been traded for a 2011 Subaru Outback. That link shows you the color¹ of the new rig, unless/until Subaru sees fit to redo that part of their website.

$dayjob is, or soon will be, putting additional demands on our ground transportation. MLB’s Saturn Aura would have filled the bill admirably, but it’s her car, and neither of us wanted to risk the aught-one should it just lay down permanently. Additionally, we’d planned to replace the ’01 in the fall anyhow.

The buying experience was a tad novel; we bought it from Stohlman Automotive, a long time DC area auto dealer. But not from one of those chrome-and-glass places, where you get ushered into the lounge, with the wi-fi and the hep yerself to the free Starbucks kinda places that exist now. No, not at all. We went to Stohlman’s Herndon facility, about 2 miles from our house, which formerly was home base for Paul Brothers Oldsmobile/Subaru; Stohlman moved in there after Oldsmobile went the way of the dodo. This building was built in 1908, I think someone said. It has a one-car showroom, and generally cramped quarters. It reminded me of where I got my start in the working world, many years ago, in a dealer with a 1930′s vintage building.

The dealership personnel answered all our questions, were attentive to our needs, and made the purchase a real joy. When we went to pick up the car, the paperwork was done, the car was washed, its clock was set; they were happy to see us. No paging anyone to come to the “delivery area”, no redoing paperwork. No muss, no fuss. We still got the review of all the controls on the car, the admonition that you don’t put all wheel drive vehicles on the dyno for emissions testing. We came home feeling good about the purchase, and glad we did business there.

We weren’t buying a building; we were buying a car. And the services of good people to stand behind it.

Well done, Stohlman of Herndon!

-k-

I passed my RHCE¹ Exam! After one attempt, wherein I knew jack-diddley squat, to the next attempt, wherein I knew the individual pieces, and fell apart putting them into a coherent plan, to the third, wherein the pieces clicked together, and I rolled on.

I’m no better person/employee/engineer because of being certified. Also, I’d be the same person, even if I didn’t make it.

Given the above scenarios, I like having the certification better than not having it. I like it more. Much more.

Cert ID: 110-007-739.

OK, back to work then.

-k-

Being a race fan, I love the month of May.

Today, the IRL cars provided the screaming horsepower for pole day at Indianapolis. Pole won by Alex Tagliani, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Car owner Sam Schmidt is a Nebraska native, and a quadriplegic after he endured a horrific crash in 2000. Just seeing Sam’s understandably emotional response after his driver won the pole made my racing day.

But then, the thundering horsepower of the the thoroughbreds from Pimlico¹. I love horse racing, and seeing Shackleford reach a little deeper in the last furlong was exciting.

Now, on to FOX Sports, for the NASCAR All-Star Race². No points, a million bucks, run what ya’ brung, and balls out racing. Checkers or wreckers.

Yep, May is a good month.

-k-

As I prepare to watch a Kansas Jayhawk-less Final Four,  I salute the Wichita State University Shockers men’s basketball team for winning this year’s National Invitation Tournament.  Those Shockers were, well, shocking.  Well coached, unselfish, and just a solid team overall. Oh, and they lost to two of this year’s Final Four contenders by a total of five points; an 83-70 edging by UConn, and a 68-67 squeaker versus VCU.

But did they ever come up smiling in the NIT.  As an expatriated Kansan, I’m tickled, and  proud of the Shockers.

-k-
Update My math was correct, my typing failed me. Make that UConn score 83-79.

The best way to recover from a stunning, stinging loss by the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Basketball Tournament¹ is to see Kevin Harvick make a last lap pass of Jimmie Johnson to win the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race in Fontana, CA.

So, while choking back the tears as I slobber out Rock Chalk Jayhawk, I can still manage an enthusiastic Boogity-Boogity-Boogity.

-k-

This  post comes to you via my Samsung Galaxy tablet. A device that’s truly amazing. Maybe I didn’t need it, but amazing nonetheless.

_k_

As previously documented, I spent a week in Virginia Beach attending Red Hat 300, the fast-track certification regimen.

All my previous Red Hat Certifications¹ had expired after the release of RHEL 6, so I became a real dinosaur’s dinosaur. The class included the RHCSA and RHCE² tests on Friday.

And I passed one of two; I’m now an RHCSA, but fell short on the RHCE exam. I was a little miffed that I didn’t pass the RHCE; this marks the first time I haven’t passed something. As I’ve said before, testing should reveal areas for improvement; this test revealed far too many such areas to my way of thinking. But, I have the book from the class, a RHEL6 VM set up, and I’ll pursue areas in need of improvement, and get that E yet.

-k-

This week, it’s RH 300 – an intensive, fast track session of book learning about all things Red Hat system administration, followed by two pressure-filled, frantic tests. If I pass both those, I’ll be an RHCE¹ I’ve always thought that testing one’s knowledge is a good vehicle for indicating areas where one needs improvement; I only hope I need improvement in < 30% of the areas, so I can pass the test.

I’ve always said that having a certification doesn’t automatically make one a better admin, nor does the lack of a certification make one a clueless dolt. Having said that, I want the certification. Badly.

-k-

After 7+ years¹ at the same jobsite, I report to a brand new contract on Monday.

I’m still with the same company; that’s a Good Thing™. I work for a small company; I like small companies – every one I’ve worked for has treated me like family, my propensities for sometimes acting like Crazy Uncle Oscar to the contrary notwithstanding.

Contracting is a good life, overall. I’ve always fancied myself somewhat adept at customer care. The customer is not, however, always right², and the last gig rapidly turned into a spinning fireball of short-sightedness, bureaucracy, and meaningless red tape³. When you have to check your brains at the door upon reporting for work, it’s time to look elsewhere. And I had looked. In NoVA, sysadmin jobs abound, but I’m a bit picky. I was looking for a “blank sheet” position, one where I could help stand up a new datacanter, lead a Solaris-to-Red Hat migration, something like that. There were a few near misses in locating such a situation; I’d accepted one such offer, only to have funding fall through.

So, perhaps now, I find myself in what could be the best of all possible worlds. I remain with my current company, but on a new contract with a different customer, and an opportunity to learn additional things⁴. And, though butterflies are invading my stomach as I type this, the decision tree came down to answering Do the chances of my being happier with a new customer outweigh those of the current customer ceasing to suck? The answer to that is a no-brainer’s no-brainer.

Onward!

-k-