Now on new host

Well, the dreaded day did come when I had to move my website off the hosted VPS Farm server I’ve used since 2007. When I turned off my server for the last time Tuesday night I felt a twinge of sadness. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.

The migration to my new host, Tranquil Hosting, went very smoothly, however. I had my sites down for about two hours Tuesday night as I shifted mail and websites to the new host. I was rather pleased with myself that things went so smoothly. I guess my many years of IT experience pays off!

Will I stick around with Tranquil? We’ll see. VPS was a deal that was hard to beat but there’s something to be said about working with a local firm like Tranquil. So far so good!

Work, fast and furious

Oh, how I forgot how quickly things move at a startup company! I’ve dived right into my role as support manager, not really knowing all I need to know but trusting I can figure it out. I’ve already reached the point where I can field some support cases on my own, which is sooner than I expected. I’m still nowhere near where I need to be to feel comfortable, though, and I lean quite heavily on my more-experienced coworkers, but I’m getting there.

One of my coworkers walked into my office today and told me, “uh, hey, we’ve really piled on the stuff for you, haven’t we?” I had to laugh! It’s great to have the confidence of one’s coworkers but it’s true that I’m barely keeping my head above water now. I told my boss I feel like the kid who just had his training wheels taken off: I’m wobbling all over the place but have somehow managed to stay upright.

Getting up to speed is very much like learning a foreign language through immersion. I hear all these names and acronyms which are still fuzzy to me, so I focus on the context to fill in the blanks.

Am I working hard? You betcha – harder than I have in a while. Am I enjoying it? Absolutely! I am all in. It’s good to feel wanted and good to feel like I’m contributing right off the bat.

Little Raleigh Radio server delivered

Little Raleigh Radio

I also buckled down this weekend to get Little Raleigh Radio’s studio server set up and delivered to the temporary studio. Mission accomplished!

The server has a full install of the Rivendell radio automation software and 2GB RAID1 mirrored drives for a HUGE storage space of music. It still lacks a monitor and sound card but those are on the way.

Now the difficult work begins of getting the rest of the staff trained on how to use Rivendell.

Radiator work

After returning from DC with Hallie and her class, I had a rather intimidating task ahead of me: changing out my car’s radiator. I’d never done a radiator before but in the age of YouTube I had all the instructions I needed.

Having bought the replacement radiator at AutoZone a week before, I was all set to make the change. It cost me an hour of my Saturday afternoon, a few busted knuckles, one Imperial Pale Ale, and about $110 but I got it done. Had we taken it to the dealer we’d have probably been out $600.

DC and back

At the White House


Well, I didn’t get a chance to do much blogging during my DC field trip with Hallie and her class. The pathetic battery life on my smartphone prohibited me from much websurfing up there and back and when I got to the hotel I had more email to catch up on than I expected.

We had a great time in spite of the bone-chilling wind.