About
Welcome!
This is entirely a one-man-site – I write all the posts here, I edit and mostly use my own pictures, I record and post my YouTube videos, and I make my own mistakes, so if you see any please let me know.
I’m a proud geek, an IT executive with hands-on computer skills, with 15 years of IT jobs behind me, with an Electronics Engineering Technology degree. Most of all, I’m the king of a kingdom of four with parents of two, an army of one and a budget of none (a one sentence summary of the text below).
During the last 15 years I managed or worked in network and desktop support teams, network applications such as anti-virus and technical security, email, file services, load balancing, network infrastructure, data center operations and Oracle DBAs in an HP/Cisco shop with hundreds of servers on Unix, Linux, Windows environments, Novell eDirectory with IDM, VMware virtualization, ZenWorks remote management and end user desktop support in Chicago. Throughout my career I never abandoned hands-on installations and troubleshooting of high end executives’ cell phones, laptops, and PCs, but also dealt with servers, routers, firewalls, security cameras and other network systems and gadgets. Regularly researching feasibility and practical applications of emerging technologies and cost-saving solutions, I also selected and purchased millions of dollars worth of hardware, software and services, managed installations, support and load testing of mission-critical systems with over 600,000 named accounts and over 1,000 concurrent users. As an ex public servant I prefer open source and in-house built solutions and focus on establishing a strong trust relationship with my employers, customers, staff and vendors, building a creative, friendly and diverse work environment. Am I getting too much in depth? That’s because I can. This is my own online resume and unlike with Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder and Indeed, I control everything here, employers and employees (that would be me and me).
Many years ago, having been a computer hobbyist for a while, I enrolled in Electronics Engineering Technology instead of CIS, expecting that my favorite science about the little particles which bring us the currently most sophisticated and beneficial form of energy (and this page to you), would be more interesting due to the academic cultural lag in the computer field (where they always teach you outdated things), and I enjoyed it. Best thing was learning how computers work “from inside”, already knowing the higher levels of their operation. It was there that I learned about the “magic smoke” which drives all computers and electronic circuits, as I’ve proven it myself in the electronics lab a few times: if you ‘fry’ an electronic component, the magic smoke escapes and the device stops working <geek humor>. I obtained my B.S. with 4.0/4.0 GPA, meanwhile advancing from a part time and later full time PC technician to a network engineer. After graduation I worked as a consultant, a network manager, IT director, and finally as a technology-focused Deputy CIO of a the City Colleges of Chicago, a large public institution with over 100,000 students annually. When my engagement at CCC ended I was surprised that this domain name (corresponding to my title at the time) was still available, so I registered it and started blogging while seeking new ventures and that’s why you’re reading this now.
Few other things about me:
- I used to own and run a bar.
- I used to be a professional drummer.
- Once a firefighter, always a firefighter – I used to command a voluntary firefighting squad, fighting mostly forest fires in the Summer, carrying backpack water pumps up the hills and picking our battles wisely. Closest calls: putting out a fire on top of a storage, unaware it was full of butane bottles; remaining alone behind to empty my backpack onto a tree next to a house with wind and fire coming downhill on us; WW2 shell exploding and flying over our heads from the fire we were running to put out (great example of priorities change).