Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2010

An IBM Christmas

I got my first ever IBM Christmas card today.   It was in my email, so I know that I was pulled from a database of people and was automatically sent a card, without anyone knowing who I was. But I'm fine with that. I am a little disappointed that I never heard anything from my IBM client rep though.   But I shouldn't be surprised.   I often don't even hear from her even after I leave her multiple voice mails or emails. But I did speak to 2 great people in IBM support yesterday.   One whose name I remember, Paul Albright, and one I don't, the nice gentleman from St. Johns, New Brunswick who had a laugh and a Merry Christmas for me, even though he was only recording the support request.

A Season for a Beer (Lottery)

A beer company that is close to my heart, the Boston Beer company has made the local news.  Their 'Utopia' beer is rare enough in Canada that the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) is having a beer lottery to be allowed to purchase one of 70 bottles of Utopia beer. Read more here:  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/12/22/lcbo-sam-adams-beer.html?ref=rss Whenever I travel to the US, I only drink Samual Adams beer.   It's the closest thing I can find to a good Canadian beer.   If you don't agree, come on up to visit me in Canada and I'll prove it to you.

Presenting at iDoSphere

I just got the news.   I've been invited (and I've accepted) to present at iDoSphere. My session will be based on Lotus Domino and securing it for the web.  SSL, SMTP TLS, securing the default install and more. Come see me make my inaugural Lotus presentation.  This is a first for me presenting back to the Lotus community that I joined 4 years ago.   Hopefully I won't make a complete fool of myself.

Season of Giving

I'd like to recount you a story.   It occurred tonight. We got mail, from my father-in-law.  Inside were 2 gift cards, one for the birth of our son (the Turtle, which happened 15 months ago) and the other one for Christmas for the two kids.   It was for $100 at Walmart, and that meant they each had $50 to spend. We finished dinner quickly tonight, I'm not sure how, with my two.  Both could be in the title run for world's slowest eater.  We decided to go to Walmart so the Toad (she's 4) could pick out something for herself. On the way over, she was talking about how we had to take our donations over to Toy Mountain.  My wife mentioned that Toy Mountain was looking for toys for 7-9 year-olds at the moment. We walked up and down aisles, throughout the entire toy section at Walmart.  The Toad knew she had $50 that she could buy herself something with.  She picked out 3 things and handed the gift card to the cashier with pride.  She bought bubble bath, Silly Bands and Meccan