Thursday 27 January 2011

Looking for Domino/Network Administrator

I'm slightly biased, but the company I work for is hiring a Domino/Network Administrator.   If you're interested after reading the description below, contact me and I'll pass your interest along.


Position Description:
The successful candidate will be responsible for ongoing development and administration of our web server farm and office server infrastructure including network and workstation hardware/software.
You need to be skilled in setup and support of TCP/IP networks, firewall, back-up/recovery solutions and server o/s including Windows/Linux as well as web servers such as Tomcat.  Your background includes education/certification in network infrastructure, security and operating systems.  Knowledge of Lotus Domino and database operating environments would be an asset.  Exposure to an AIX environment would also be helpful.
If you thrive on a wide variety of challenges, are interested in leading new initiatives, learning and applying new technologies and growing in a dynamic work environment - where your skills, innovative ideas and dedication are valued, encouraged and rewarded, this position should be of interest to you.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Irritating Domino Error

I found this in a log file today while looking for something else:


01/20/2011 09:35:27 AM  Database collection open error: e:LotusDominoDatanames.nsf: View is damaged.  Please rebuild it (by pressing shift-F9 or running UPDALL -r).
01/20/2011 09:35:27 AM  Error updating view '#445806' in names.nsf: View is damaged.  Please rebuild it (by pressing shift-F9 or running UPDALL -r).

#1.  I love that they told me how to fix it.
#2.  I wish I knew which view that actually is.  I don't have an numbered views in my address book.

Once I find out how to translate the view number to a view name, I'll let you know here.

Life beyond a Miami Beach: Day 7

Up for our first port destination: Nassau in the Bahamas.

We actually bought a shore excursion for Nassau.  A glass bottom boat tour.  If I had to pick a word to describe it, it would be "meh".  It was a 90 minute tour that consisted of a slow drive through the harbour where the "narrator" talked to us about who used to live in which house along the shore.  Really, I'm here for the glass bottom part, not for who used to live where.  The glass bottom part was okay, but consisted of us standing around 2 viewing "boxes" with 4 windows at the bottom of each.  What we didn't realize is that they were throwing bread overboard upstairs while we were downstairs to bring the fish in.  So, we weren't really seeing it "au natural".  And due to over crowding of the tour, we ended up sitting and waiting while the other half of the passengers got their chance to see.  We then took a return trip through the harbor.

The Toad enjoyed the looking at the fish, but was bored for about 70 of the 90 minutes.  The Turtle was bored for most of it, but then he's pretty young and he wasn't in the mood to sit still.

We returned and wandered through the straw market, and to be quite honest, the merchants were nice up until you said you were just looking at the moment, and then got rather rude.  We make it a practice to not buy things from rude people and left the straw market empty handed.  We did get the Toad a purse with Tinkerbell on it, and my wife got a few nice inexpensive necklaces.  I really doubt that most things we saw were made locally, aside from the carvers we saw actively doing carving.

Tonight was formal night, and everyone took the time to pretty themselves up.  It was enjoyable to dress up a bit for dinner, as the elegant look is more what I would expect when dining in a restaurant of that caliber.

We also registered the Toad in Camp Carnival.  An opportunity for her to go and play with others her own age and make some friends.  It's included at no extra charge (one of the few things I've discovered) and they even take children if you go off ship in port and provide a cell phone to you in case of emergency.

Observations:

Water, Lemonade and Iced Tea (unsweetened) are available for free all the time to drink, but soft drinks and of course anything alcoholic is an extra.  As are milk, juice and fancy coffee outside of meal times.

You are allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine or up to 12 cans of pop onboard with you when you board.  The corking fee is $10 per bottle, but can still make it much cheaper than buying wine by the glass or bottle.

Bottled water is available for sale, but you can bring your own bottle and fill it up almost anywhere on the ship.

Tomorrow is a "Sea day" while we make our way down to St. Thomas.  We'll be in St. Thomas on Wednesday.

Night.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Life beyond a Miami Beach: Day 6

This is it.  Today we start on the next phase of our vacation and board the cruise ship.

I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time am a little anxious.  I've never done anything like this before.

We were up early this morning and did the last of our packing before heading to the lobby to catch the cab.  Despite asking about car seats for the cab, the cab didn't arrive with them.  Thank goodness that traffic was light.  I was rather nervous about the drive to the port and didn't think about the fact that the camera was in the trunk of the cab, and not in my pocket.  I wish I'd had it with me.

We got out of the cab, settled our account and looked around at the people everywhere and had no idea what to do next.  Turns out that there are people in white hats who take your luggage for the baggage check.  I'm glad I arrived at the port with our luggage already tagged.

After someone checking our boarding passes and security, we had someone check our boarding passes, and then checked in to the ship (note: we have yet to get on the ship yet.).  We sat and waited until our boarding number was called (we were #14) and headed up the escalator (not the one we were sitting near of course) and had someone check our boarding passes befor walking the gangway onto our ship and had someone checking our boarding passes.

A quick elevator ride to the top deck (Deck 9, Lido deck) and we found the lunch options (we didn't know that there would be a lunch available, we didn't read that beforehand, and had made provisions to have for lunch).  We grabbed some food and began the discovery process that any buffet line that begins with salad options is shorter than any other line, especially those with deep fried foods.

We found our room, asked for one of the bunks to be lowered and that the mini bar be emptied so we could put the Turtle's milk in it.  Note to future first time cruisers, milk for your children can only easily be gotten at breakfast and dinner, not lunch.  If you have a child with a lactose reaction like me, you can get soy milk in the morning through room service (free, but with the suggestion of a gratuity) or at dinner in one of the sit down restaurants.  We'd order enough with room service to allow us enough for the day.

We took part in the safety briefing and returned to make sure that our cabin was outfitted with life jackets for the kids.  We met our room steward, his name was Eufracio but told us to call him E.

Dinner was served in the Platinum restaurant, and is a 3-7 course affair depending on what you order.  Me, I'm allergic to raw tomatoes, so I tended to skip anything that had raw tomatoes in it, or that looked like it might.  The dining room was great, the food was great, and the kids ate from the adult menu as it was much healthier than the kids menu.  Seriously Carnival, can't you come up with some children's menu items that aren't deep fried?

When we returned to our stateroom that night, I made the happy discovery that the crib fit in the bathroom of our stateroom, allowing us to put the Turtle down for a nap without requiring the rest of us to sit in the dark.

Anway, bed for tonight.  Into Nassau tomorrow for our first port day.

Night.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Life on a Miami Beach: Day 5

This morning, we actually slept in.  I was the first one up and went across the street on a coffee run.  McDonalds coffee really isn't all that bad, and it is much better than the in room coffeemaker.

We took today as a relaxation day.  We went for a walk around the neighbourhood, picked up some postcards and went for a walk on the beach.

After a lunch of sandwiches, we put the Turtle down for a nap and I took the Toad to the beach.

An afternoon of watching a movie on the Disney channel, a trip to the grocery store for tomorrows lunch and some veggies and we called it a day.

A few observations:

People, especially men, should not wear thongs to the beach.  This is even more important if the thong wearer has a lot of body hair.

Although we now have credit cards with a chip in Canada, I have yet to come across a single credit card machine down here that uses the chip.

I was reminded today about the tide, both high, and low.  No wonder the water level at the beach seemed to fluctuate from day to day.

Yesterday was the first time I have ever heard a person referred to as a 'baby mama', not a girlfriend, partner, wife, etc.

In South Beach, on New Years Eve, you have to pay to reserve a table.  The fellow I spoke to paid $250 to reserve a table at a restaurant in South Beach.  Not even on the beach, or even facing the fireworks, or even a top end restaurant.  Just for a regular restaurant and having the honor of then paying for a meal.

Monday 17 January 2011

Life on a Miami Beach: Day 4

This morning, we actually slept in. I was the first one up and went across the street on a coffee run. McDonalds coffee really isn't all that bad, and it is much better than the in room coffeemaker.

We took today as a relaxation day. We went for a walk around the neighbourhood, picked up some postcards and went for a walk on the beach.

After a lunch of sandwiches, we put the Turtle down for a nap and I took the Toad to the beach.

An afternoon of watching a movie on the Disney channel, a trip to the grocery store for tomorrows lunch and some veggies and we called it a day.

A few observations:

  • People, especially men, should not wear thongs to the beach. This is even more important if the thong wearer has a lot of body hair.
  • Although we now have credit cards with a chip in Canada, I have yet to come across a single credit card machine down here that uses the chip.
  • I was reminded today about the tide, both high, and low. No wonder the water level at the beach seemed to fluctuate from day to day.
  • Yesterday was the first time I have ever heard a person referred to as a 'baby mama', not a girlfriend, partner, wife, etc.
  • In South Beach, on New Years Eve, you have to pay to reserve a table. The fellow I spoke to paid $250 to reserve a table at a restaurant in South Beach. Not even on the beach, or even facing the fireworks, or even a top end restaurant. Just for a regular restaurant and having the honor of then paying for a meal.

Friday 14 January 2011

Life on a Miami Beach: Day 3

We got up early this morning all bight eyed and bushy tailed. Actually, we didn't. We stayed in bed until the kids woke us. Once we got up, we ate, got dressed and went back out to catch the 120 bus again, for another quick tour though Miami Beach and across the MacArthur Causeway, getting off on the other side of the causeway from the Miami Children's Museum.

It was a long walk around and under the causeway to the museum. All-in-all I was impressed by the museum. In the time we spent there, the Toad rushed from one area to another to see it all. She didn't spend much time sitting still. There was a 'Main Street' area with a bank, doctor/dentist office, and a grocery store. A vet clinic, fire station and a really cool dinosaur area. The dinosaurs were electronic, in other words, they moved.
We met a friend of mine at the museum, with his kids. It was great to be able to mix a little bit of work into my vacation.
We left the museum, hopped on the 120 bus back to the hotel so the Turtle could have a nap. The Toad and I went to the beach before dinner and played in the water some more. This time watching for 'big blue balloons'.
We headed back to the grocery store before dinner, picked up some nachos, salsa and looked at easy lunch options for Sunday. We also picked up two bottles of 'Little Penguin' wine to take on the cruise with us. No point in paying for wine when I am allowed to bring my own.
After a dinner of leftover pasta with melted cheese on top, we put the kids to bed and relaxed in front of the TV. Something that never happens at home.
Night.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Life on a Miami Beach: Day 2

Got up this morning with thoughts of shrimp.  Not the two we brought with us, they're always on my mind.

We headed down to the Bayside shopping district of Miami.  We took the bus to get there, which I looked up on the Miami-Dade transit site, which exclusively uses Google Transit to plot your trip.  It was fairly accurate as to when buses run, but not that accurate as to what buses actually run.  We were looking for the 119 to get us to our destination.  (Only one bus, which was great.)  Never did see a 119, we did on the other hand find a 120 Beach MAX, which I later discovered to mean it is the equavalent of an express bus, meaning it skips a large number of stops that other buses will service.

The trip on the bus costs $2 per person.  That worked out to $4 each way, or about 1/10th the cost of a cab ride.  (I called around first.)  And, I learned something.  While in Ottawa, it is fairly common to see children in a backpack carrier, it is completely unknown in Miami.  Everyone who saw the Turtle in the backpack marvelled at what a really neat idea it was, and of course how cute he is.  That got us talking to some of the other passengers on the bus.  Children are a great ice breaker.

One lady we met on the bus told us of a better way to get where we were going called the MetroMover.  It's a raised unmanned wheeled bus/train like system that runs throughout the downtown area of Miami.   Did I mention that it is free to take?   And really, really cool.   In fact, it would really work well in Ottawa.

Once we got to the Bayside area, right beside the arena that the Miami Heat play in, we wandered right past Bubba Gump Shrimp.  You know, like the Forrest Gump movie.  We talked with the store staff (It's both a store and restaurant) and decided to come back and eat after poking around a bit.  (Yeah, like there was any doubt.  (The Toad loves shrimp.)

We quickly found the Disney store and only picked up a few things for next Christmas.  PJs, and a jogging suit.  A few stores later and we ended up in the GAP.  Wanna guess how many fleece items they had in their clearance area?  Quite a few.  Speaking of warm weather wear, the Toad noticed today that people weren't wearing jackets.  Probably because it was close to 30C with the humidity.

We picked up some cute items at GAP, and found me some clip-on sunglasses and headed for lunch.  This was one of the challenging lunches.  How to deal with the 4 year old eating shrimp, while the 1 year old we haven't allowed to have shellfish sits on the other side of the table?  We kept them separated and hoped for the best.  And everyone washed their hands very, very well.  So far, no issues.

After lunch we picked up a few things in the gift shop, the Toad spent her money on a ride on a carosel, and bought some silly bands.

We hopped back on the MetroMover and headed back for dinner.  We did get a little lost and got on the wrong one, but a quick realization along with a Russian family who did the same thing, and we were back on route.  Traffic was much worse getting home, but the bus did drop us off a whole block from our hotel.

When we got back, we put the Turtle down for a nap, the Toad played with her Leapster and we had dinner.  After dinner, I took the Toad our for daily visit to the beach. 

The wind had been up all day, and had blown a lot of kelp into shore, and some interesting looking blue balloons.  I'm glad I spotted them before the Toad.  I was thinking I recognized them, and it turns out that I was right.  I pointed them out and asked her not to touch them, even if other adults/kids did.  They were Portugese Man O Wars.  Rather toxic.  Quite painful.  Never heard a warning about them though.  Again, glad I spotted them first.

The Toad was also amazed by the planes that lost their flags.  In translation, that would be planes towing advertising banners behind them.  And I was surprised by two things: how crowded the grocery store was at 9:00pm, and there is such a need for a kosher vodka that they have advertisements everywhere for L'Chaim Kosher Vodka.

We finished the night with the Turtle sleeping in the bathroom, and the Toad in the bed, and us flaked out watching some TV and sleeping on the uncomfortable pull-out bed.

Night.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Life on a Miami Beach: Day 1

So far, this trip has been eventful.  Let's recount the events so far:

We flew into Fort Lauderdale last night (Dec 28, as this isn't getting posted until we return from the trip), the flight was uneventful, aside from the capitan singing to us at random intervals.  (Much appreciated, and I seem to think I may have flown with him before.  I love Westjet.) 

We picked up our baggage, met the shuttle (Fort Lauderdale Shuttle Inc).  I recommend them, but don't recommend using their website to book anything.  It accepted my booking, but never actually 'placed' the order, making for much confusion the morning of the flight when I called to confirm.  They did offer free car seats (usually a $15-25 charge each at other shuttle places) and they were the least expensive compared to the other shuttle companies I got quotes from.

The driver and her fiance were great.  She had most of her facts about the area backwards/confused, and he had no problem correcting her.  It was very amusing for me.  Having been a local cop, he knew a lot about the area.

We got to our hotel (Crystal Beach Suites and Health Club) and checked in.  Nothing eventful.  Got the crib, pulled out the sofa bed and listened to the Turtle scream and cry because of how over tired he was.  We ended up in bringing him to bed with us, where I sang a few rounds of the 2 songs I could think of.  'I've been working on the Railroad' and 'Skin-a-marinky dinky dink'.  Wouldn't you know that it put him to sleep.

This morning I got up, got dressed, took the Toad to the grocery store with me and picked up groceries for a few days.  We returned to have breakfast and plan the day.  Our first stop was the beach.

Wow.

The beach is literally about 60 meters from the front door of the hotel.  And the sand is white, and it has very blue water.  And it had two people sleeping on it.  They were either homeless or drunk, or both.  We avoided them. 

The Turtle loved the sand.  The Toad loved the sand.  There are two rules of this vacation we've decided. 
  1. Everyone needs to listen to Mommy and Daddy.
  2. We need to go to a beach every day.
I wish all of life was that easy.

After playing on the beach, wading in the water and collecting shells and uttering "We still have 13 more days of vacation.  You don't need to keep every shell.", we came in for lunch.  The grocery store (a Publix) is an entire block away.  Maybe the length of a football field.  And they had no fewer than 30 brands/flavours of pasta sauce.  I was overwhelmed.  Who needs that much selection?

After lunch we had some downtime where the Toad played with her Leapster2 (Christmas gift win!) and the Turtle had a much needed nap.  My wife and I planned out the next few days.  Tomorrow is a visit to Miami Bayside, Friday we're going to meetup with Keith and his family at the Miami Children's Museum, and I think that Saturday with be split between the beach and a tour through South Beach.

After our downtime, the Toad and I headed back to the beach for some fun in the sand.  Building walls, digging holes and standing in the surf.  On our way back, I did notice something I'm glad the Toad never noticed.  Two people having sex on the beach while fully clothed and while 'working' at renting beach chairs and umbrellas.  I guess business was slow.

In the morning she had noticed a topless sun bather.  I've previously only experienced them sunbathing face down, not face up.  I'm glad she didn't say something to the lady. She has a habit of doing that.
Before dinner we went for a walk down 71st street, crossed over the inner costal waterway and found a fountain.  On the way back we 'cheated' for dinner and grabbed cheeseburgers for dinner (with carrots and apples and grapes from our suite).  At 59 cents each, it was pretty cheap.   Tomorrow we're having wagon wheel pasta with meat sauce.  I cooked up the ground sirloin tonight.  I do like the way that they mark the fat content on the labels for the ground meat.  Regular (90/10) ground sirloin is 90% meat, 10% fat.  Lean ground sirloin is 93/7.  Not much difference for a ground meat 1/3 more expensive.

The kids are now asleep.  We've just discovered that we get a faint wireless signal from the lobby in our suite, so looking stuff up on the Internet just got much easier.  The Toad has the double bed to herself, the Turtle is sleeping in a cot in the bathroom, and we're going to be on the lumpy sofabed again tonight.  It has me wondering if I can make a bed on the floor out of the sofa cushions.

Night.