I was perusing my old posts and saw my Thanksgiving turkey from 2009 so I decided I'd dig up a pick of the one from 2010. The big joke was that it had been in the sun too long wearing a string bikini. Everyone raved about the flavor....as I remember I did the least to it that time. I also think is was a Giant brand rather than the standard Butterball.

It's been awhile. I haven't been on here in a little over a year which is about the same amount of time I've been working at PPL.  So much has happened since my last post....I'll start with the job situation.  My stint at Schuylkill Medical Center lasted a little less than two months.  I really enjoyed the job and the people.  The only real drawback was that it took me about 1hr and 10mins to commute each way.  But I was doing ok with it because I enjoyed getting up each day, getting in the car, stopping for a coffee (to enjoy on the long journey) and heading to a job I liked (and a place I was appreciated).

But one early spring day I received a phone call from someone from ComputerAid asking if I was still interested in a position I had last discussed shortly before Christmas.  I had gotten the impression that there was a position open at that time but it had been filled by a contractor already working inside PPL but for another contracting firm.  I had put it out of my mind and figured it just wasn't meant to be and accepted the offer at Schuylkill.  But now the offer was thrown back at me.....I could cut my commute down to 1/3 what it was and I could opt to be paid hourly and be eligible for OT pay.

I truly struggled with the decision because I was really starting to feel like I was part of the little group out the in Pottsville.  There were many challenges ahead of me - I was the "interface guy" there.  No one really had any experience with supporting interface engines - it was all hosted and "supported" by the vendor.  I say "supported" because one of the issues they were dealing with was a vendor who didn't seem to fully understand the impact of having one or more critical interfaces unavailable.  I sensed a tremendous opportunity for growth for both my career and the hospital as well.

I waited about two days before laying the news on my boss, the CIO.  Karen - if you even stumble upon this - know that I am sincere when I say that I struggled and felt horrible that I was leaving you guys after such a short time.

But just as I believed that "things happen for a reason" when I was hired in Pottsville - I thought the same had to apply in the case of PPL.

So I've worked there since sometime around mid-April of 2010.  I have met many nice people and generally enjoy the work I do.  I'm back to UNIX admin after a few years of focusing on interface development at Lehigh Valley Hospital.  But what makes it interesting for me is the technologies at PPL that I only dreamed about at LVH.  New servers attached to SAN storage....linux servers - both physical and virtuals....DR procedures that actually work.....lots of good stuff.

So I guess I'll wrap it up for this post.  Not because that's all that happened in a year but because I'm getting tired of typing and if I'M tired I can only imagine if anyone is reading this, how he/she feels.!