Bobbis.net

Yesterday was good. I started revamping the scholarship system here at the ag college. Looking back at the code I wrote a year ago, I realize how much I have learned, especially after playing around with my blog. I am going through to clean up my code and add an administrative feature so they can add / remove scholarships and watch / edit entries as they are submitted. This will give me a lot more free time when time comes to set it up in the fall and to administer the process.

I got the xServe G5 and xServe RAID set up to as far as we can get them today. It takes as much as 18 hours to format a RAID 5 1.5 TB array of 6 disks. I have to say, I have learned a lot about Apple server management today setting this stuff up. Check out what I found in the manual while installing the RAID. I highlighted the monocle popping part with bold:

When you turn on the system, the drives will begin initializing the array. This process will take a number of hours. You can use the default RAID Level 5 array immediately (as the drives are initializing) or delete the preconfigured arrays and configure the drives as you wish.

We decide to wait for the array to initialize before we do anything. There's also an option for RAID 51. Basically, the xServe RAID can handle 2 RAID 5 arrays of 7 disks (14 total), then you can use the Apple Disk Utility on the xServe to RAID the 2 RAIDs to a stripped array of two "disks" (RAID 50) or a mirroring of the two "disks" (RAID 51). Very spiffy. It's still Christmas time here at work.

Yesterday I felt fairly cold most of the day considering what it was like outside. I also had a few unprovoked sneezes throughout the day. My throat is also a little dry from time to time. I hope I'm not coming down with something.

Meri stopped by to borrow $20 so she could make faxes, copies and stuff at the Union while she apparently was taking a break from 4-H activities. I prefer cash when paid back. I don't want to have to run to the bank to get my own money back. Church was nice. There weren't that many people there. Fritz wasn't there so the LoL pastor lead the warship. It felt a little rushed, and she really didn't know the usual way we do things there. After that Colin and I hung out at the UDCC. After getting home around 11:30 I was ready for bed, but since my parents don't have the same sleeping cycle I do, they wanted me to look-up air fare for 3 for the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas so I or all of us could visit my brother. He only gets one day off for each of those holidays. I staid up 'til 1:00 showing them how expensive it is. Pro Tip: Flights out of Moline, IL are dirt cheap.

I found out that the extra money I had in my account was only $22 extra from financial aid payback, and my raise took affect for this time period rather than starting at the beginning of the new academic fiscal year. Yeah!. Also, I guess I did a really good job the past two weeks not spending money. Though that is going to change here pretty soon. Tomorrow I will be buying my extended warranty for my computer. I'm thinking about getting another 512 MB of RAM for my laptop as well. I have been paging like crazy when I'm working really hard. I am also looking at getting an nice office chair for my new computer set-up downstairs. My brother took his chair that I liked so much. I need to get one of my own.

I want to see Fahrenheit 9/11 and Spiderman 2 here pretty soon. I was thinking about perhaps tonight, but I don't know if I'm awake enough to be able to enjoy them tonight. Anyone want to see a movie Friday and / or Saturday night?

Well, this was a long entry. I better get back to work.

EDIT: Sharing an image of my new toys :D