Okay, Okay...

There has always been this thought in the back of my mind, and here's a little evidence leaning toward it.  I've been cautious to self-diagnose because it's just not something I do, but I scored a 77 on this 24-question test.  Maybe I'll go ask a professional now.

Beth took the quiz and gave answers for me.  She scored an 81.
                

Office Depot FAIL

I went to Office Depot yesterday to pick up a printer for resale.  I figured I could just walk in with my tax certificate, they'd put it on file, and I would walk out with the printer.  No deal, I guess.  I was told I'd have to fill out a form and fax it (seriously?  It's 2010.  I don't have a facsimile.) or send it to headquarters.  In two weeks I'd have a "tax exempt" card I could then present if I needed to get something for resale.

The problem is that my business, however slow it may actually be, still runs a little faster than a two-week turnaround.  Office Depot FAIL.  Amazon.com SUCCEED.  I'll have that printer in tomorrow, at a lower overall cost, even with one-day shipping.  No more trips to Office Depot.  I'll order markers and pens from Amazon if I need to.

                

This is number 500

I just noticed that this blog has had 499 posts so far, which makes this one number 500.  That's a lot of thoughts, but when I really think about it, it's not.  I started this blog in March of 2004.  500 posts over nearly six years doesn't add up to a lot per day.  If you look to the right at the archive, 2005 and 2006 were fairly active years.  That's when I sat at a desk for a good part of the day, and I was learning a lot about my chosen field of work.  I was also upset a lot.

Since then we've been busy.  I'm a 31-year-old American, so I probably should be such.

Now I've forgotten what I sat down to write about.  I guess that will be in #501.

                

Amiss

I recently applied to the city of Loveland, Colorado as the computer support lead.  I remember being excited because it looked as if the position description was written for me specifically.  However, three or four weeks later, I got this:

Thank you for your interest in the Computer Support Technician Group Leader 112-09 position with the City of Loveland. We regret to inform you that you have not been chosen to continue in the selection process at this time.

We know that many applicants would like feedback on why their applications were screened out for further consideration. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we receive we are unable to respond to applicants with specific information.

Really?  Screened out before the first contact?  Sure, there might have been a lot of applicants with different qualifications, but I am fully qualified for the job.  Not partially, not almost, but fully qualified.  I could do the job in 20 hours a week.  It was cake.  It was also $20K more than I make now, and I wanted it.  I even told them I'd pay to move out there.  I will soon forget this, but right now I really want to know why I was immediately screened out.

I feel as if I've been lied to, and it hurts.  Thanks, Loveland, for outsourcing your HR tools and ignoring qualified people. I wish you the best.

                

Dot4usb.sys

I just had an issue yesterday that had me pounding out searches and wizards, trying to figure out how to get some driver files from a Windows XP CD.  It wasn't actually getting them from the CD, but I couldn't figure out where on the disc the files were.  Here's my story, and I hope it helps someone:

The Problem:
I was trying to install an HP LaserJet 1200 on a Windows XP Pro laptop via USB.  No problem, right?  I've never had trouble before.  However, this XP install didn't seem complete because when I put my USB flash drive in, it went through the Add Hardware Wizard.  That almost never happens, especially with XP.

Installing the printer seemed easy enough, but when it came time to copy the driver files to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers, it asked for the XP installation CD.  I finally got around to bringing a CD, and when I popped it in at the requested time, the installation still didn't find Dot4usb.sys.  Time for Google.

The Solution:
Google showed me a few sites that discussed the problem, and one site pointed to a download site to simply get Dot4usb.sys so we could just finish up and go home.  Turns out that the site wanted $19.99 for it.  What a racket!  More Google, please...

I finally stumbled upon some other post somewhere else that led me to believe the file I was looking for was actually in a cabinet file within the I386 folder on the CD.  I recall having looked in there before, so here we go...

Dot4usb.sys actually exists on the CD at \I386\DRIVER.CAB.  It's on every damn XP, Vista, Server 2003, and probably Windows 7 installation disc.  I extracted the file and another one I figured I needed, and all was well.  And to think someone wanted $20 for a free system file.

Also, the thread that lead me to the $20 site was on experts-exchange.com.  That is surprising because Experts Exchange is usually a very reputable site.  I think I found my real answer at tomshardware.com, another very good resource.

I hope that this post, in the archive, can help someone solve a similar problem, or at least remind them that XP might not look in DRIVER.CAB for something that it should otherwise know is there.

                

Studying for the Good of the Land

So I'm in the shop tonight, installing WinServer2K3 to practice on.  I want to be able to test for 70-290 in two weeks.  Mark my words.

I really should have done the MCSE a very long time ago, but things happen - you know?  Moving, college, kids, house, had-to-get-a-real-job, etc.  Now I have decided to curb all of my small dreams and get back to what I really need to be doing - advancing my career.  This state job isn't going anywhere.  That's no one's fault, really - there's just nowhere to move up to.  The state decided to privatize IT, the very place I had my sights on.  So any job I might have been looking to score just disappeared June 1, 2009.

There is only one person above me and I'll never have his job.  He's no longer a techie - it's a political thing now.  I simply have to move on to better things.  I'm not going to pay the bills brewing beer, creating Android apps, developing super-duper web apps, recycling bicycles, or consulting on the side, so I have to go back to school.  The Rehberg Technology Institute, I like to call it.  Right out in the back yard.  And sometimes at the kitchen table.

My goal: to become the CIO in a large firm.  It has to start sometime.

                

I'm Back.

So there's another way to publish to Blogger, and I guess I'll keep it.  I had to switch a few things (actually WAY more than a few), but I have a whole lot more time to get things worked out.  Stay tuned.

The blog feed is now http://feeds.feedburner.com/BenRehberg if you're interested in subscribing.