Category Archives: Just for FUN !!

Today was a blast at Graymere CC, , , it was the annual Tillman Knox Invitational Golf Tournament. The tournament was named after Tillman Knox, one of the best golfers in middle Tennessee for many years. He is 84 now and has been a great ambassador for the game of golf in this area.

Didn’t play all that great but had a super time. Shot 84 and there will probably be days ahead when I wish I could shoot an 84.

More on this later.

It’s Friday and time for a break!!

Here are some of my favorite sidewalk art photos. All of these images are paintings on sidewalks in New York, , , the 3D effects are unbelievable. ENJOY!!

One of my favorites

Looks like a real pool, doesn’t it?

Just a painting on a flat sidewalk surface

No hole, , , just art that looks very real, , , see them avoid the hole?

No water, , , all artwork, , , even the hose and reel

We have one of the best views of any camp on the Buffalo River. Being an “IT Guy”, I rationalized that the reason for the Statue of Liberty in the yard is to prevent the barge ships from running aground as they make the turn at our spot on the river. 🙂

The view

The cabin

Our 100-year old log cabin has lots of character.  What that means is that there are no level floors or square joints to be found, , , old and rustic, , , we love it.

Miss Liberty

Miss Liberty at dawn

Miss Liberty at night

The Point

The Point is one of my favorite places to read, work, eat or to just watch the river.

At work on The Point

Friends and family enjoy The Point

Eddie at Camp Liberty

We enjoy our weekends at Camp Liberty and the time we have with family and friends chilling out. Downtime is good for you from time to time, , , it was far too many years before I realized it.

We jumped into the weekend in full force yesterday by making us up a picnic lunch and heading to Amber Falls Winery, , , about 10 miles from our Camp Liberty.

Jazz musicians sparked up the evening along with dance, good food, and some Amber Falls wine. We learned Judy and Tim (two of the owners who have become friends) were celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary, , , the same number of years Dorine and I have been married, , , we hit 39 years this past December. Dorine went up front and made a public announcement so Tim and Judy could celebrate with a 39th anniversary dance.

Met a couple who were making their first visit to Amber Falls. They are still trying to adjust after 11 years to living in middle Tennessee. When we moved “back home” in 2003, there was no real adjustment, , , we love it here.

The music was ok but not what I would call great. Good musicians, just no real personality to the group.

We had a good time.

This coming Monday is Memorial Day where we celebrate the commitments of those who have fought for our country’s freedom and liberty. Dorine, Eddie, and I will spend it on the Buffalo River at our Camp Liberty, , , appropriately named because we have a 9-foot Statue of Liberty in the yard looking up the river.

When we bought the camp, we initially thought the statue was, , , well, different. Very quickly she started to grow on us and now we wouldn’t move her for anything – part of the character of our camp.

See more photos of Camp Liberty at www.mde.net/liberty

In America, this is one of our major holiday weekends and the launch of summer time, , , swimming pools open, , , vacations begin, , , graduations, , , weddings, , , you name it.

We are thinking we will go have a picnic at Amber Falls, our favorite little winery nearby. If so, I’ll take a photo or two and post onto the BLOG.

Planning to do some work this weekend, , , in the middle of a major writing project and also planning to release an option for my self study program that many have been asking for. The nice thing about Camp Liberty is having wireless through satellite so I can work.

Looking forward to a great weekend with my family and a few friends. Started out right last night with a catfish dinner with Dorine, Eddie, and my 2nd Mom – Miss Sue. Great time.

Be sure you know what they are asking, , ,

When I was an IBM Systems Engineer (SE) in the early 1980’s, I was asked to install a data collection system for time and attendance and other data collection activities in a large hospital.

I had installed several before so my Sales Rep partner asked me to conduct a walk through to plan for this hospital’s new technology installation.

As we enter the hospital, we head down the hallway to where the IT organization resides. We walked by one door with a ramp leading up into the room. The door had a sign that said, “IT Personnel Only” .

I guessed that this door led into the IT organization area and didn’t think too much of it. We continued down the hallway and around a corner to the CIO’s office.

We arrive at the CIO’s office and I meet him, the three of us chatted briefly, and then he asks the Sales Rep a strange question. He asked, “Jim, does Mike know?”

I had worked with Jim for two years and I always knew when he was up to something because of the mischievous chuckle and grin he made. When he laughed at the CIO’s question, I knew there was something going on.

Jim answered, “No, Mike doesn’t know.”

You guessed it, I asked both of them, “What is it that I don’t know?”

There was no response other than an indication I would find out soon enough.

The CIO asked if I wanted to take a tour for my installation planning needs, and we all set off to tour the hospital.

The first stop was to go into the Data Center which was just outside the CIO’s office. As we approach the secured door, I noticed another ramp just like the one I had seen in the hallway leading up into the Data Center.

When we entered, everything looked pretty normal, , , like many other Data Centers I had seen before. This is when the CIO proceeds to tell me , , , the rest of the story.

When the hospital purchased a new mainframe many years ago from a different company, the Sales Rep discussed the physical planning needs for the new mainframe with the former CIO who was there at the time.

One of the requirements was to install a raised floor.

The mistake he made was that he did not ask the former CIO of the hospital if he knew what a “raised floor” was.

Three weeks later the Sales Rep comes back in to check the physical planning progress as he and his company prepare to ship the new mainframe hardware to the hospital.

He was surprised at what he found. In fact, we were told that he didn’t know whether to laugh, be sorry, or disappointed in what had happened. He probably felt all three emotions.

You see, the former CIO not really knowing what a “raised floor” was, ordered a 2-foot slab of concrete to be poured into the Data Center.

He literally raised the Data Center floor, , , which is why they have to have ramps leading up and into the Data Center room.

So, what I learned about what had happened and what I was really seeing in the hospital’s Data Center was that there was a “raised floor” on top of a “raised floor”, , , a raised floor to hide the cables on top of a slab of concrete

The morale of the story, , , Be sure you confirm that the other person understands what you are asking!

a raised floor on top of a raised floor

Do you award the dumbest mistake of the month with a “dead chicken award”? This works well with a younger team.

You’ve seen the rubber chicken that’s all swiveled up and looks dead that they sell at novelty shops – right? They are inexpensive and make a great gag award to the person on your team who makes the dumbest mistake in a month.

The winner gets to hang this “dead chicken” above his cube or outside his office for all to see, , , for a month or until the award is passed onto someone else. No doubt who made the biggest blunder with this little prize floating around.

When I introduce it, I usually award it to myself first, , , for a couple of reasons:
1. I make mistakes just like everyone.
2. I’m part of the team and have to earn that membership.

I mention this award to most of my IT Manager Institute classes. So far, I’ve never had anyone tell me that they know about it.

One class had a little fun with it as you can see by the picture below. Ed O’Kelley from Tennessee awards the “dead chicken award” to Heitor Miguel from Angola AFRICA because he was having trouble understanding just exactly what the “dead chicken award” was all about.

We told Heitor that he might have some explaining to do as he went through airport security.

It’s true – a picture really is worth a thousand words.