Tag: competition

5 Minute Fixes and 2 Dollar Steaks

tonytow tony hunt gets angsty

Some things just absolutely tick me off.

I’ve always prided myself on my dedication to being the best I can be in my arena. Don’t get me wrong, there are PLENTY of people that know more than I do regarding IT…but there aren’t so many that when we meet, that we don’t recognize the need to network. I only do pc support for locals, they visit, bring their machine, sometimes a bottle of wine, and I hack on their stuff in spare time…it keeps me on my game, it’s never the same, and it’s basically it’s great to meet locals.

Sometimes you think its only a 5-minute fix…

Humility licks in for me when you’re 3 tiers and over 100 hours into a technical issue with Dell’s best people helping, and the the guys got enough knowledge that we compare training and knowledge to see where we need to brush up, and immediately swap contact information so we can pick each others brains without red tape, and of course compliment the guy for being committed to the solution. There aren’t many of us around…it’s not an age thing, its the caliber of training and whether or not you actually applied it.

Hell, the guy before me that passed the buck we’re working on now wouldn’t even touch the work, he billed more than me, ran completely unnecessary diags (with dated diagnostics – I found the logs), and shrugged his shoulders and left. If he’d spend 5 minutes listening to the client, he’d have known the hard drive was dying and the laptop was still under warranty. But that wasn’t the real problem either, and now because the rest is proprietary, I’ll just say that it’s nice being at the top, and pretty fun knowing that those now 20+ year old skills are still more effective than the overpaid support monkey trying to act like they are competition.

Yes, I am working at 2am…because it needs to be done before tomorrow so I don’t have scheduling issues.

Yes, this kind of thing normally takes 5 minutes…but then, sometimes things are tougher than a two-dollar steak and you still have to eat it.

The competition wonders why people come to me over them…it’s because it’s 2am and I am working.

…and I have somehow learned to love a two-dollar steak.

–micdrop–




The River…

Stupid Kids and Stupid Dares…

We all started out as gutsy kids trying to prove ourselves to our friends and be the better in competition etc. Well when I was little, i liked swimming…alot…so much so that at 12 I was capable of most maneuvers and skills in advanced life saving despite being 6 years short of eligibility for it…

So…if you ever hear me say, “This water can take you out, swim this direction and start near this area. Otherwise the undertow might get you.” I would expect you to listen. But of course, I was only 12, and the kids around me had to see who was the most courageous. So after everyone got done daring, it was decided that everyone would dive in at the same time and swim close to a dangerous area. Well…except me, as apparently the 12 year old wasn’t big enough to go.

So they all lined up and dove off the dock into the water below. And as I figured, four of the kids realized they were being stupid and came back…but one guy wanted to be a tough one. So he went out to the hot spot and deliberately dumped his buoyancy…and immediately also started moving away with the current. Now the rest of the guys were all screaming for him to come back but wouldnt get out there to help him.

Into the water goes the 12 year old going after the guy twice his size crying his guts out and starting to dip under because he couldn’t remember just to stop freaking out.

Ever carried around a 100 pound sack of anything for 20 yards? Try swimming with one.

It took me twenty minutes to get back because the dolt wouldn’t stop freaking out and I wasn’t big enough to knock sense into him.

Now, was I scared? Yes…shitless. Was i confident in my ability? Not at all, but no one else was willing. Was the kid grateful? Not in the least, as a matter of fact he was so pissed off at the event that he beat me up two days later for implying that he could have handled things better.

@#$%ing moron. Luckily, I don’t remember ever having to deal with him again after that either.




It is amazing…

…just how much you can change your life in just one week.

It’s that step in the right direction, -you know- the one that you recognize to actually be a a hundred steps and and even few for mankind in general. Yeah THAT one kind of step.

You start seeing a destination and plans manifest within a strong sense of clarity.

…and you think you just might be able to live happy. That’s what it’s all about right?

Some people are all about travel, or making the biggest ball of twine, or eating the most hot dogs.

Me, I am going to be content with kids and a wife/girlfriend that won’t draw a knife across my throat while I am asleep. You might think I am joking. I’m not – it happened.

There’s more, the financial stability to be a family, and at the very least give my mom the opportunity to be a grandmother.

I want to cook for lots of people, but on my own terms…

When I talk about it here, it just sounds like I’m daydreaming but what I’ve actually planned and laid out is a real process by which I just might be able to pull off having my own little patch of happy.

…and all the time there is even more confidence in knowing I am very likely not going into this adventure alone.

I know I am being one of those guys I bitch about all the time…the master of vague generalities, but the truth is the scope of this plan includes some pretty proprietary ideas that might just create competition and…well…c’est la vie. 😉