Email Server Move Cancelled - For Now

Well, apologies for the email system being down for the last 24 hours.  In short, I was hoping to move the flaming email server from one of my hosts to another and the move has been giving me grief.

So, after the fourth failure, I terminated the move and brought everything back online.  Until I figure out why the grief on the move, it'll remain up...and I'll warn everyone next time.

Also, during the down time (about 24 hours), no data was lost and all incoming email was stored so nothing was dropped.

Computer Updates

Well....the mail server move goes slowly....(as my funds and resources are limited, I cannot afford a super fast data center).  It is about 95% through the move right now.  It timed out earlier due to the slow host I'm moving it from...so hopefully it will not do so again (as I can only hit retry).

Dad's computer is looking much better as well.  I was able to import the image backup into a virtual machine, tweak on the settings a bit, and then get the system to load up.  Again, thank goodness I have a MacBook Pro - and VMware Fusion to create a virtual machine and dump the image backup of the system into it so I can tweak on it virtually without messing up the hard drive.
☺

I've been cleaning it up and updating the OS with patches and all the apps with their respective updates.  To do this, I've been using Secunia and CCleaner by Piriform (short for "Crap Cleaner").  Secunia updates all of the non-Microsoft (and MS apps as well) apps in much the same manner as Windows Updates does - but better!

And CCLEANER removes all of the "crap" left over from updates, runs, etc.

I love technology....but I love it even better when it just works!  I guess this is why I have a Mac!

Flaming Computer Work

Well...the Flaming family email server is down for the moment while I move it to another host. I had moved it to a separate host last week while working on some lab stuff but it's poor performance demands I put it back.

So, please be patient while it is moved back to it's original host.  It should be done in a couple of hours.


In the mean time, I'm attempting to repair my Dad's laptop - turns out something hosed up the drive partitions.  Fortunately, I was able to get in and backup all of the data (so it seems).  Right now, I'm attempting to restore the backup of the data to a virtual machine so I can work at repairing it and then image that repaired virtual machine back over to the original hard drive.

All repairs are underway....but just moving slowly.  Thank goodness I run a Mac!  ;-)

Anyways, please be patient while repairs/maintenance is in progress.

Thanks!

A Darn Good Club (Sandwich)

I (and others) keep telling my coworker, Travis, he needs to do his own Blog on Club Sandwiches. This is because everywhere he travels, he eats a club sandwich - at least once (provided it's not $50 or more like at the downtown San Francisco Hilton hotel).

In his honor, I took this picture (below) of an excellent club sandwich at Harrison Roadhouse in Lansing, MI while having lunch there on the 8th of April with coworkers.

Doesn't this thing look awesome!!?? Now this is a club sandwich!

Oh! And not to worry, it tasted just as good as it looked!

For a complete list of their sandwiches, see the Harrison Roadhouse menu.

Cat Napping

So, as I sit here in my house with a big-time cold on this absolutely gorgeous weekend in Seattle, I can't help but be envious of my cat (Cleo) and how she can relax and make a simple patch of carpet look comfortable.

Don't you wish you could be this relaxed??

My Best "Call of Duty - Modern Warefare 2" Game

Figured I would post this one for all of the nephews.

It's always fun when you win! :-D

A Kindred Coffee Spirit

I was at a customer yesterday in Michigan and saw this cubicle sign.
I felt connected somehow... ;-)

Don & Gail Travel Update 3/22/2010

Hello to All

It’s been a few weeks since our last e-mail and I thought it would be good to bring everyone up to date.

After leaving Texas we spent a week in Las Cruces, and Old Mesilla, NM. revisiting favorite places and visiting new ones. Then on into Arizona where we met with some old high school friends and spent several days in the desert outside of Wickenburg, AZ., exploring old ghost towns, gold mines and panning for gold.

After leaving Wickenburg we meet up with my brother, his wife, and friends in Lake Havasu, AZ area for a couple of days where the desert was beginning to pop!
 

Leaving the Lake Havasu area we headed for California once again. In California we traveled up Hwy 395 (the back side of the Sierra Nevada) which Gail had done many times as a child on vacations with her parents and family. We stopped in Klamath Falls for a few days where old friends from our ServiceMaster days came over from Central Point to spend a few days.  We enjoyed the Lava Beds National Monument in northern California together, and we had great fun exploring some of the lava tubes and Modoc Indian war sights.
 

Our first days back into Oregon were sunny and lovely but very cold in the mornings.  And this morning we woke up to several inches of snow!  We’ll be on our way to Gail’s brother and wife's place for a few days soon, where we hope to get in on the lambing process due to begin any day now.  Won’t be long now before we will be back in Portland again.  It’s been a good four and a half months.
 

Love to all,  Mom and Dad aka Don and Gail

My Wife's Sense of Humor...

So, my wife is off to visit friends for the weekend and takes my (new) car because her's needed some work. But since I needed some wheels to get around while she's out of town, she got me a loaner car for the weekend....

The guy working at the local Starbuck's said the Big Smiley Face Bubble Car, “Looks Hot on you!” :-/

Thanks Hon! Now all I need is a little fluffy dog!

Flaming Family Server Upgrades

This past weekend we went through the process of backing up and upgrading our primary server from Citrix XenServer 4.1 to a VMware ESX version 3.5!

All primary Flaming Family servers are currently up and accessible!

Why did we do this? Well...the license was expiring on the primary server and it was WAY more expensive than we could afford.

Any additional questions can be directed to Support.



Details:

• We backed up the existing virtual machine servers using UltraBac UBDR Gold 4.0.
  


• We replaced the virtual server host operating system.
  Existing virtual server host operating system is Citrix XenServer 4.1.
  New virtual server host operating system will be VMware ESX 3.5.
  
  
  


• All incoming email was stored by No-IP and made available as soon as the guest virtual machines (VMs) were loaded on to the new virtual server host operating system.