March 18, 2025, 07:34:28 AM

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - summy670x

Pages: [1] 2 3
1
The Lounge / Re: IT Schooling
« on: March 28, 2013, 12:05:50 PM »
Hey I'm hourly still, i just get paid for 40 hrs a week no matter what I work ^^  I guess there is good and bad to that...

I'm in the Chicago region, work at a company with >10,000 employees as a network engineer.  I used to work in a different field until I realized I couldn't do it long term, so I went back to school and finished my degree with an IT focus.  Keep plugging away and you will eventually break in...  Starting out in IT is BRUTAL.  As previously mentioned, you'll start in a job making ~30k doing help desk and basic troubleshooting...  Have a can-do attitude in this position and ask for more responsibility (get exposure to more products).  Get at least an associates degree, work on certifications, and buy some equipment to learn on at your house.  You will eventually break into the "big leagues" and things progress from there.  Also everyone and their mother is trying to break into IT so that makes it rough as well.

2
The Lounge / Re: I'm Steve Jobs!
« on: March 27, 2013, 03:51:03 PM »
Quote from: Ebush on March 27, 2013, 02:06:59 PM
Everyone talks crap about Iphones..but ive never had a problem out of mine. I sometimes feel oldschool with my iPhone 3, but why upgrade when it still looks new, has awesome battery life, and has never failed me. Ive had my iPhone 3 since a few months before the 4 came out, since then the 5 has came out and there will probably be a 6 soon. I honestly dont think ill even upgrade.

Ive never had an iPhone using friend bring a charger to my house (or use my charger), but every single one of the Droid users bring their charger and plug it in when they arrive.

Battery life can vary based on use and what you do with your phone.  If you don't play games, aren't on social media, turn screen brightness down, i bet your phone would go a week.  I tend to be what I'd call a power user, and my phone lasts a full day unless it's searching for service or I play too much bad piggies... Once a phone goes 12 - 16 hours, it's a moot issue as I can charge it overnight ^^  (FWIW i have a Galaxy S3)

3
The Lounge / Re: IT folks... Training boot camp?
« on: March 27, 2013, 08:05:14 AM »
Quote from: digitalsolo on March 26, 2013, 01:01:37 PM
FWIW, I do multi-area OSPF, BGP, ACLs, VRF, MPLS, etc. every day at work (actual engineering, not just support).   I can do binary based advanced subnetting in my head pretty well, so I don't think they can throw much at me on that one.    I will have to look into separating the tests, though I've heard that you end up with less time on the advanced stuff that way.

I honestly think I could probably cram for a couple weeks on their specific stuff in my free time and pass the CCNA, but I figure the course might pickup some of the more fine grained specifics that they'll test on that I might miss in a DIY manner.

Yeah I kinda figured on your experience, it just seems that real world and testing/studying is different some times.  I took both tests and had no issues with time, if you know the material, time shouldn't be an issue either way so I wouldn't stress on that.  You should get a good laugh out of the "advanced" stuff on the CCNA either way :)  Again, the courses are good if you don't have a lot of motivation to study on your own time, and it isn't a horrible idea if it's free anyways...  I just tend to think I get more stuff done on my own.

4
The Lounge / Re: IT folks... Training boot camp?
« on: March 26, 2013, 11:49:11 AM »
I just took the CCNA test, let me know if you want advice on what to study...

I'd also recommend breaking up the test into the CCENT (ICND1), then ICND2..

ICND 1 - basic subnetting, basic questions, you should take this test immediately

ICND 2 - more advanced subnetting, ACL's, basic RIP/OSPF (only one area for OSPF) routing, etc.

I finished my schooling before doing my testing so I was in the same boat as you.  I do >CCNA regularly, but still felt that I should study before going through with the testing.  Testing and real world seem very different :p

I did the boot camps while going through school, and got frustrated as they seemed to cater to the yahoo's in class who don't know the difference between an iPad and a layer 2 device...  The classes are good for forcing you to study as you go along though ^^

5
The Lounge / Re: Tax return
« on: February 22, 2013, 09:39:29 AM »
Quote from: digitalsolo on February 21, 2013, 01:16:14 PM
I make okay money here, but if I moved 2 hours south to Indianapolis, I'd probably make 30-40k more than I make now doing the same job.   So figure another 50k in California is about right, which is where I'm estimating 80-90k.    I'm one of the engineers for a complex regional health network, responsible for 6 campuses with 10 hospitals + 150 physicians offices.

I am definitely underpaid currently, but I work somewhere I enjoy, so I can't complain.

No amount of money (ok everyone has a number...) can make up for a good workplace/benefits/quality of life at work.  The group I work with is awesome, the upper management is making me look elsewhere...


On topic...   I noticed $30 off my weekly check starting around January with what I believe is the payroll tax, and I expect my healthcare costs to go up shortly.  I also live in Illinois where I expect them to institute a tax to breath the air shortly.

Regarding healthcare costs as previously mentioned, you can negotiate the bill if you pay cash (no insurance) to close to what insurance companies pay.  It only makes sense that institutions would have contracts with insurance companies to standardize payments.

6
The Lounge / Re: network guys come on in :)
« on: November 15, 2012, 01:48:30 PM »
Quote from: digitalsolo on November 15, 2012, 01:26:41 PM
Quote from: Mtalon on November 15, 2012, 01:11:16 PM
Judging by the fact he said he needs to free up 50 IP's for printers I do not think its all off of 1 switch  :punch:

Sounds like a pretty big infrastructure to be working with. Changing the subnets after the network is functioning might have some serious side effects.

Best of luck to you!

Unless he has a dedicated switch for just printers, I think you can assume there are either VLANs, or an entirely layer 2 infrastructure.   BTW, I said switches, not switch.   I'd hope most people would be separating disparate networks that cross the same bridges with VLANs.   ;)

And yes, 50 printers is not a big infrastructure.  We have ~40k copper and ~10k fiber switch ports in my current infrastucture, easily 1000+ printers.   That's a somewhat large infrastructure, but I'd still consider us relatively small overall.

Yeah, it all depends on what you're used to seeing when you mention big/small infrastructure.  I deal with ~8500 separate locations nationwide that each have 10+ printers (guessing, honestly can't track it).  I'd like to think it's one of the larger retail networks in the USA, but I have no way of verifying that.  Opening up 50 IP's is a simple /26 chunk out of that 10.x.x.x anyways

7
The Lounge / Re: network guys come on in :)
« on: November 15, 2012, 01:18:13 PM »
Quote from: Mtalon on November 15, 2012, 01:11:16 PM
Judging by the fact he said he needs to free up 50 IP's for printers I do not think its all off of 1 switch  :punch:

Sounds like a pretty big infrastructure to be working with. Changing the subnets after the network is functioning might have some serious side effects.

Best of luck to you!

50 IP's is not a big infrastructure  ;)

8
The Lounge / Re: network guys come on in :)
« on: November 15, 2012, 10:47:53 AM »
Do you have visio or can you make something and share it via google docs?

A basic layout with the main wiring clearly laid out would help with anyone assisting you.  Devices with model #'s (you mention a wireless router, not 100% certain what it is, etc).  We don't need end devices, just the core pieces of hardware.  Then give us networks and subnet masks for the subnets  (main, wireless, printers, etc). 

9
The Lounge / Re: help with Chrome!
« on: May 09, 2012, 12:52:25 PM »
We should have a thread dedicated to IT members on here :p  I take it some work in school districts??  I'm guilty of that as well :)  We're implementing VM's this summer, trying to avoid BYOD at all costs as most of our users have trouble with their district provided equipment..lol  ~6k students  8-900 staff members

10
The Lounge / Re: Chuck Norris Jokes
« on: April 11, 2012, 10:10:16 AM »
Chuck Norris actually lives in a Round House

11
The Lounge / Re: Opinions please.
« on: March 31, 2012, 03:17:06 AM »
You'll never get money from her, but you can probably make her spend the money on something she doesn't want to.  If your city/area has leash laws, they can ticket her for the infractions.  Wait until she has the dog unleashed again and call the police.  They can cite her, and you may get some satisfaction out of it without her losing the dog.  Either way that sucks...

12
The Lounge / Credit Card Breach
« on: March 30, 2012, 01:50:30 PM »
My wife and I recently got sent brand new credit cards, way before our old ones were set to expire.  Thinking this was odd, we called up and they mentioned "fraudulent activity" even though there was no record on any statement of anything to this nature.  Our old cards were turned off by them, and we were instructed to destroy them and only use the new cards, and they suggested we change our PIN's.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/03/mastercard-visa-warn-of-processor-breach/

Now I read this and understand why they've done this.  Come to find out there was quite a few (millions) that had their data breached.  Make sure you guys check your statements VERY carefully.  Seems like quite a few people are saying they were sent cards in a similar fashion, and not alerted as to why they actually were.  Just great....  I can't believe they wouldn't tell us this information on the phone!

13
The Lounge / Re: VW TDI Reliability
« on: March 28, 2012, 10:07:28 AM »
Stay far away from the older body style auto's...  I also heard people were having problems with the newer automatics, and then VW raised the mileage on the warranty for the DSG trans to I think 100k.  I'd stick to a manual tdi either way.  Everything I've heard points to the motor outlasting the car, I seriously looked into getting one of these before buying my Civic.  Only reason I bought the Civic is the price premium on the TDi didn't pay itself off in the timeline I was going to keep the car.

14
The Lounge / Re: My washer died...
« on: March 19, 2012, 03:52:56 PM »
Quote from: cool on March 19, 2012, 12:07:53 PM
Quote from: screamin88 on March 18, 2012, 10:11:08 AM
Yeah... just make sure you leave the door open after washing to let that shit out and air dry... wipe the seal down often with bleach and run the bleach clean cycle like once every 4-6weeks.. I've had my front loaders for 4 years not a single issue and really does a great job on the clothes.

This is key advice.

+2   I've had my front loaders for 2 1/2 years now and the seal is still great.... after bitching at my wife a little to remember to OPEN the door right after the wash is done and leave it open for a bit.  I'd prefer it this way with either type as I think it helps to cut down on mold.  We also always add bleach to whites so that keeps that a regular occurence.

15
The Lounge / Re: Having a baby...
« on: February 24, 2012, 03:50:25 PM »
best wishes!  I get to deal with this in 1 1/2 months  8)

Pages: [1] 2 3