First off, let me catch my breath for a second. Phew! I feel like I have been running non-stop since coming back from my sister’s graduation. I started my new job the day after we got back, that has been interesting and very, very exhausting. I feel like I have been run ragged. Not that the job is very hard, but I have had a ton of meetings and more meetings after each meeting. I was in training all day yesterday with Ryan from Space150. I have a much better handle on Microsoft Content Management Server which means that I will finally start to do my job. I also had a meeting with my boss about how we can launch a viewbook with a micro-site, which might involve a blog or two. I put together all my research about blogs this morning, breaking it down by service, cost, etc. It should be interesting to start launching blogs at a school that is really behind making the web their marketing vehicle. Let me think. What else has happened… Oh yeah! We got a new cat. Slideshow His name is Magnus, because he’s huge, he’s a massive cat, compared to the other cats that I have had. I’m sure he’ll be the feature of many a’ blog post. I also went to a Norfolk Tides baseball game. A buddy of mine got tickets to a box from work, so we had a great view. Sky box #9, with free food. It truly is the only way to watch baseball. The Tides lost, but the evening was still enjoyable. I really need to get it together with my camera and a video camera so I can post this stuff online… add that to my list.

I’m working on a couple of posts about my sisters graduation, those should be coming tomorrow. FYI. Today was the first day at my new job and it was a busy one. I got there nice and early and then after getting my office key and laptop, I met with my boss about some of the things I need to do to get started. While it was most of the things that I had thought about, it was amazing to find out all of the department and program heads that I will have to work with. The list came out to be between 7 and 10, which is going to make for a lot of meetings in the next 30 days. There are two very interesting things about William and Mary:

1. The division of resources is quite incredible. The School of Business has its own marketing department, its own IT department, its own HR person. This on one hand makes for a very efficient new hiring, but integration across campus is difficult. This was evidenced today in a meeting with IT. The Marketing and Communications of the School of Business (MarComm) has its own intranet, but it is neither elegant nor fully functional. This meeting with IT was to discuss using the College IT’s portal, provided by Luminus , to create an “intranet” for admitted MBA students. This is an excellent idea, but the implementation is going to be very difficult. School of Business has its own login, separate from the rest of the College, and the School of Business has its own calendaring software that isn’t immediately able to integrate with the rest of the College.
2. MarComm is responsible for only marketing to potential students. This is good because it allows for my department to focus on getting quality students into the programs that are provided, but it does feel like there are silos being created all the time. “That isn’t our responsibility,” is something that I think I’m going to hear a lot, which at time will be very frustrating, but at other times, could be excellent. This might cause me a little concern because while I know I have been hired to manage the website, I know that the website extends beyond the pure marketing part.

I am back on a PC, which is okay… only okay. I am working to get it all setup and get my personal productivity system setup. I am looking at David Allen’s GTD Outlook plug-in, but I don’t know if I’m ready to drop $70 yet. I will try and blog about my sister’s graduation tomorrow, but we will see how much work I get done tonight and tomorrow.

Yesterday was my last day at CNU. It was busy, it was strange, it was oddly liberating. I had a crud load of work to get done before I was officially gone. I had to get my check out sheet signed, have my exit interview, go to another farewell lunch (not mine, another co-worker), and that was all before I actually got to work. When I arrived, I had several people wanting me to get last minute edits made. Ugh, that was trying. I really wanted to tell those people what was in my mind, unfortunately, those comments are not something I want my mother reading (Hi Mom!). I spent most of the afternoon wandering around the campus trying to say goodbye to everyone that I have worked with in the past, but I soon realized that I would have to spend a couple of days to really reach everyone, and frankly I didn’t want to spend a few days doing that, that would have meant more time than I could have spent. Sorry if I didn’t get around to you. So today, I went around to Human Resources at my new job and I have my new id card, parking pass and all the paperwork to show that I am gainfully employed. It was a busy day, time with human resources, finishing chores and then finally catching a flight to Kansas City. The flight wasn’t direct, it was through Atlanta, but both flights were smooth and I think it finally time to retire for the evening.

Any comments or views about Christopher Newport University are purely my own and do not represent the thoughts or sentiments of the administration, staff, faculty or students of CNU.

D9 5A DC 79 D2 7C 72 02 00 C3 BF E0 7A 16 4B DC You are probably wondering what that random configuration of numbers and letters means. I don’t blame you. A week ago, a string of similar characters was released onto the internet. Those characters were the key to decrypting the digital right management on HD-DVD discs. I don’t know how you do it, and I wouldn’t care to elaborate, that would be breaking the DMCA. So again, you are thinking, “What’s up with your random string of numbers and letters?” That, dear reader, is my 128-bit encryption key. Ed Felton, Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs at Princeton University, on his blog has created a script that generates a 128-bit key that you can own. The idea stems from the fact that the AACS-LA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Authority) claims to own a 128-bit key. Ed Felton, genius that he is, thought that if everyone owns all possible 128-bit character combination, then no other company could ever claim to own a number again. Genius! My key will be released for anyone to use under the Creative Commons Share alike with attribution. So if you want to use it, you must: let others use the same key, you must also say that it is my key, and you can never charge for it. Get your very own key at Ed Felton’s blog.

• Cleaning Frenzy
  2 hours of crazy intense cleaning condensed in to 15 seconds.
  (tags: cleaning clean timelapse)

Click To Play

With the job hunt, I have been very stressed out and I know for a fact that I am a stress eater. Why haven’t I posted my fitblogging stats? Well, they haven’t been that great, but now that I’m back on track. My weight for this week was 174. No “point one” or “point four”, just a solid 174. That means my total weight loss is 18 pounds. Esther and I have started our vegetarian lifestyle, which I know helped this week, meat is hight in points anyway. I have also tried really hard at work to not sneak a treat or two or four, which is much easier now that every on know that I’m leaving and that everything is starting to fall into place. The vegetarian food has been very good, a big shift from a turkey sandwich everyday. I have been bringing containers of frozen veggies to work, heating them up and adding a pinch of salt. I guess if you’re vegetarian you should really learn to like vegetables, right? The next weekend is going to be difficult. Esther and I are flying to Kansas City to attend my sister’s graduation so we will not have access to an accurate scale and there is bound to be a lot of dining out. I know Esther will help keep me inline.

This afternoon I took sometime off from work to meet with my new boss. After nearly forgetting my checkbook, for direct deposit, and my passport and SSN card, for identification, I made it to the campus of the College of William and Mary. It was not easy to find parking, apparently the Queen is coming, so most of the normal parking was blocked off, probably for security’s sake. I filled out the requisite paperwork, W-4, VA-4, personnel information, all of which is rote now. After the paperwork was done, I finally got a chance to meet with my new boss. I didn’t really know what to expect, so I came up with a list of goals that I thought would be applicable, even though I had no idea what I was walking into. My list was solid and after going over her goals, I found that I right on with my guesses. It was also conveyed to me that out of several applicants I had the best mix of the three qualities that are needed in the position (even if it isn’t true, that will be my framework), but that I needed to work on my presentation skills. That is fine for me because I have really never had a chance to present. She said that she wants me to work with an MBA professor who teaches presentation skills. That combined with the training that she wants to me to get for the CMS says that this is definitely a long-haul position. I guess this position means that I am the master of my own (sub)domain.

Short-timers disease
Stay focused on the work
New job, here I come!