Some Current Events and Random Thoughts

I try and I try, but I just don't seem to be getting much better at keeping up with this thing, do I? I promise I'll try harder. In the meantime, here are some things I've had going on recently.

First, the week before Christmas, I finished off my GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst certification. That means I can make a good pitch to our customers for doing network and computer forensic work. My company is also planning to contact local law enforcement agencies to ask if they'd be willing to outsource some of their computer forensics work to us. That could provide a lot of income for my company, a lot of billable work for me, and it's fun, too.

Second, my parents got me a mandolin for Christmas, along with some books to learn how to play it. I've mentioned my interest in bluegrass music before, and this lead to my wanting to learn to play the mandolin. I was never very interested in learning to play a stringed instrument, but I'm determined to learn how to play the mandolin. I've been able to start practicing with it some, and I'd like to say that I've gained a new and different area of respect for my father, who's been playing the guitar and banjo most of his life. Mandolin is a very difficult instrument to play, and my fingers are already complaining a little about the torture I'm putting them through. As I said, though, I'm determined to learn to play at least passingly well, so I will keep it up. From time to time, I'll try to keep you posted (and if I can figure out how, I might try to post a link to an audio file of me playing, so you can all here how bad I am).

Third, as some of you already know, I realized a personal dream this past weekend and did my 1998 Land Rover Discovery in zebra stripes. I didn't paint it; rather, I used a kit from a New Jersey auto design company comprised of heavy-duty 3M black auto decal material cut into zebra stripes. It actually looks all right, as you can see in the picture below.



I had a zebra-striped Land Rover toy car when I was a kid, and I always thought it was a really cool thing. So I decided to do it to mine. My Disco is already white, so it was perfect to help fulfill my dream. I hope you all like it, as well. So far, the feedback has been pretty good. Kids love it; my kids think it's great, Donovan thinks it's great, and all the kids at Donovan's daycare point and stare with big smiles on their faces when they see it. That alone makes it worth it to me. Nothing like seeing happy children.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year. Perhaps my next post will talk some about my New Year's Resolutions...I need to put them down for posterity.

Thanks for reading along.