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Archives for July 2006

I’m a converter

July 30, 2006 by Aaron

A couple weeks ago, I received a MacBook (Black, 13″, 2ghz, 1gb ram) as a belated Fathers Day gift. And I must say, that using this mac for the past few weeks has really made me a converter. I had been swinging on the PC/Mac fence for a while, and I’ve had a Mac Mini for almost a year now, but I never used it as my main machine.

Now that I’ve been up in the Boundary Waters working on this forest fire incident, I’ve spent most of my computer time using my new MacBook, and I’m loving it. In what little spare time I’ve had, I’ve been finding more and more online resources for mac users, and getting little tools/programs to extend my mac with.

At this time, I am seriously considering making my MacBook my main computer, and turning my PC desktop into a much needed office server. Which is what it was made for (it is a Dell Poweredge 430SC, 2.8ghz P4 HT, 1.5gb ram), and especially considering that our current Windows Small Business Server is running on a Dual P3 550mhz.

My only complaints about this MacBook is 1) Needs More Ram. At only 1GB, I can barely multi-task. 2) It does heat up like a banshee out of hell. When left sitting on a flat surface with poor heat transfer, the bottom is almost too hot to touch. And 3) I haven’t had a chance to test this, but from what I’ve read, this model of the MacBook can only do mirror-image with an external monitor, and I really would like to make use of Dual Displays.

In any case, I am more than happy to live with this wonderful machine, until such a point comes that I can upgrade to a MacBook Pro. I have my eye on the 17″ model, perhaps I should put it on my Christmas wish list.

Back on the Fire

July 27, 2006 by Aaron

Well, I arrived back on the scene of the Cavity Lake forest fire today. After driving all day yesterday to get back from AdTech in Chicago, it feels good to no longer be in a car, even though it’s 85 degrees out. While I was gone, Jay added the directional antennas to the towers, so we’re getting 87% signal strength at the basecamp now, so the directionals are helping quite a bit.

While I was in Chicago, there was a changeout of some of the crews that were reaching the end of their 14 day rotation. Now there are crews from NY, CA, and other far reaching places, so it’s neet meeting and talking to these people, many of which this is their first time in northern Minnesota.

Well, even though I’m at the fire, it doesn’t mean that there is a shortage of work for me to do. Especially after everything that went on at AdTech, I now have enough work to keep me busy for a couple months, so my time is spent keeping the Mesh Network working, and getting things in line for Wi-Fi Guys, and our new project.

From AdTech:

July 25, 2006 by Aaron

So Tom, Chris, Eric and I have spent the past 2 days running around Chicago to their hotels, converting them to the new Radius platform, as well as getting the ads set up on the redirect pages. In the middle of all this, we have spent a majority of time at AdTech. So far, the show has been very good, very insightful, and now we have a good contact list of people / businesses to partner with for this upcoming ad project.

Going to Chicago

July 23, 2006 by Aaron

It’s been a week since I arrived at the Cavity Lake forest fire incident, but today I needed to leave to go to Chicago for an Ad-Tech conference. I’m going down there with Wi-Fi Guys, another one of my clients, because it ties in well with a project that we are working on that deals with advertising/marketing.

So last night, after finishing up at the basecamp around 2200, I packed up and drove back to Duluth, arriving at 0130. I woke up this morning around 0730, went to walmart to pick up some stuff for the Chicago trip, and am now at my office getting things in order here. I’m going to meet Chris and Tom at my place around 1030. We’ll drive down today, and drive back on Wednesday. Then Thursday morning I get to drive back up the Gunflint Trail to the incident again, and stay for the remainder of the fire, which will probably burn until the end of August, lest mother nature put it out with a good rain.

I don’t think that I’ve eaten healthier, or felt better in the past few years, than I have this past week. Living and working on a forest fire crew has been a great experience. I havent had pop in over a week, drinking TONS of water, and eating large, hearty, well balanced meals. Sure, I’m tired and exhausted, but I’d rather fall asleep tired, than lay in bed wide awake, just because it’s time to go to sleep, when I’m not tired.

I’m thinking long and hard about taking the 4-day class to get my base certification for forest fire fighting. Then I’ll be a little more qualified to walk around camp, as well as know what to do and what not to do should the fire suddenly spread and overtake the camp. If I were to stop doing my business, I would most probably go and train to be a fire fighter (structure fire) and then do wildland/forest fires in the summertime. Although, I foresee continuing to do the Tactical Satellite stuff for a long while yet.

5 Cups of coffee

July 20, 2006 by Aaron

5 cups of coffee is what it took to get me going this morning. Last night we were back in a cabin, but I was so tired last night, that I passed out, and woke up in the same position I fell asleep in (I normally roll around a bit). So today I woke up with a stiff neck because I wasn’t in the best position when I fell asleep.

Today, the basecamp is transitioning from a Type 2 command team to a Type 1 team. This is due to the complexity of the fire, *not* due to any deficiency in the existing team. The current team has been doing a fantastic job, but with the size of the fire, the number of people involved, and the fact that the fire is pushing the Canadian border, a Type 1 team is recommended.

Along with the transition, the basecamp is moving down the road to a patch of land the county cleared off. So that means that Jay and I get to go place Mesh repeaters to feed the new camp with internet and phones. Perhaps today we’ll get to trek out on some ridges to deploy the masts.

Yesterday, the National Guard showed up with a blackhawk, and I got some pictures of it, along with a video clip of it taking off. Here they are:

Blackhawk takeoff
Blackhawk approach

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