Computers and Networks and VPN's, OH MY!

Every time I try something new with computers it's an adventure.

The clinic I work for has been limping along with dial-up. Not dial-up internet, though we *were* paying $26 a month for AOL . No, we have two clinics. 10 miles apart. We have to share a client database.

Over a Dial-up Networking/Remote Desktop connection. *AND*, AND! We don't even get full 56k dial up speeds when we dial from the remote clinic into the server. 33.6 if we're lucky. A lot of the time it's 24.4. Can we say sllllloooooowwww?

SO, when I came back to work to do the books, I noticed that whopping charge for AOL on the statements, and figured I'd look into DSL. It turns out that we can drop the dial-up line at Wendell, drop the AOL, and add DSL at each clinic, and have it be *cheaper* than having the third line and AOL.

So I presented my argument to the Doctor, and he said GO FOR IT! For those of you that don't know Dr. H, it can sometimes be a challenge to convince him that a new technology is worth it. He's a very good veterinarian, but not all that technologically, um, adventuresome, shall we say?

Then there's me. If there's a new gizmo or program or service, I want it. (my phone is also a palm pilot)

So I researched VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and connecting and all that jazz, and did it. It took a couple of days to figure out just exactly all the checkboxes, IP addresses, and I had to learn about ports, and router forwarding, and opening up ports and firewalls, PPTP, L2PT, IPSec, and all sorts of new things. My brain might explode from all the new information that it has absorbed in the last week.

BUT, once I got all the boxes checked, services enabled, and ports forwareded. IT WORKS!

Me, little 'ole me, with only a modicum of formal computer education, set up a server that can actually accept connections with the outside world. HA! Who says Windows is too hard?

And talk about slick. With our dial-in connection, it took around 5 minutes just to dial in, log in, and start Remote Desktop, not to mention even more time for the client management software to open, run, login, pull up a client, and enter information. Now, it is so smooth, you'd think you were sitting at the computer where the database resides. Sweet. One click and you're connected, another to start the software, and you're done. 2 minutes tops for the entire process. No more waiting!

I love computers. Everything about them is interesting and fun.

One of these days I should learn programming.

Come one, come all

Come one, come all

This is the blog of my "twin cousin" Stacy. No kidding. I'm 15 minutes older. For real. Is that cool, or what? She and her sister used to spend summers with us, and all the kids at summer camp and at school were so jealous that I had a twin cousin.

Now she's pregnant, so you can read about her adventure just like you did mine.

Yet another Neurosis

Baby breathing, accidental death or dismemberment, etc. Now we can add grades to my list of neuroses.

In high school and for the college time I put in years ago, grades were not all that big of a deal to me. Oh, I liked A's, but B's were acceptable, and C's were tolerable. For the most part, I didn't have to work too hard for my A's and B's, andI didn't worry about it much.

However.

Yes. However. Thinking about it now, it actually seems odd to me that it wasn't a bigger focus of mine. I'm very competitive (ask anyone) and now, as I go "back to school" for a biology degree, I find that if I don't have that A, my day gets really bad in a real hurry.

Take, for instance, the Chemistry class I'm taking this sememster, Chem 111. Being the forward thinking, smart, impatient person that I am, and not wanting to take any more classes than I absolutely have to, since I can only take 1 or 2 a semester, I decided to skip the Chem 101 class that was suggested as a prerequisite to Chem 111. Actually, the prerequisites were *either* Chem 101 or High School Chemistry.

Ok, so I had HS Chemistry. Sort of. I got a good grade in HS Chemistry. What the *real* story is, is that our teacher got fired halfway through the year and sent to jail for having an affair with a student. So I really didn't have much HS Chemsitry. But hey, it's on my transcript, and I can figure this stuff out, right?

Fast forward to the second test, which I did not finish in the time allowed, and got a 63% on. (OK, I really got a 53, but everyone in the class missed one of the questions, so the instructor "curved" by adding the 10 points for that question to everyone's score)

Total panic time. I needed to find out just *exactly* where I stood with my grade. So I made up an excel worksheet that shows exactly what grade I got on each assignment, how many points possible, and all the "bonus points" I have. It tells me what my grade is today, what my grade is with bonus points added, and how many points I've lost (I can lose 100 and still get an A). It even tells me what my grade would be if I stopped accumulating points today and just accepted what I currently have.

For the course, there are 1000 "real" points possible. There are also 50 "bonus" points possible. As of today, with all items turned in and only the last bonus and the final exam to go, I have exactly 738.8 "real" points. This means that if I decide to skip the final, I will end up with a C for the class. Right. Like I'd do that. SO, to get an A with my "real" points, I need to get a 161.2 on my 200 point final. (that's a B on the final to make an A in the class)

I'm not entirely sure if the bonus points are added on directly, or if they will be added on in such a way that it might not affect a letter grade. The syllabus says "To earn an “A”, you must have 90% of more of the possible non-bonus points, 900 or more total points" I'm not certain exactly what that means.

Right now, I have 24 bonus points, with the possibility of getting 25 more today when I hand in my last bonus assignment, assuming I get all the answers correct on the bonus. If I can add those points directly on, that means I will only need to get a 112.2 on my final. That's a D on the final, to make an A in the class.

Hey, now that I write it out, that doesn't seem too hard. My problems are going to be balancing equations, and working fast enough to finish. I can usually get the right answer, if I have time enough to think it through, but my brain doesn't work at the pace the instructor thinks it should, so I really have a difficult time finishing the exams in the time allotted. The final will have 2 hours available to work.

The stuff I won't have to worry about much are the molecular structures and electronic configurations of atoms. That sort of thing was pretty easy for me, since I tend to think in 3D anyway. Unfortuately, that will be only about 25% of the test. :-(

Final's Tuesday at noon. Wish me luck!

Birthday Cupcake

His birthday was Feb 4 

Adventures in Chemistry Class

Chemistry this semester.

I have to admit, though I like the sciences, Chemistry is just not one that is super fun. Biology, mmmm, fun. Chemistry....blah not fun.

Then again, it can be interesting. As in far, far, far from mundane. Dangerous, you might even say. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I've been living out there on the edge.

First, my luck with lab partners has been atrocious. My first partner was actually the cousin of someone in my high school class. So we actually had stuff to talk about, and she'd already taken Chem 101 (unlike certain other people who decide to jump right in to Chem 111 as their first college chem course...ahem) so she knew how to do experiment setup and all that jazz.

However, bummer of bummers, she dropped the class. So, since there was one group of 3 in the class, I stole the odd man out and had a great lab. Great lab partner. Unfortunately, the next week, he went to help judge a gradeschool science fair, and I was once again alone for lab.

So another student whose lab partner dropped asked if we could be lab partners until my stolen lab partner came back. I said yes, and we proceeded to make soap. Which was pretty cool, it did all sorts of neat bubbling and foaming. You know when you boil macaroni in just a smidge too little water at just a smidge too high heat, and it foams over? That's what hot boiling lye and lard do. Very cool, right up until the time your lab partner decides to blow on it to make the foam go down. The problem with blowing on hot boiling lye and lard foam is that if your lab partner (me) is stirring the concoction at the time, the foam tends to fly into the air. Since the hand that is stirring is also in the air above the container, hot boiling lye and lard gets stuck on said hand. Owch.

Not to worry, though. The cold water was right there, and no blisters, sores, or other nasty chemical reactions took place. "Whew!"

You would think that would have used up the bad luck for the day, but NO. My poor lab partner took off her goggles to wash the equipment we were using and splashed soapy lye-lard residue in her eyes. She had to stand in the eyewash for 5 minutes. The eyewash does not just get your eyes. They should call it an eye shower. The poor girl was soaked.

The next week, *I* made sure to go to the gradeschool science fair.