One of those Weeks

One needs work to provide for a number of things. Income, part of your social network and to keep you from becoming a lazy git. But there are days, weeks even that one wishes for a little less of all of this.

This is one of those weeks. All those projects and things to do on the side are starting to take their toll. And the everyday duties have to be performed as well. To most other employees, IT is either invisible or 'rocket science'. I sometimes get the feeling that my colleagues think we just sit there and wait for problems to arise and otherwise do nothing. But the bulk of our work is completely the opposite. We are constantly planning ahead to improve. There is always something to do. We have been rebuilding our complete back-office and virtualised all but one server and two processes. But no one realises this and that is just how this is supposed to be. Ah, the irony of it all!

On a lighter side, I love my independence and the autonomy of my department. And today I moved this site to my own NAS server. It is a Synology DS207+ with two 750 GB hard drives in RAID 1. It runs its own web server and a plethora of other functions that still are uncharted territory to me. Time, I need more time.

Take care,

The Quartermaster.

The Swamp

I'm besotted about M*A*S*H. I have the book, the movie and the Martinis & Medicine collection. And my secret wish is to convert a spare room into 'The Swamp". When in Lebanon I lived in a tent like 'The Swamp' for about three months, so I know. Anne thinks I lost all my marbles right now but building 'The Swamp' provides me with my very own little world.

So, who has the original plans, lay-out or detailed pictures of 'The Swamp?'. I would be very, very grateful.

Take care,

The Quartermaster.

Eating out

We decided to eat out last evening. The weather more than permitted it, today the temperature is 10 degrees C lower and it's raining. Only a five minutes walk away from our house, it is a small, real Italian restaurant with about 9 tables on the side walk. Because it was a Saturday there was live music. You are welcomed with a small glass of red wine, some olives and toasted slices of French loaf with cheese and herbs. All on the house, it doesn't magically appear on your bill afterwards. Anne chose the gambas and I went for an Italian classic, veal in a Marsala wine sauce. The gambas were the size of small lobsters and very fresh. My veal in sauce was top notch although the chef could have used some less wine. Both dishes were excellent. I drank white house wine with my veal, a good choice. As Anne doesn't drink, she had a small bottle of Pellegrino.

We finished with cappuccino and chocolate-truffle cake. The first time we went there, it was just for drinks, from now on we will have lunch or dinner!

Take care,

The Quartermaster.

Time

I don't have enough time. Work takes a lot up of it :-) And the weather is too fine to sit in front of my Mac all evening. So the work on Hangar Four is only slowly progressing. Another problem is my relatively simple digital camera. Some of the pictures of the objects were taken in the evening, in low light conditions. I will have to wait for the weekend so that I can redo them in full daylight.

So I'll be happy as soon as the blurriness is gone. Where do others find all that time to construct those gorgeous websites?

Take care,

The Quartermaster.

The Top Ten

The Top ten may vary from time to time. Depending on how I feel perhaps. But my wife Anne will always be in this Top Ten :-) The Top Ten will also show a bit of myself, of who I am and what I like.

Take care,

The Quartermaster.

Welcome to The Hangar Blog

And why Hangar-Four? Well, I needed a name for my website. A name that captures what the site is about. A hangar is a building to store aircraft and equipment, my hangar is is 'building' to store my hobbies and a part of my life.

Much is inspired by vintage flight jackets and gear. And my love for nostalgia. But what have I gotten myself into? A website, a blog? More work? More 'to do'? We'll see. I bid you welcome to The Hangar Blog!

Take care,

The Quartermaster.