In the Big Bed Now

Hi,

Daniel is now four months old and finally ready to sleep in his crib that I made him last summer.
This is both an exciting and sad time for us parental units as we are so happy that he is growing but also so very sad that he is out of his newborn stage. He changes so much each week that I hate having to spend so much time away from him at work and school. We know that it is better that I am gone so much now rather than when he gets older but sometimes I just have to stare at the pictures I have of him and wish I was there. I have to have “Daddy Time” every weekend so that I can catch up with how much he has learned the past week.

Here are a few of the high points that I’ve been there for:
His first cackle, his first big grin, when he grabbed his first toy (The Bone), when he stood on his legs (with me holding him), when he first sucked just his thumb, the fisrt time he noticed I had hair on my face, and now he has noticed he has toes If all that seems uber boring to you just wait till you see yours do it. Everything is a little miracle, especially the smiles he gives… they are the best thing in the world.

I would like to end this post with a link to a music video by babyface that made me and my wife both a little teary eyed.

Thank you all for reading
David Bates

The MacDaddy Walker, Better Known as Silly First Time Parents Toy

Hi,

Today my Wife and I decided to take a look around Target to find me a small refrigerator to take to work. We had talked it over and decided that the < $60 one time charge for a refrigerator would save us money as I spend over $50 a month in drinks from vending machines. As the post title suggest, I did not make it home with a mini-refrigerator (:

Baby toys. Baby toys have become much more expensive than I remember. However, never having to buy baby toys before might have skewed my cost ideas. My thinking is <$20 for anything that gets used for less than three months, well, all that went out the window today.

Without further a due let me introduce the Mac Daddy Baby Walker:

This little gem set us back $69 and when my Wife and I saw it we just had to get it for him.
The original price was $99 but this one was on clearance at Target. So all in all it wasn’t a bad deal and the baby seemed to thoroughly enjoy it for at least 15 minutes.

If you would like one for your baby they can still be had at Target.com for $99
I would highly recommend them as they fold practically flat and has plenty of individual toys to keep baby entertained.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures
David Bates

Is A+, Net+ really neccesary?

I have pondered the above question for many days? now and the short answer is that it depends.
Let me explain why the question came up and why I believe that there is no generic answer for everyone.

My school ECPI currently gives each student three vouchers for certificates and those three vouchers are primarily used for A+ and Net+ certification test through Comptia. However, I spoke with several teachers, students, and alumni from ECPI and they all said that A+ and Net+ will only get you in the door of a company which I already have done, and that those certs only proved that you have a basic understanding of hardware and networking which my experience already shows. So after hearing that I started to question whether I wanted to use my vouchers for those certs or if I should try and go for more focused certs such as MCITP or Linux+. This question has boggled my mind for a couple of reasons.
1. If I am a MCITP shouldn’t that say that I have more skills that just A+?
2. Which ones will my employer appreciate more?

After thinking about this I realized that it really has nothing to do with the certs themselves but rather what I plan to do, and with that knowledge I decided that hardware is cool but I don’t need a cert to prove that I know how to change the toner cartridge in a printer or install a HD, I would rather tell my boss “Hey, I am a Microsoft certified IT professional”.

So after I found out what was right for me I say that everybody else needs to look at what certs matter to them. If you have never changed a printer cartridge or being able to rattle off the speed of firewire is important to you then defiantly go for the A+ that’s why there are so many. But be sure that you know what the certs are saying about you.

I would also like to say that this post is an introduction to a bigger question that I have. Which matters more Certifications or Degrees, Which does a company recognize more someone with an associate?s degree but high level certs or someone with a Bachelor?s but only introductory certificates?

As a footnote if any of you have read through my blog or know me personally and can think of a certification that you think would better suite me let me know, make a comment and I will check them out.

Thanks for reading
David Bates