72-272 Down!

This morning started off somewhat rough. I had an interview that seemed very promising. The interview ended in my history taking out the opportunity to work for this particular organization. So have a great interview I was shut down. I cannot lie, I was in shock for the next 30 minutes or so.
No time to soak in sorrow though. I had to go take my 72-272 exam in about and hour. So I drive to the test site and and sit in the car for about thirty minutes doing a quick cram of info. The whole time I was taking the interview I knew that I was about to fail exam. My confidence was rattled. This is the time that I prayed for help with my thoughts. Not to help me pass the exam but to not badger myself over the interview.
I was pleased to find that I passed the exam! While I am fully capable of doing PC maintenance and repair it is nice to have paper behind you to back up what you say. To be able to say that I am an MCP is truly great! My next one is already scheduled for the 18. Great things are coming.
The company that interviewed me is also still looking for a career for me. So with in a few months things could be be better of financially.

Great Week So to Speak.

One of the recent post talks about a week that was not all that great. This week has been almost the exact opposite of that. So far this week the following have happened.....

1. My wife received her stimulus check
2. I went to Alabama to meet my grand-pop-in-law, the man is brilliant.
3. Got a job interview for help-desk support.
4. Got two Microsoft Exams to scheduled. I get free retakes on both if I fail them.
(Second Shot is a thing of beauty)

Take all of these and add to them the fact that I have a great family. I have a great life.

Vista, Vista, Vista

I learned something new about Vista this weekend. I am complete unable to access Vista's Recovery Console. Now I try to explain to people why it is so very important to keep all the software that comes with their PC's every chance I get. I tell them that for the very reason that I wish I had mine. One day you will need them. It is not that I lost my Boot CD. I never had it. I was lead to believe that Sony had built the Recovery Console into the comes hidden partition. I should have known better. The partition actually has recover data, restore c(I lose all my data-ALL OF IT), Hardware Diagnostics, and System Restore. That is about as useful as potato chips to a thirsty man lost in the desert.
I managed to mess up badly while in Alabama this weekend. I choose to go to Ubuntu 7.10. 8.04 is a little too new(Windows got me with the hype, no one else will). I started to receive a couple of error messages that all were addressing Beryl. No biggie. After oking a few things I began to fly though the windows. When I was about to the last Windows I noticed that the error had the following words in it... boot and grub. Too late. I had clicked to fast.
After the installation claimed to fail, I restarted to find that it had upgraded. However no Windows. All that was left was the loader. I can see the NTFS file partition in Linux but cannot access it. So what is my solution. Maybe bye bye Linux. Has much as I had to say that I may just run a virtual box. My solution to the issue is to download Windows Vista Recovery Console. You can do it here. I recommend it.
I just got through with the download so now it is time to run FIXMBR and kick the Grub. Once I can access to Windows format the partition that is FAT32 to NTFS and be satisfied.What a mess huh? If you need to get Vista's Recovery Console you can get it at "The NeoSmart Files" for free! This is a very handy tool if you work on any PC or Notebook that needs restoration! It is also available in 64 bit!Good stuff here guys!

Tough Week So To Speak

This week started out just perfect. A score of 97 on my A+ Software Final, my daughter learning to laugh, and just all around fun! Then they tapered. I was sold the wrong part by Digitek and when I asked about was kicked out, my 70-272 final was average at 79, and work is a litte slow. However it all went good.
I now have the parts, a couple of new vendors, and an A on the 70-272 class.
My week may not go planned. But God still lives! Good or bad times he is still there for us !

Finals Week

Finally! After 10 weeks it is time. Tonight I took my first final of this term. I took my A+ Software final and passed with a 97. That gave me an overall 98 for the class. I have to more to go this week before moving onto to a horrible term. A term filled with Spanish, Business Math, Written Communication, and a little light with Network +.
I was at school two hours early tonight. I saw all my friends who looked so afraid of failing their finals. They were so stressed out. I myself was stoked. Pacing until it was time. I was ready. I had studied up! All my ducks were in a row. I couldn't understand how everyone was so nervous about what was about to happen. They new it was coming why were they not ready?! It was at this point that I had a realization.... These people remind me of the lost.
People have known that Jesus will return for around 2000 years. Yet people are not ready. Not just the lost but also the saved who are not ready. The ones you would never think would slack do. Now the day of the finals people are freaking out. Be ready people. I hope that I can get excited about Jesus like I do the finals. I have to do three things to be ready....

1. Be Saved- This is given. It is hard to be excited about Jesus if you are not walking with Him.

2. Understand Him- This means to read His Word, pray, and look at influence that He has on everything.

3. Wait for Him- This is the same concept that kids have on Christmas Eve. Want to see Him. Wait for His arrival everyday. Getting excited comes with time. The closer it gets the more excited we get!

I want to get a passing grade fro Jesus when the "BIG FINAL" comes around. Do you?

Live is Moving......

You may have noticed that BCB is going somewhat slow with the postings. We are in the middle of doing some things that are life changing. Alot of things are changing for us and we are blessed for them. In the last month we have had to get another car, felt as if we have lost two good friends, faced disappointed with in our church(I am not attacking the church just hoped things would go a different way), found myself studying to get my first certification with-in the next 3 weeks (A+ here I come), and just little things that have swayed our course. We are blessed for all of the obstacles and blessing that life throws at us.
A good friend of mine is stepping down from teaching Sunday School. Today was his last day. It has been fun learning from him and growing with him. Today he delivered his last message as my teacher. He taught on what many know to be his favorite verse in the Bible. Revelation 3:16. While me and the wife were late as always, which lead to my being called aside for not being in my place at the door again, God had us come in at the right time. God does not always want you to hear everything. He does not always want you to see everything. He wanted me to come at the exact moment.
My friend was talking about flickering. As in candles that flicker. We as christians are called to be the light. He spoke of a friend of his that has all the right answers in church but once his friend was in the world you would never know. While I don't think he was talking directly about me I know that he was talking to me. I am flickering. At times I fear that I am dying. My faith is truly weak. Do I still have faith that God is supreme and has a plan for my life? Yes. I have never doubted that. Do I doubt that I am able to be what I am called to be? No, I believe that if I am called to be something I can be. I fear that I will fall and fall to no end. It seems hopeless at times. I see my sins and they haunt me. They push me to the point that I am ashamed to pray. I tell myself "Guess I have to go before God and confess this same sin again." I get this image of God shaking His head at me while mumbling,"Here we go again."
I have those days where I am not ashamed. Those are the days when I lift my hands in the car while listening to DC Talk. Not caring if anyone knows that I am praising God. Other days I would want to rip my bumper stickers off because I am ashamed that people will know I am Christian. Not because of what God has done but because of my failures. I hear them saying that I am just like all those other Christians. A hypocrite! Even more painful is the fact that they are right. I talk a good talk to some people throughout the week but I walk a drunken stumble. I am not saying that I drink but my walk with Christ is not a straight one. It must resemble that man who walks by the tracks. Swaying from one side to the other. At times falling down . Yet he gets up. Knees bloody, palms scoffed, and hoping that no one saw.
I don't want to flicker. I want to shine. No matter who you are at one point you have to realize that you will flicker. Everyone will have those days when their faith feels completely distant and strange. At the end of those days we have to make a choice. We have to pray for strength. Asking God to lead us in the right direction. Not looking back at the roads we have walked. To heal our bloody knees and to smooth our rough hands. God will do it but only if we put forth the effort. Make every effort to shine in the dark. If not it is a slippery slope that you will fall down until you do make the choice to reach for God.

Tips to Lockdown your PC!

Do you have trouble sleeping at night for fear of hijackers, keyloggers, and other little nasties that could cause damage? Well here before you are a couple of tips to get your PC as tight as a whistle.

1. Strong Password- Don't go over kill. At one time it was believed that passwords resembling B10g$p0t (Blogspot) were the perfect passwords. I beg to differ now. A great password would be a phrase that is 15characters long. Put a number in there somewhere. Here is an example of a very strong password....
Idrivea4doorfordexplorer
Do not use spaces. Just run them all in together. This is stronger than the Blogspot password above. Try it out and see. Also if you have a phrase it takes less time to search the keyboard for uncommonly used numbers and you are alot less likely to forget the password than the manipulated word.

2. Use a limited account- Do not sign on with an Administrator account . It is simple. The more access to a system that a hijacked account has the more damage can be done. The most significant reason to using limited user accounts is that you cannot do certain things. Download, download malicious software, download...... you get the picture. If you trust a site and you want to download something then log onto as administrator. Malicious programs can download in the background with out you ever knowing it. Using a limited user account keeps this background software from downloading. Do you see now!

3. Get good AV- Anti virus protection is not created equally. You will want to find an AV program that uses Hijacker Prevention Technology. Do not be confused onto thinking that Prevention and Detection are the same. detection will tell you when you are hacked. Prevention will help to stop the hijacker from entering. Lets say some one is breaking into you house. All you have is an alarm that will sound but not notify the police. That alarm doesn't help. Get AV that use Prevention so that when the intruder cracks a window open the alarm sounds and the police are on the way. This is the way to go!

For more tips on security leave a comment. Use your Firewall, AV, passwords, and for crying out loud don't go to site that you shouldn't be at.

No time to proof read! Look over the typos!

We are Flowers!

Christian should realize they truly are like flowers! We are this seed that is placed in the ground by God. God placed us where we are so that we will grow and blossom. Like flowers we should lean toward the light! We should try to reach Jesus! Soak up all the Jesus you can get! Also we must remember that we are like flowers because we cannot move from where God has put us! God put us in our places so that we grow there! We cannot switch spots no matter how hard we try. We are were we are and we are there for a reason. Be you! Be proud! Be the flower that you were meant to be!

Credit Up Credit Down!

The last couple of months I have become serious about rebuilding my credit. While I do not pay a professional to tell me who to send my money too I am using freecreditreport.com(which is only free for about two weeks) to keep track, dispute, and control my credit. So far I have made some progress. My credit did show a score of 563 and in just two months I have pulled it to 575. In Tennessee 580 gets you approved for a bank loan of small numbers. I write this not to brag but warn people.
ANFI Inc is a collection company that will sock it to you and do so illegally. In early 03 I had a debt with AT&T for about 137 dollars. I managed to get it squared away but today when I checked on my credit I saw that a bill for 137 was there from ANFI INC. I owed no body that little! SO I researched then company. Google their title name once and scroll down to see how this company operates. Four pages comments from victims who received hits to their credit due to bill that the knew nothing about. This company buys out 11 year old debts and then tries to make people pay it. Wrong as can be but it is happening. So keep up with your credit and know what you owr and to who you owe it.