Jobs Available: C# Developer & Help Desk Specialist
February 4, 2013 by Jason · 3 Comments
I've got two open positions in my department that are available to any qualified individuals within reasonable, daily driving distance of Malvern, PA (19355).
The first position is a C# Developer who will be part of a team whose primary, immediate focus will be to complete a rewrite of an existing Access/VBA application with C# Winforms (and possibly ASP.NET as a follow-up). This is a junior-to-mid position, so some experience is required, but you don't need to be an expert.
The second position is a Help Desk Specialist who will be the first point of contact for all internal user issues. Responsibilities will include interacting with users on a day-to-day basis through multiple communication methods, resolving their issues directly when possible, and escalating to a more senior team member when not. The expectation here is that the applicant will be have the knowledge to solve most user issues that don't relate to an in-house or 3rd party enterprise app on day one.
These are both permanent, on-site, full-time positions, so please don't apply if you're looking for a contract, a part-time job, an internship, a work co-op, or are looking to telecommute.
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Job Available: SQL Server Report Developer/Analyst
March 5, 2012 by Jason · Leave a Comment
I've got a position for a SQL Server Report Developer/Analyst available for immediate, full-time hire, for any qualified individual within reasonable distance of Malvern, PA (19355).
This job reports to me and would be responsible for creating reports in SQL Server Reporting Services (including the T-SQL, Stored Procedures, etc. behind the reports), assisting users in developing their own queries/reports using the Microsoft Report Builder, and making minor changes to our Order Management application (MS Access & VBA w/ SQL Server for data).
Full data on the position, along with a form to apply, are at the link below. Individuals and recruiters are welcome (despite what the advert says) but please do not apply if you are looking for a contract job or if the bulk of your recent experience is NOT working with Microsoft SQL Server and building reports.
The Weed Dragon – I’ve got a flamethrower!
September 12, 2011 by Jason · 4 Comments
A Flamethrower is the best birthday present ever, thanks wife!
For those wondering, this is the Weed Dragon VT 2-23 SVC (full disclosure: Amazon Affiliate link). It's basically a flamethrower that you hook up to a standard propane tank. There is a cheaper model without the squeeze valve, that's the VT 2-23 C, though I'd highly recommend the SVC instead; this thing shoots a flame about 3" in diameter and 12" long out the end and it would be hard to move around without the ability to control that. All proceeds from the Amazon links will go towards either a hand dolly or a back pack to carry around my propane tank (temporarily swiped from my grill), I haven't decided which yet.
You can see in the bottom half of the photo where I've flamed all the moss and weeds in my pack patio and in the top half the area I haven't done yet. It's pretty effective and extremely satisfying.
(Note: my birthday was actually about 3 weeks ago, but it's rained a lot lately here, I didn't get to try it for a week, and then I was traveling.)
Job Available: PHP Web Developer
I've got a permanent PHP Development position available at work. If you (or someone you know) has the skills below and are within commuting distance to Malvern, PA 19355, or are willing to relocate at your own expense within the next month or so, please use the comment form on the About page to contact me.
Make sure you attach your resume, salary history/requirements, and cover letter (just zip them all up and use the attachment box on the form). I'm not Meatloaf, two out of three IS bad, so please do send everything rather than just spam me with a resume.
Mobile site now available
September 28, 2009 by Jason · 5 Comments
A couple days ago I noticed that this site didn't really lend itself to a mobile browser. Not sure why WordPress doesn't include a mobile theme, but anyway, that's fixed now, thanks to a mobile-optimized theme and a plugin that automatically switches you based on your browser identification (no separate URL required). If you should happen to stop by the mobile site and notice an issue please let me know in the comments of this post or with the comment form on the about page.
Just about everything updated (including the site)
September 22, 2009 by Jason · 90 Comments
Alright, just about every package in the repo was just updated. Some significantly, others not so much, but the ones people are likely to care about are there. MySQL is now up to 5.0.84, PHP is up to 5.2.11, and httpd is up to 2.2.13.
In addition to the package updates, I also included php-memcache for connecting to a memcached server and a choice of PHP accelerators as these were both things that many people were requesting. You can now choose between php-xcache, php-apc, and php-eaccelerator (all of which conflict so don't try and force more than one to install). I've not extensively tested the latter two as I personally use xcache, so someone will have to let me know if I should change something.
Lastly, the site itself has been updated to the newest release of WordPress, I've ripped out a bunch of plugins, added a few new ones, and I've installed a new skin. I'll be tweaking everything as time goes on so things may be moving about and features may break from time to time. If you notice anything flaky then please use the comment form on the About page.
Not dead, just hibernating (like a bear)
September 21, 2009 by Jason · 12 Comments
Ok, maybe not like a bear. Bears eat a bunch before they sleep and wake up lighter. I, on the other hand, have put on about 10 lbs over the past year (need to spend more time at the gym and less time at the office). Oh, and bears don't do anything while hibernating, whereas I've been running around more like a chicken with it's head cut off. I guess not like a bear at all then... Bad analogy, sorry.
Here's a partial list of what I've been up to:
- Work
- Hired two people
- Fired two people
- Crashed my car into the median on Rt 202 (September 6th, 2008, all-wheel drive = overconfidence, overconfidence + worn tires + hurricane = boom)
- Got married (October 17th, 2008)
- Went on my Honeymoon (drove around the South-West US for 2 weeks, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix)
- Work
- Hired two more people
- Work
- Started looking for a home
- Work
- Bought a home in Exton (Closed June 30th, 2009)
- Moved on the Jult 4th holiday weekend (movers were miserable, the pending insurance claim for damaged goods is higher than what they billed to move, and they seriously overbilled...)
- Work
- Had carpet cleaners rip a hole in the one piece of carpet in my home (mostly wood floors) and then complain about doing anything to fix it
- Work
- Spent time looking to hire another developer (PHP this time, more on this in a later post, the job is still available)
- Had painters not show up as scheduled, do a lousy job when they did show, and then have to come back in the evening for three days to fix all their mistakes
- Work
- Started blowing tons of money trying to buy furniture for my home so it's not 90% empty.
- Work
- ...
You get the picture. By the time I got home I didn't feel like doing anything. As I write this, I should be mowing the lawn before it starts raining...
Anyway, massive update coming tomorrow, both to the site and to the repository. Think httpd 2.2.13, MySQL 5.0.84, PHP 5.2.11, a choice of XCache, APC, and eAccelerator, etc.
Lastly, for now, quite a few people have filled out the comment form asking about MySQL 5.1 and PHP 5.3. Let me say now, no, I don't have any plans at current to upgrade the repo to either of those. Those updates would likely break quite a few apps and I don't need that on my hands. If I do decide to push out those updates it will either be with a LOT of warning or as a separate, optional packages that obsolete the older version.
Busy week… Got Engaged!
February 4, 2008 by Jason · 33 Comments
Yeah, I know, I've been a bit lax in posting over the past week. I tried to keep up with answering questions and comments but it was a low priority...
In any case, last Saturday I proposed to Dot, my girlfriend of 7 years, and she said yes! No plans for a wedding date or honeymoon destination as of yet, although since both of us want a small wedding (neither of us know/like many people) we're pretty set on deciding on a honeymoon destination first and then planning the wedding around the best time of the year for that location.
Still alive, just busy…
October 24, 2007 by Jason · 3 Comments
For anyone wondering, yes, I'm still here. I'm in the final stretch of finishing up my Master's Degree and between that and work (big things going on there as well) I just haven't had much time to post anything. Stay tuned though, I'm bound to find something interesting to say, and time to say it, soon. 🙂
Announcing the Utter Ramblings EL5 Repository
August 28, 2007 by Jason · 4 Comments
It's been a long time coming (I believe the first time I mentioned creating packages for Enterprise Linux 5 was back in April), but yes, that's right, the packages from my EL4 repository have finally been recompiled for use under RHEL and CentOS 5!
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