When I moved from a large traditional company to a small one with values of trust, empowering users and getting things done fast it was a culture shock. However, I decided to take the time to understand this new environment so I wouldn’t mess up what was currently working well. Then I rolled up my sleeves and set to work creating some organization. Users appreciated the results, and I started down a path of optimizing, integrating, standardizing and documenting what was in place. As issues were uncovered the risks were assessed along with the business goals and risk profile to find the best solutions. This took us down a path towards a more secure environment while also not impacting the company culture or productivity. When SOC2 attestation was seen as an asset to scaling the business we were well on our way. I researched and selected an auditor and went through the final steps to achieve the attestation which validated a process of security implemented over the last few years.
When I worked for a non-profit, I created my own system for tracking PT test scores and running evaluations. As I interacted with the registrar’s department I added in functionality for tracking awards, promotions, classes and grades with a transcript creation process. Then functionality was added for running an email list server, tracking keys and running conference registrations, receipts and meal counts. Donation management and a simple POS system were added as well. The system was started in 2002 and is still in use by the non-profit today.
When I started my job at a publicly traded company, I was amazed at the amount of physical equipment and the messy state that it was in. The Colo facility was tripping breakers at various times and due to bad cable management touching one thing also affected multiple other things. A custom-built CRM was running and in such a bloated state that it experienced frequent outages. Over a couple of years, I worked with the developers to optimize the CRM and set up our primary data center to be fully redundant within itself. Then I got another Colo in another city and set up our DR infrastructure. However, I configured the DR for active replication and set it to serve a portion of our production traffic. This meant we didn’t need to schedule DR testing as it was always being used.
With 9 children, our household goes through a lot of laundry. The efficiency nerd inside of me cringes at the amount of power wasted in standard dryers. The first step was to duct outside air directly into the dryer so that while it was running in the summer it was not pulling hot humid air into the house. Then pondering why, we gather the lint onto a screen that then restricts airflow. So, the output was redesigned to have minial resistance and the lint screen removed (one less step for each load of laundry but my poor kids will have issues using any other dryers in the future). When ventless heat pump dryers hit the market, I was excited! However, the idea of going back to cleaning a lint screen with every load and scheduled coil cleaning was not appealing. Thus entered the idea of putting a dehumidifier directly into the incoming air path. The CFM of the dehumidifier was too high and hacking the fan to lower the CFM resulted in coil freezes and defrosting time. So, enter an old refrigerator box with the dehumidifier positioned to push some air to the dyer and recirculate the rest. On disabling the resistance heat strip and the dryer refused to run long enough to dry the clothing. So, the final step involved putting resistors in parallel to the moisture sensing strips and playing with different resistance levels until the right drying time was achieved.
It all started with a Cow so our family could have fresh milk (or maybe the goat died and we were tired of dealing with goats). While goats eat brush, cows prefer grass and dry Texas summers are not condusive to lush pastures. With a well onsite, water was plentiful, but hauling hoses around was time consuming so why not set up field sprinklers with an automatic runtime? However, I was going to have more zones than most systems supported. Never fear, a 32-port relay board was combined with a raspberri pi and a little code and everything was set. Then the efficiency mind says can I do more with that water than just irrigation. Enter a facebook seller removing an almost new geothermal unit from a house to put in another size. Hmm, all this system needed was water in and out, power and a connection to the ductwork. When it was all said and done, a call for cooling in the house told the sprinkers to run and that water forms the water loop for the geothermal ac.