Please put up your hands for Terry Bisson!

I would not be so brave.

Case in point: Identity Management for Unix. Microsoft bundled Services for UNIX into Windows Server 2003 R2, but it isn't available in SBS 2003 R2 because if you need advanced features like UNIX interoperability, Microsoft doesn't think you are a small business (thus not in the target market of SBS). Except that operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD do a pretty good job of supplementing or even replacing Windows file and print servers in small businesses, especially for organizations that can't afford Windows Server licenses and CALs, so I am a little confused by this position. I suppose that I understand Microsoft's position - to an extent, SBS is a much cheaper version of the "real thing". If they give you too much, there's less of an incentive to upgrade from SBS to full-blown versions of Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, etc.

Another example: The only way to go from an old version of SBS to a newer is via an in-place upgrade (although maybe a swing migration is an option in this scenario), and the only way to merge an SBS domain into a larger, pre-existing forest is to first migrate from SBS to Windows Server within the same domain (i.e., set up second domain controller, Exchange server, etc. in the SBS domain, move AD and Exchange to these, and decommission the old SBS server).  Ugly, ugly hacks (swing migration included), although it does open up the possibility of establishing trust relationships among SBS domains via creative use of secondary domain controllers.

On the flip side, I really, really wish something like Health Monitor came standard with Windows Server.  It's a killer feature, similar to logwatch on Linux or periodic on FreeBSD.  I guess that Microsoft expects medium- and large-size customers to implement Microsoft Operations Manager or something equally "enterprise-scale".

It sorely tested my resolve, but I made it back to the hotel without embarrassing myself.  Only to discover that there was no TP in my room, either.

There ain't no justice. ^_^

I was under the impression I would be able to work from home for at least a few months (if not until my house sold), but when I headed up to DC the weekend before last to apartment-hunt, I found out that I was needed there ASAP. So much for being able to take my time moving. Two weeks off work wasn't enough. I should have quit on 31 October and taken the entire month of November off. The lesson here is to clarify this shit right off the bat, and if people say "it's OK with me if it's OK with him" and you get the run around, assume the worst. Another lesson is not to get too buddy-buddy with esteemed colleagues, because they aren't necessarily keeping your best interests at heart (or because they have to play political games some times, and at work, they have to use you as a pawn for some things). No matter how good a friend you are outside of work, at work, everything needs to be professional and discrete and sharp and somewhat at arms length, unless explicitly stated otherwise (like between me and Joe).

<xfiles>Trust No One!</xfiles>

:) Well, not really. But when doing business with friends, you have to be very cautious not to confuse your personal feelings with your business acumen. When it comes to business, you still have to look out for yourself; you can't abdicate responsibility and put faith into your business partners, if only just on general principle. You wouldn't be so careless if it was business with people you didn't know, now would you? So it stands to reason to be just as careful with people you do know, if only to practice at being dilligent.

And thanks to the heroic efforts of my brothers and several close friends, most of my stuff is packed into a shipping container. My brothers are coming back down tonight to help me finish things off. Wow. I don't know how to express how grateful, how humbled I am by these generous acts. They literally answered my recent prayers for help.