What'sInAName's Journal: From Mathematician to System Administrator

Well, after many years of being an "amateur" UNIX/Linux systems administrator, I have decided to quit and become a professional. (well, I did SA work in grad school in the form of a fellowship, but that was "part time" work. Those of you who have done SA work will know why I put the quotes. In this context, it means I only did SA work 40 hours a week.)

Ok, "quit" may not be the right terminology. I'm a postdoc, which means I have a temporary position to begin with. I'm trained as an applied mathematician, and I have had some success as such, but my heart really isn't into it. (They'd like to keep me around where I'm doing my postdoc currently, but I suspect that might be partially due to the fact that I'm the most knowledgeable Linux guy there. Not that I'm saying a lot with that statement...)

Ok, my wife and I currently live in the DC area, one of the hottest markets for IT workers at the moment (early summer 2004). But of course, I can't make things simple. We don't want to stay here. Or at least *I* don't want to stay here. She's actually a bit agnostic about the move. Myself, I like Boston. It's a biggish but compact city, it's very young and vibrant, and seems to have a lot of energy. I went to grad school there, so maybe I'm trying to relive my life as a student, but I want to give it a shot. It's a bonus that if I'm feeling sick of the place, all I have to do is drive two hours and I'm in the White mountains of New Hampshire. Or Vermont. Or Maine. New England is really a great place!

Ok, so if you happen to be in the Boston area (like anyone is going to read my journal!) and are looking for a sysadmin who does Linux/Solaris/Other flavors of Unix, has used Microsoft Windows a fair deal, and who has been a computer enthusiast for the past 20 years (I'm only 35 though, I've just been into computers since I was a kid), then drop me an e-mail at [e-mail]. I've worked as both a sysadmin (Linux/Solaris/Windows PCs/Macs) and a software developer (C/Motif/X/SQL). I don't claim to know everything, but I can certainly pick up what I don't know very rapidly. I enjoy working with people and I really get a kick out of helping someone get the most out of their computing resources. I am definitely not an aloof, antisocial techie in this regard.

Ok, I've rambled long enough.

P.S. If anyone has advice for me, please feel free to post it here or email me at the above address!