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I recently started working with RightScale to manage servers in various cloud environments. The servers that I am working with are in the Amazon EC2 cloud, but RightScale provides an interface to manages servers in multiple cloud spaces.

The underlying operating system for the servers that I am managing are running CentOS. While I prefer RedHat, CentOS is fine. I understand the reason for going with both, and when cost is an issue CentOS commonly wins out. The version is CentOS version 5.4.

The problem is that the servers are not getting updates. Based on the RightScale blog, you should be able to choose a RightScale supported frozen image of the CentOS mirrors from any given day, and they will have the most up to date patches to that day. As the servers do not maintain state between reboots, this means you can set the repo for a specific date, and the patches would be consistent for multiple machines no matter when they were booted.

Day before prep..

The Tri to Beat Cancer was my first Triathlon event to compete in, and, this is a record of the events as it happened.

Race Prep

The night before the race I decided to go ahead and layout my gear, and simulate my transitions. I laid out my towel and went through my various phases of the triathlon. First I put my socks in my cycling shoes, with my helmet just above. Then to the right of this, I set up another pair of socks and my running shoes. When you get down to it, it does not seem like a lot of gear to have out. Considering you are wearing the rest of your stuff, it makes sense.  I also set out my water bottles and gels for the race.

From Instant Upload

Other than this, I went and did a once over on my bike to ensure that I had pressure in my tires, and that nothing was broken. With that being in good repair. With everything looking good, I loaded up all of my clothes and gear into a diaper box ( Hey, I have a 2 week old at home ) and stationed all of the stuff in the living room to be put in the car in the morning.

On 21 August 2011 I will be competing in my first Triathlon, the Tri to Beat Cancer. The event is taking place in Athens, Georgia, and is a sprint triathlon. A sprint tri is the shortest length triathlon type event. The swim will be 400 yards, followed by a 16 mile bike, and then finish with a 5k. Why they switch to metric for the run is beyond me, but that is the way it is done. Proceeds from the even are going to help cancer research.

Training for my first triathlon has been interesting. I had already been swimming and cycling, so I was not to worried about those two events. However, I have recently switched to minimalist running, and as such, have not built back up my running endurance length. That means that I have to get back up to the 3.1 mile distance before the 21st. The last run that I did was 2.75 miles at a 9:00min per mile pace. This is not bad, but the distance needs to be at least 3.1 miles. I would prefer to be running 4 – 5 miles, but I will have to work up to that point.

At work I was bombarded by some guys that road ride about joining them for some rides. At first I blew them off, but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it might be nice to get back on a road bike again. I continued to push back, but slowly started to waiver.

Years ago, and by years ago I am talking about 1988, I used to own a road bike. I remembered the rides that my brother and I would go on, and how much fun they were, but for the past 4 years I have been solidly into mountain biking. What fun could come from doing a road ride? However, there was always something that I enjoyed about going for a ride and the wind in my hair.

And then recently I started running and swimming again. People started taking note, and asking me if I was training for a triathlon. I have been doing 6 hour endurance bike races, but they take all day, and I always putter out at 4 hours. Plus, I just do not have the time to train for that.

I have just made it through the second 10th of the book. I figure this is the best way to discuss the book, as it is roughly 1200 pages long. Trying to condense a book into the thoughts of one page certainly is not worthy of the book or my time. Despite Ayn Rands claim as an icon of the Republican Party, I am of no party, and am just reading the book because of the number of people that I have heard reference it over the years.

Atlas Shrugged

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Ayn Rand wrote this book in a time that is much different and much the same as our own. The world in the book Atlas Shrugged is strange in one major way. Society has moved, as a majority, to a point where striving to do ones best is frowned upon. The assertion is that everything must be done for the greater good, and that companies attempting to make money is a bad thing.