Personal - J. David Carr

Home Backup Process

August 5, 2022/in Personal, Technology/by David Carr

Over the years, I’ve had an evolving process for backing up things that are important to me. Not unlike many others, I started off creating backups on CD or DVD media, with the presumption that I could archive data (e.g., documents, photos, software) permanently this way. We now know, of course, that optical media is nowhere near permanent, with a life expectancy of 5-20 years, depending on type. I later relied on encrypted volumes in a second internal hard drive, mirrored with an external hard drive. This is certainly an improvement but also not optimal.

Zero to Ranger in 56 Days

January 27, 2022/in Personal/by David Carr

I changed jobs last summer, leaving the workers’ compensation industry for Big Tech. I love my new company and it’s hard to find anything negative to say about it. It’s huge — there are 62,000 employees globally — and the onboarding process is no joke. In addition to the normal computer-based training that centers on compliance, security and other “CYA” topics, there’s a ton of information thrown at you about the company’s culture, which is omnipresent in everything you do in the organization. And while you don’t have to remember where to go for everything you need (e.g., changing 401k contributions, ordering a new mouse) you do have to know how and where to find answers, so a significant amount of time is spent on this as well. It’s truly the most robust and successful onboarding I’ve ever seen.

Life Reorganized

October 25, 2020/in Personal/by David Carr

Life has been different here lately. Like basically every other family in America, the coronavirus pandemic has forced significant changes to the way we live. I haven’t traveled for work since January. My kids haven’t played with friends since March. They haven’t seen their grandparents in eight months.

Since my son is in virtual classes, he’s in school here at the house all day, and at six years of age, requires a fair amount of hand-holding. Throw my toddler daughter into the mix, and the day is a chaotic rodeo from about 7am until they’re in bed around 8:30pm each evening. Then my wife and I finish the work we didn’t get a chance to complete earlier. It’s exhausting.