In the even that I do not get to post anything later...happy leap day! :)
Derek
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Another beautiful day in the neighborhood...
So I finally got my snowmobile fixed...I think. The throttle lever was pushed toward the inside of the handlebars. I think it was putting some slack in the line. I pushed it all the way to the right...where a rubber bumper stops me from getting to the grip...(so I think that is where it is supposed to be...) and it seems like it may have gotten the gusto back. Sweet.
I spent a good part of the afternoon riding through the woods around the house. It is amazing how much snow is in the woods! I would say there is probably two feet in most spots...some more due to drifting. The weather looks to hold up for the better part of the week...and then into the weekend there might be a thaw as we round into Sunday. I hope not! This is the best riding I have been able to do all winter! *laugh* It is amazing how my attitude toward winter changed once my sled started acting normal...I wanted to mow the grass yesterday! :P
I rode to Alanson and went to Spanky's...I was looking for a handlebar cushion...if that is the correct term...the thing that keeps your head from bashing into the handlebars. ;) Mine is huge and takes up most of the handlebars. I would like to have more of the "racing" look...so I was looking for a smaller cushion that would JUST cover the wiring. I have no idea where I would get that...Spanky's did not have one. If you know...please let me know. :)
The HSSC is doing a fine job making sure the trails are groomed. In some spots the snow gets a bit thin...and in other spots there are some large chunks of ice/snow. Unfortunately there is not much they can do about either of the situations. The thin spots are because of heavy traffic...and ice/snow chunks are from the ice storm we had. I am not one to complain...as long as there is snow on the ground I will be riding.
I really do not have much more to talk about...nothing new at work...other than the Oklahoma quarters are now out. I picked up a roll and some loose to add to my book. I am going to take my entire collection into work one of these days to show it off. I think people will be somewhat impressed. :)
There are some new pictures up on picasa. I do not want to add them on here because they really do not pertain to anything I spoke about except for snowmobiling. So please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding for the latest pictures.
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
I spent a good part of the afternoon riding through the woods around the house. It is amazing how much snow is in the woods! I would say there is probably two feet in most spots...some more due to drifting. The weather looks to hold up for the better part of the week...and then into the weekend there might be a thaw as we round into Sunday. I hope not! This is the best riding I have been able to do all winter! *laugh* It is amazing how my attitude toward winter changed once my sled started acting normal...I wanted to mow the grass yesterday! :P
I rode to Alanson and went to Spanky's...I was looking for a handlebar cushion...if that is the correct term...the thing that keeps your head from bashing into the handlebars. ;) Mine is huge and takes up most of the handlebars. I would like to have more of the "racing" look...so I was looking for a smaller cushion that would JUST cover the wiring. I have no idea where I would get that...Spanky's did not have one. If you know...please let me know. :)
The HSSC is doing a fine job making sure the trails are groomed. In some spots the snow gets a bit thin...and in other spots there are some large chunks of ice/snow. Unfortunately there is not much they can do about either of the situations. The thin spots are because of heavy traffic...and ice/snow chunks are from the ice storm we had. I am not one to complain...as long as there is snow on the ground I will be riding.
I really do not have much more to talk about...nothing new at work...other than the Oklahoma quarters are now out. I picked up a roll and some loose to add to my book. I am going to take my entire collection into work one of these days to show it off. I think people will be somewhat impressed. :)
There are some new pictures up on picasa. I do not want to add them on here because they really do not pertain to anything I spoke about except for snowmobiling. So please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding for the latest pictures.
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
Sunday, February 24, 2008
My three day weekend...
I took Friday off so I could spend the day with the wife. We went to Traverse City and hung out there for the afternoon. It was a good time knowing that I finally was taking a day off. The last day off I had was during the last week of July 2007. Far too long for comfort. Unfortunately there is not a policy that IT people have to have X amount of time off when you are the only IT guy. Usually it is put into place as a system of checks and balances to make sure you are not trying to get away with anything.
Anyway, we went to TC and walked around the mall...hit up Sam's Club...and stopped at Gander Mountain. In all the times I have been to TC I never knew they had a Gander Mountain. I would have made that my first stop every single time. I have been wanting a new sleeping bag since summer last year. I finally found one at Sam's Club...unfortunately it will not be good for summer camping. Most of the time I just take some blankets anyway. It is a 0 degree Swiss Gear bag. The best part...it only cost $28. Perfect for me. :P I fit into it nicely. I think it might even be a little bit long...but that is great. They had a Swiss Gear pack as well...that I got for the wife/myself. I am sure we will both end up using it. I have my North Face pack...but it is a bit bigger. If I make it to TC again I will pick up another for sure.
Then Saturday was a fairly laid back day. I started by building a
shelter out in the woods. The first method was awful and would have never held up under harsh conditions. The second method was great though. If I had a tarp or emergency blanket twice the size of the two that I used...it would have been perfect. If it were to rain I would be concerned that water would come in. BUT for winter it would work great. I started right here with a nice bed of snow. You might make fun of me because it was just in the back yard...but I did my best to make it seem like it was in the middle of nowhere. I picked a spot on the North East side of a hill. It was an attempt at keeping a bulk of the wind on the opposite side of the hill. It did seem to work. The only thing that kept it from being a true survival experience...is the snowmobile trails that I had created. I do not have snowshoes...so that helped out a bunch. I suppose you could even consider this a survival experience for a snowmobiler. If my sled were to break down in the middle of nowhere...I would be ready. I carry a pack with fire starting materials and shelter building materials. I guess I could go over what I carry too. So once I chose my spot I start 
digging a hole with a small camp shovel. The snow has three different layers of ice through it...so the shovel was very handy. I made it just about body length and shoulder width. It ended up being too long once I started moving in and out of it. I got some pine branches for a nearby pine forest. Those are tough to find in this area...we are mainly hardwood. BUT since it was there...I took advantage. :P I trekked across the snowmobile tracks and used a small hatchet to hack down some of the pine branches and brough them back. The first trip did not bring back quite enough...so I had to go yet another time. In a 
survival situation this would be handy because it would give me an opportunity to check out the area before dark. Is there anything edible around? Possibly a stream for water? Where I was there was absolutely nothing. There were critters running around...so I could have eaten if I could catch them...and there is plenty of snow around to melt back into water. So after I scoped out the area and brought all of the pine branches back I laid them down into the bottom of the hole I had dug. I tested them out and it was certainly better than laying on the cold snow. The hole was large 
enough and all seemed to be going good. I will tell you how I made the first shelter cover rather than posting pictures of it. I wrapped surival blankets around a long branch. I got a "Y" stick and pounded it into the snow. Another long branch was set on the uphill side of the shelter and was set into the "Y" on the other end. I then unrolled the emergency blankets overtop and put another branch on the other side to hold it down. Ultimately it looked kind of like a pup tent. This would have been great if I had a larger cover like a tarp. The emergency blankets just were not big enough. In the cold you would also want to consider keeping it smaller so that there is less room to have to heat up. In a bit of a bigger shelter you could possibly get a candle going. Candles provide lots of heat for their size. :) Now onto the shelter that I should have built the first time. I changed the frame a bit. I just laid branches across the hole in the ground to hold the cover up. If it snowed this shelter would make more sense. It would be much harder to collapse. Once the 
branches were down I laid the emergency blankets across the top...set branches down along the edges and packed snow around them. I did not take a picture of the branches across the top...I was getting warm at this point and just wanted to get it done. So I crawled inside to test it out. :) It was a bit snug and not very tall because the snow was not incredibly deep. BUT...in a situation where I was trapped in the woods...it was perfect. The branch you see on top...was originally a tree laying across the middle of my hole. I did not want to change my spot so I just used my hatchet to hack it up and figured it would be a great support...or atleast be useful somehow. :P I snapped one picture from the outside. You will see very well here that the hole got a bit bigger once I was 
moving in and out. So I think the best thing would be to maybe use a pack or pine branches to cover the end of the hole. Being that the wind would typically come from the other direction...that would work. The picture from the inside does not show much...other than the gaping hole at the end. I had to go in backwards to take it...so it
is not a very good picture. So aside from the gigantic hole at the end from having to redesign the shelter...I think it was fairly successful. I left everything out there overnight to see if the wind would pick any of it up. I still need to check that out...but I predict everything is left as it was. We had 5-10 mph winds this morning when I woke up. We shall see.
Anyway, we went to TC and walked around the mall...hit up Sam's Club...and stopped at Gander Mountain. In all the times I have been to TC I never knew they had a Gander Mountain. I would have made that my first stop every single time. I have been wanting a new sleeping bag since summer last year. I finally found one at Sam's Club...unfortunately it will not be good for summer camping. Most of the time I just take some blankets anyway. It is a 0 degree Swiss Gear bag. The best part...it only cost $28. Perfect for me. :P I fit into it nicely. I think it might even be a little bit long...but that is great. They had a Swiss Gear pack as well...that I got for the wife/myself. I am sure we will both end up using it. I have my North Face pack...but it is a bit bigger. If I make it to TC again I will pick up another for sure.
Then Saturday was a fairly laid back day. I started by building a
shelter out in the woods. The first method was awful and would have never held up under harsh conditions. The second method was great though. If I had a tarp or emergency blanket twice the size of the two that I used...it would have been perfect. If it were to rain I would be concerned that water would come in. BUT for winter it would work great. I started right here with a nice bed of snow. You might make fun of me because it was just in the back yard...but I did my best to make it seem like it was in the middle of nowhere. I picked a spot on the North East side of a hill. It was an attempt at keeping a bulk of the wind on the opposite side of the hill. It did seem to work. The only thing that kept it from being a true survival experience...is the snowmobile trails that I had created. I do not have snowshoes...so that helped out a bunch. I suppose you could even consider this a survival experience for a snowmobiler. If my sled were to break down in the middle of nowhere...I would be ready. I carry a pack with fire starting materials and shelter building materials. I guess I could go over what I carry too. So once I chose my spot I start 
digging a hole with a small camp shovel. The snow has three different layers of ice through it...so the shovel was very handy. I made it just about body length and shoulder width. It ended up being too long once I started moving in and out of it. I got some pine branches for a nearby pine forest. Those are tough to find in this area...we are mainly hardwood. BUT since it was there...I took advantage. :P I trekked across the snowmobile tracks and used a small hatchet to hack down some of the pine branches and brough them back. The first trip did not bring back quite enough...so I had to go yet another time. In a 
survival situation this would be handy because it would give me an opportunity to check out the area before dark. Is there anything edible around? Possibly a stream for water? Where I was there was absolutely nothing. There were critters running around...so I could have eaten if I could catch them...and there is plenty of snow around to melt back into water. So after I scoped out the area and brought all of the pine branches back I laid them down into the bottom of the hole I had dug. I tested them out and it was certainly better than laying on the cold snow. The hole was large 
enough and all seemed to be going good. I will tell you how I made the first shelter cover rather than posting pictures of it. I wrapped surival blankets around a long branch. I got a "Y" stick and pounded it into the snow. Another long branch was set on the uphill side of the shelter and was set into the "Y" on the other end. I then unrolled the emergency blankets overtop and put another branch on the other side to hold it down. Ultimately it looked kind of like a pup tent. This would have been great if I had a larger cover like a tarp. The emergency blankets just were not big enough. In the cold you would also want to consider keeping it smaller so that there is less room to have to heat up. In a bit of a bigger shelter you could possibly get a candle going. Candles provide lots of heat for their size. :) Now onto the shelter that I should have built the first time. I changed the frame a bit. I just laid branches across the hole in the ground to hold the cover up. If it snowed this shelter would make more sense. It would be much harder to collapse. Once the 
branches were down I laid the emergency blankets across the top...set branches down along the edges and packed snow around them. I did not take a picture of the branches across the top...I was getting warm at this point and just wanted to get it done. So I crawled inside to test it out. :) It was a bit snug and not very tall because the snow was not incredibly deep. BUT...in a situation where I was trapped in the woods...it was perfect. The branch you see on top...was originally a tree laying across the middle of my hole. I did not want to change my spot so I just used my hatchet to hack it up and figured it would be a great support...or atleast be useful somehow. :P I snapped one picture from the outside. You will see very well here that the hole got a bit bigger once I was 
moving in and out. So I think the best thing would be to maybe use a pack or pine branches to cover the end of the hole. Being that the wind would typically come from the other direction...that would work. The picture from the inside does not show much...other than the gaping hole at the end. I had to go in backwards to take it...so it
is not a very good picture. So aside from the gigantic hole at the end from having to redesign the shelter...I think it was fairly successful. I left everything out there overnight to see if the wind would pick any of it up. I still need to check that out...but I predict everything is left as it was. We had 5-10 mph winds this morning when I woke up. We shall see.So now the shelter talk is done. I tried to go snowmobiling yesterday...but my throttle response seems to have diminished greatly since I got the sled back. It does not want to go over 60 or so. I had to give it full throttle just to make it up a hill. Ouch! I think it is starving for gas for some reason. It was warm out yesterday...with a fresh tank of gas...so any ice should have melted out. So I guess it might be back to the mechanic. I will not take responsibility for the problem though...I have only driven it twice since I got it back...and noticed it both times.
The weather is holding up nicely. We are reaching into the low 30s today. The snow grows closer every day...with chances for snow for a better part of the week. Highs after Monday will struggle to make it out of the mid teens for the first half of the week...and then climb a bit into the 20s for the remainder of the week. Good weather for snowmobiling! If it worked. :( I am afraid to use it...I do not want to burn anything up.
Anyway...enough for now. I hope you like the pictures of the shelter. If you have other ideas for shelters let me know. I drew a picture of a shelter to build this spring. I call it "The Onion." I will upload a picture of that once I scan it. I think it is a great design...but would be more useful as an actual hut than a shelter. If you were planning on doing some winter hiking and did not want to have to build a shelter when you arrived at your destination...it would rock to have this pre-built.
Have a good one!
-Derek
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Winter storm warning....for all the wrong reasons....
Well...I am quickly growing to not trust anyone. It has been raining/sleeting all morning. Fortunately a fairly thick layer of ice is now covering our snow...which is protecting the snow from the rain. The driveway and road are both covered with ice. It will be a nightmare once we start getting some snow. Right now it is exactly 31 degrees at the house...and the snowfall predictions have diminished. NWS predicts 2-4 today, 2-4 tonight, and 1-3 tomorrow. While that COULD lead to up to around a food of new snow...I have said it before...we will probably be lucky to see 4...if that. Just my prediction. I will find out tomorrow morning if I am right. ;)
Yesterday we drove around and took some pictures. Nothing too incredible...but an updated picture of Little Traverse Bay. The bay is now frozen over. In the picture toward the back...you can see the different colored ice. I imagine that is where it is not truly ice yet? I am not sure. I know for a fact that I would NOT walk on it. However...there were some very brave souls fishing just past the end of the breakwall. I hope they caught something because I believe they are truly insane. The bay froze on the 12th if I recall 
correctly. It was four days frozen...I cannot imagine it was much thicker than a few inches. NOT for me. :P Town was quite busy being a three day weekend for most people. (Not me...I will be slaving away in the office as usual on a holiday.) So I did not have much opportunity to snap a lot of pictures. I did get a couple of the waterfront and what I think is a really cool shot of downtown. from Rose St. The waterfront was fairly slow. They do not plow it out very well in the winter so I imagine most people just try to avoid going down there. I was going to try to find 
some ice caves but the snowbanks were a bit too high to climb without having winter clothes on. The picture of the waterfront is a fairly frequently reproduced image in Petoskey. People seem to think that the clock and the docks are the image of Petoskey. I beg to differ. Petoskey was not, and even now is not, the bustling way type community that other places are. The sunsets may be pretty...but you can see it in many other places in Michigan. The thing that separates Petoskey from other places is the history behind it. I will not go into the history since I am not 
here to talk about that. What I will do is show a part of the history. This picture from Rose St. faces the opposite direction of the bay. I turned a 180 and took this picture after taking the bay pictures. The gaslight lamps and the old buildings help to illustrate the heart of Petoskey. The streets bustling with shoppers and cars lining the streets. Now picture it 100 or so years ago. The same gas lamps, the same buildings, and possibly a couple Model T's parked along the edge of the street. I was not there...and I am not a historian...so I do not know if that is how it really was. It just seems so easy to picture it that way. In 1908 Henry Ford developed his low priced Model T. That is the only reason I brought that into the story. ;) I am not an incredibly good story teller...so there is probably very little value to what I said. As I mentioned though...it just seems easy to see it as I described.
some ice caves but the snowbanks were a bit too high to climb without having winter clothes on. The picture of the waterfront is a fairly frequently reproduced image in Petoskey. People seem to think that the clock and the docks are the image of Petoskey. I beg to differ. Petoskey was not, and even now is not, the bustling way type community that other places are. The sunsets may be pretty...but you can see it in many other places in Michigan. The thing that separates Petoskey from other places is the history behind it. I will not go into the history since I am not 
here to talk about that. What I will do is show a part of the history. This picture from Rose St. faces the opposite direction of the bay. I turned a 180 and took this picture after taking the bay pictures. The gaslight lamps and the old buildings help to illustrate the heart of Petoskey. The streets bustling with shoppers and cars lining the streets. Now picture it 100 or so years ago. The same gas lamps, the same buildings, and possibly a couple Model T's parked along the edge of the street. I was not there...and I am not a historian...so I do not know if that is how it really was. It just seems so easy to picture it that way. In 1908 Henry Ford developed his low priced Model T. That is the only reason I brought that into the story. ;) I am not an incredibly good story teller...so there is probably very little value to what I said. As I mentioned though...it just seems easy to see it as I described.Anyway...it is still raining and sleeting...so hopefully soon it will turn to snow and everything will be icy and slippery...and I will not be able to go to work tomorrow. *laugh* I have not been a big fan lately...but we will see how Monday goes. :)
Have a good one!
-Derek
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Winter Storm Watch!
I always seem to get fairly excited when the NWS issues a winter storm advisory. The last couple have not been all they were cracked up to be...but this time it seems that everyone is agreeing that tomorrow we will see around eight inches of snow. Temperatures look to ALMOST jump over the freezing mark...but in our area it sure does look like we will just receive snow. Other areas south of us could seem some freezing rain, sleet, and snow mix. I am crossing my fingers that all of that will stay south of here. Especially since I just got my sled back last night!
I went into Alanson last night to pick it up. I drove it home and all seemed to go well. The suspension changes are going to take just a LITTLE getting used to. It seems to be a bit more tippy that it used to be now that the back is a bit harder and the front is quite a bit softer. I drove it through all sorts of powder and it cut through like butter. It used to nose dive. I am VERY pleased with how it turned out! There is still all sorts of powder in the woods...in most spots around here we have enough snow that you can just fly through the woods and get off the trails. I spent the majority of this morning just cutting up powder in our woods behind the house. If we get 8 inches more...it will be a good thing that I cut some trails. I then went down to Alanson to buy gas. The entire time the temperature was sitting around 28 degrees. The sled did not overheat ONCE. I railed on it pretty hard on my way down...and then rode quite a bit once I got back...still no overheating. I am assuming that between the coolant flush and the welding of the holes int he heat exchange it will perform a heck of a lot better now.
I forgot my camera again so I do not have any pictures of the trail. The trail is pretty much the trail though. They have been grooming a LOT for President's Day weekend. The trails are primarily snow covered...I did not stop to check the base. In spots the snow gets a bit dirty but I did not find a single spot that I hit bare ground or rocks. In our yard the snow is just over knee high...which I am guessing to be around 24-26" in most spots.
What am I doing inside you ask? I have no one to ride with! :( I told everyone that I did not want to ride until I got to test my sled out...so I have no groups to hang out in. Doh! It gave me some time to work on my dad's sled through. I got the temperature inside the hood warm enough to thaw out whatever was frozen up. It runs great now!
Anyway...if anyone around the Harbor Springs area reads my blog and would like to go for a ride...just leave a comment. I will get it in myh email.
If you DO read my blog...and do not live around here...leave a comment anyway. :)
-Derek
I went into Alanson last night to pick it up. I drove it home and all seemed to go well. The suspension changes are going to take just a LITTLE getting used to. It seems to be a bit more tippy that it used to be now that the back is a bit harder and the front is quite a bit softer. I drove it through all sorts of powder and it cut through like butter. It used to nose dive. I am VERY pleased with how it turned out! There is still all sorts of powder in the woods...in most spots around here we have enough snow that you can just fly through the woods and get off the trails. I spent the majority of this morning just cutting up powder in our woods behind the house. If we get 8 inches more...it will be a good thing that I cut some trails. I then went down to Alanson to buy gas. The entire time the temperature was sitting around 28 degrees. The sled did not overheat ONCE. I railed on it pretty hard on my way down...and then rode quite a bit once I got back...still no overheating. I am assuming that between the coolant flush and the welding of the holes int he heat exchange it will perform a heck of a lot better now.
I forgot my camera again so I do not have any pictures of the trail. The trail is pretty much the trail though. They have been grooming a LOT for President's Day weekend. The trails are primarily snow covered...I did not stop to check the base. In spots the snow gets a bit dirty but I did not find a single spot that I hit bare ground or rocks. In our yard the snow is just over knee high...which I am guessing to be around 24-26" in most spots.
What am I doing inside you ask? I have no one to ride with! :( I told everyone that I did not want to ride until I got to test my sled out...so I have no groups to hang out in. Doh! It gave me some time to work on my dad's sled through. I got the temperature inside the hood warm enough to thaw out whatever was frozen up. It runs great now!
Anyway...if anyone around the Harbor Springs area reads my blog and would like to go for a ride...just leave a comment. I will get it in myh email.
If you DO read my blog...and do not live around here...leave a comment anyway. :)
-Derek
Friday, February 15, 2008
Another batch script...
Since I am already talking about them...I will display the rest of my batch scripts. This one searches ipconfig for the IP and Gateway that it displays...records a user logon to a text file on the server and then maps printers based on location of the gateway displayed. It is launched upon login by another START script. I have removed the visual aspect of the user information being recorded...so I start it minimized so the user does not have to look at it while waiting for the printers to be mapped.
@ECHO OFF
SET PATH = C:\WINDOWS
for /f "tokens=13" %%a in ('ipconfig ^ find "Default Gateway"') do set Gateway=%%a
for /f "tokens=15" %%b in ('ipconfig ^ find "IP Address"') do set IPAddress=%%b
:INTRO
goto BANNER
:BANNER
echo.
echo Welcome to the network.
echo.
echo USER LOGON EVENT >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo You are user: %username% logged in on PC: %computername%.
echo You are user: %username% logged in on PC: %computername%. >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo Your IP Address is: %IPAddress%.
echo Your IP Address is: %IPAddress%. >>\\mi08admin2\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo You are connected to %logonserver% at %time% %date%.
echo You are connected to %logonserver% at %time% %date%. >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo This information has been recorded.
echo.
pause
cls
goto FINDGATEWAY
:FINDGATEWAY
IF %Gateway% == X.X.1.1 GOTO LOC1
IF %Gateway% == X.X.1.2 GOTO LOC1
IF %Gateway% == X.X.2.1 GOTO LOC2
IF %Gateway% == X.X.3.1 GOTO LOC3
cls
echo.
echo Gateway cannot be determined at this time.
echo Please check your network connections.
echo If this problem persists please contact the IT Department.
echo.
pause
exit
:LOC1
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC1...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
exit
:LOC2
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC2...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
exit
:LOC3
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC3...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername3"
exit
@ECHO OFF
SET PATH = C:\WINDOWS
for /f "tokens=13" %%a in ('ipconfig ^ find "Default Gateway"') do set Gateway=%%a
for /f "tokens=15" %%b in ('ipconfig ^ find "IP Address"') do set IPAddress=%%b
:INTRO
goto BANNER
:BANNER
echo.
echo Welcome to the network.
echo.
echo USER LOGON EVENT >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo You are user: %username% logged in on PC: %computername%.
echo You are user: %username% logged in on PC: %computername%. >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo Your IP Address is: %IPAddress%.
echo Your IP Address is: %IPAddress%. >>\\mi08admin2\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo You are connected to %logonserver% at %time% %date%.
echo You are connected to %logonserver% at %time% %date%. >>\\SERVERNAME\UserLogs\login.txt
echo.
echo This information has been recorded.
echo.
pause
cls
goto FINDGATEWAY
:FINDGATEWAY
IF %Gateway% == X.X.1.1 GOTO LOC1
IF %Gateway% == X.X.1.2 GOTO LOC1
IF %Gateway% == X.X.2.1 GOTO LOC2
IF %Gateway% == X.X.3.1 GOTO LOC3
cls
echo.
echo Gateway cannot be determined at this time.
echo Please check your network connections.
echo If this problem persists please contact the IT Department.
echo.
pause
exit
:LOC1
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC1...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
exit
:LOC2
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC2...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
exit
:LOC3
cls
echo Creating local printers for LOC3...please wait.
echo.
echo This window will automatically close.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername1"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername2"
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /u /n"\\SERVERNAME\printername3"
exit
Circuit monitoring batch script...
I usually try not to bring work into my blog...but I thought this was kind of cool after I got it working. It is a batch script that will monitor a particular IP address, you can add if you would like, on a network. In my case it was to monitor a gateway router to ensure a circuit was not down. I used a combination of DOS's choice.com and a command line email program called mailsend.exe. Choice.com is simply used as a counter...up to 99. So the script will repeat itself every 99 seconds. Mailsend.exe reads a text file and send a notice to an email address that the circuit did not reply to a ping.
This has only been tested briefly in Windows XP...I did not try it in any other OS and I have not done too much digging into the inner workings...but I imagine it would work for small shops that do not want to purchase software to do it.
If you use it, please leave a comment and let me know what you are using it for, and upload any changes you have made.
Enjoy!
@ECHO OFF
rem This was created to monitor a T1 circuit and router.
rem It will send a ping to the router, attempting 4 times, to connect.
rem If it connects it will wait 1.65 minutes until the next attempt.
rem If it does not connect it sends an email to a user.
rem Needed files: choice.com, mailsend.exe, message.txt, up.txt, down.txt, cirmon.bat
SET PATH = C:\cirmon
:INTRO
rem Replace XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX with the IP you wish to monitor.
for /f "tokens=3" %%a in ('ping XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX ^ find "Reply from"') do set Found=%%a
if %Found% == XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX: GOTO WHOOHOO
if NOT %Found% == XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX: GOTO UHOH
:WHOOHOO
c:\cirmon\choice.com /n /t:c,99 /c:cc
echo circuit is up.
echo circuit is up. >> c:\cirmon\up.txt
echo %time% %date%
echo %time% %date% >> c:\cirmon\up.txt
goto INTRO
:UHOH
echo circuit is down.
echo circuit is down. >> c:\cirmon\down.txt
echo %time% %date%
echo %time% %date% >> c:\cirmon\down.txt
c:\cirmon\mailsend.exe -v < message.txt
c:\cirmon\choice.com /n /t:c,99 /c:cc
goto INTRO
I hope you will find this useful. I don't know what kind of format blogger is going to put on the text...but hopefully it shows up ok. If you need the additional files choice.com and mailsend.exe you can either google them...or I can point you in the right direction.
Have a good one!
-Derek
This has only been tested briefly in Windows XP...I did not try it in any other OS and I have not done too much digging into the inner workings...but I imagine it would work for small shops that do not want to purchase software to do it.
If you use it, please leave a comment and let me know what you are using it for, and upload any changes you have made.
Enjoy!
@ECHO OFF
rem This was created to monitor a T1 circuit and router.
rem It will send a ping to the router, attempting 4 times, to connect.
rem If it connects it will wait 1.65 minutes until the next attempt.
rem If it does not connect it sends an email to a user.
rem Needed files: choice.com, mailsend.exe, message.txt, up.txt, down.txt, cirmon.bat
SET PATH = C:\cirmon
:INTRO
rem Replace XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX with the IP you wish to monitor.
for /f "tokens=3" %%a in ('ping XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX ^ find "Reply from"') do set Found=%%a
if %Found% == XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX: GOTO WHOOHOO
if NOT %Found% == XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX: GOTO UHOH
:WHOOHOO
c:\cirmon\choice.com /n /t:c,99 /c:cc
echo circuit is up.
echo circuit is up. >> c:\cirmon\up.txt
echo %time% %date%
echo %time% %date% >> c:\cirmon\up.txt
goto INTRO
:UHOH
echo circuit is down.
echo circuit is down. >> c:\cirmon\down.txt
echo %time% %date%
echo %time% %date% >> c:\cirmon\down.txt
c:\cirmon\mailsend.exe -v < message.txt
c:\cirmon\choice.com /n /t:c,99 /c:cc
goto INTRO
I hope you will find this useful. I don't know what kind of format blogger is going to put on the text...but hopefully it shows up ok. If you need the additional files choice.com and mailsend.exe you can either google them...or I can point you in the right direction.
Have a good one!
-Derek
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The coldest day so far...
I did forget to mention yesterday that it was the coldest day of the year thus far! We had -10.3 degrees at around 7:45 AM. Crazy! It felt great though. :P
We picked up a few more inches of snow overnight and into this afternoon. Most of it is just powder...but I will take it. We are up to 22" of snow on the ground now. That is quite a bit more than the last few years this time. Last year today we were in the 8-12" range on the ground. Today we are in the 20-30" range. That is exciting! Now we just need it to fill our lakes up a bit. (Stop draining them Jennifer Granholm!!!!) The good news is the bay is frozen over finally. I will have pictures of it soon...I forgot the camera today. :(
Hopefully my sled will be done in the next day or so...no call today so I assume tomorrow. My fingers are crossed!
Everyone drink to great opportunities and successful futures tonight okay? I know I will be!
Have a great evening!
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
We picked up a few more inches of snow overnight and into this afternoon. Most of it is just powder...but I will take it. We are up to 22" of snow on the ground now. That is quite a bit more than the last few years this time. Last year today we were in the 8-12" range on the ground. Today we are in the 20-30" range. That is exciting! Now we just need it to fill our lakes up a bit. (Stop draining them Jennifer Granholm!!!!) The good news is the bay is frozen over finally. I will have pictures of it soon...I forgot the camera today. :(
Hopefully my sled will be done in the next day or so...no call today so I assume tomorrow. My fingers are crossed!
Everyone drink to great opportunities and successful futures tonight okay? I know I will be!
Have a great evening!
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I'm back!
Now...I really was not missing. BUT it sure seems like I have been. Between work and trying to keep up with the falling snow and all of the other responsibilities...I have not had much spare time. I have been trying to sleep less and work more...but it is not working well. :P
I have some pictures to share! Since I have not done much riding...I will post a couple from my last ride two weekends ago...and then some that the wife took the other day while running around in town. The picture to the left is of Mackinac Island from the Lake Huron side of the bridge. The straits were nearly iced over...nowhere near thick enough to walk on though. To the east a bit further there was a bunch of ice piled up which was very 
pretty...but I did not stop to take a picture. Doh! This picture to the right is a great picture of the breakwall in Petoskey. It was taken just down the street from the Perry Hotel. It turned out really good! It would be fairly pretty if it were centered and framed in my opinion. There are a few more of them but this is the best. Honestly I do not have many more pictures to share on my laptop. I will update on my home PC at some point with more pictures from Mackinaw. I have a few of the bridge that I would like to 
upload. The last picture I will upload tonight (since my internet connection is flakey for some reason) is of my snowmobile. It is the coolant leak that was found. You would not think such a small leak would cause problems...but I guess between the coolant leaking and air sucking into the system...it could. We will see tomorrow. I am REALLY hoping to get out and ride tomorrow so I can get some pictures to post. I feel bad that the blog has gone inactive for some period lately. Mainly it is because I do not have anything exciting to talk about. I am possibly going to take vacation soon...so I should have some time to get out and about to snap some pictures and do things worth mentioning.
So we got a bunch of snow over the weekend. Probably about eight inches total. We are now up to about 22 inches on the ground! That is FAR more than last year this time. You would really think that I would be excited about that. I still do not have my sled back! There is good news though. I should get it back tomorrow. I cannot complain about the length of time...it should be a much better deal than taking it to a dealer to be fixed.
I have some pictures to share! Since I have not done much riding...I will post a couple from my last ride two weekends ago...and then some that the wife took the other day while running around in town. The picture to the left is of Mackinac Island from the Lake Huron side of the bridge. The straits were nearly iced over...nowhere near thick enough to walk on though. To the east a bit further there was a bunch of ice piled up which was very 
pretty...but I did not stop to take a picture. Doh! This picture to the right is a great picture of the breakwall in Petoskey. It was taken just down the street from the Perry Hotel. It turned out really good! It would be fairly pretty if it were centered and framed in my opinion. There are a few more of them but this is the best. Honestly I do not have many more pictures to share on my laptop. I will update on my home PC at some point with more pictures from Mackinaw. I have a few of the bridge that I would like to 
upload. The last picture I will upload tonight (since my internet connection is flakey for some reason) is of my snowmobile. It is the coolant leak that was found. You would not think such a small leak would cause problems...but I guess between the coolant leaking and air sucking into the system...it could. We will see tomorrow. I am REALLY hoping to get out and ride tomorrow so I can get some pictures to post. I feel bad that the blog has gone inactive for some period lately. Mainly it is because I do not have anything exciting to talk about. I am possibly going to take vacation soon...so I should have some time to get out and about to snap some pictures and do things worth mentioning. So the weather looks like it is going to continue snowing daily. Nothing crazy...but enough to add maybe an inch or two per day. That is a good thing! The most snow the longer the snowmobile season...and with me being inactive for some of the best riding this season...I need all the snow I can get. ;) Temperatures look to stay fairly chilly through atleast the next five days. Lows will be in the single digits until Friday...highs will be in the high 10s and low 20s. Thursday night into Friday is our next best chance for snow from what it looks like...with potential of 4+ inches. However that is just potential...nothing set in stone. After that it looks like we may be in store for 4-8 inches through the next week and a half. It sure would be great to get more snow! I want shoulder high snowbanks by the end of the month! ;)
My note about buying snowshoes still stands. If anyone has an aluminum pair that they would part with for near nothing...shoot me an email or just leave a comment. Your comments are always welcome! I want input on what you would like to see on this site. Just let me know!
I am proud to say that in the last 30 days my blog has seen 78 NEW visitors! Not bad for 30 days! Congratulations to outdoorsmi! :)
Enough rambling for now. Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
Saturday, February 2, 2008
North Country Trail
I saw a visitor who searched for North Country Trail information and reached my blog! I hope that I can post more once spring arrives. It is the middle of winter here (as I am sure you know) so I have not been able to go out hiking. I need a pair of snowshoes...so if someone has a used pair that they want to get rid of (preferably a 250+ pound pair) I would be very interested...so long as they are in good shape.
If you are interested in North Country Trail hiking in Northern Michigan...as I mentioned a while back...my friend is writing a book about it...so we should be out and about as early as possible in the spring. I will be taking more photos to put online and supply to the book. In his book he will have a map and information about all of the sites and things to do along the trail. It should be a pretty fun spring and summer of hiking! I have lost some weight since last time we hiked...so maybe it will not kill me. ;) Some of the hills around here are pure torture. On that note...we will be doing some overnight trips too...so if you are into the survival scene...we may be interested in getting a few more people to go along. Leave me a comment if you are interested!
Okay...now I think it is goodnight for sure...you can ALWAYS leave me a comment to hear more about anything in particular. I can provide local snowmobile trail updates...local weather conditions...etc. Once we get camping again I will post a BUNCH more survival information.
Goodnight!
-Derek
If you are interested in North Country Trail hiking in Northern Michigan...as I mentioned a while back...my friend is writing a book about it...so we should be out and about as early as possible in the spring. I will be taking more photos to put online and supply to the book. In his book he will have a map and information about all of the sites and things to do along the trail. It should be a pretty fun spring and summer of hiking! I have lost some weight since last time we hiked...so maybe it will not kill me. ;) Some of the hills around here are pure torture. On that note...we will be doing some overnight trips too...so if you are into the survival scene...we may be interested in getting a few more people to go along. Leave me a comment if you are interested!
Okay...now I think it is goodnight for sure...you can ALWAYS leave me a comment to hear more about anything in particular. I can provide local snowmobile trail updates...local weather conditions...etc. Once we get camping again I will post a BUNCH more survival information.
Goodnight!
-Derek
A bittersweet day...
The good news...is I have my sled back and I got to ride today! I went out and hit the trails toward Alanson this afternoon. On my way back toward the house...I was nearly hit by three different sleds in one group. First one...went by with inches to spare. Second one...a little more because he saw the first. Third one...was far enough behind to not see what happened...and came flying around the corner on MY side of the trail...and his track hit my ski. I wrote it off because it happens...I just hope that it makes them all think about driving a bit slower. I learned another lesson about driving too fast today too. I hit a nasty drift on a two track and nearly went over my handlebars. Gnarly...and unexpected. I drove a bit slower after that...but no problems with my sled so far! I am going out again tomorrow with a guy from work...so we shall see what happens. The sled goes back on Monday to get some suspension work...and to replace some bearings that could potentially go bad.
The bad news...is MSU lost to an undeserving Penn State tonight. Take a look at the stats for the game and you will instantly see why PSU won. The refs were harsh toward MSU with a total of 31 personal fouls. PSU only had 21. MSU was 14-21 from the line...PSU was 34-51. Shooting the teams were fairly equal...except for 3 point attempts. MSU was 2-14. PSU was 9-22. The fouls absolutely killed MSU...but that is just my opinion. They were much better in regards to turnovers tonight...but geez..they could not shoot for beans on the outside. Neitzel was shut down by PSU...which hurt tremendously. The final score was 76-85...PSU. So our ranking again will be slaughtered...while some turd team gets to finally breathe after they lost SIX IN A ROW. There was absolutely no reason for PSU to win tonight...other than poor officiating. Life will go on.
Anyway...hopefully MSU will do better in the future...and hopefully my sled will perform perfect tomorrow and the ride will be a great one.
It is already getting late...and I need to wake up early to get rolling for the ride. Happy Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow...I will not be watching. :P Whoever the undefeated team is...I hope they win...but I honestly could care less. ;)
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
The bad news...is MSU lost to an undeserving Penn State tonight. Take a look at the stats for the game and you will instantly see why PSU won. The refs were harsh toward MSU with a total of 31 personal fouls. PSU only had 21. MSU was 14-21 from the line...PSU was 34-51. Shooting the teams were fairly equal...except for 3 point attempts. MSU was 2-14. PSU was 9-22. The fouls absolutely killed MSU...but that is just my opinion. They were much better in regards to turnovers tonight...but geez..they could not shoot for beans on the outside. Neitzel was shut down by PSU...which hurt tremendously. The final score was 76-85...PSU. So our ranking again will be slaughtered...while some turd team gets to finally breathe after they lost SIX IN A ROW. There was absolutely no reason for PSU to win tonight...other than poor officiating. Life will go on.
Anyway...hopefully MSU will do better in the future...and hopefully my sled will perform perfect tomorrow and the ride will be a great one.
It is already getting late...and I need to wake up early to get rolling for the ride. Happy Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow...I will not be watching. :P Whoever the undefeated team is...I hope they win...but I honestly could care less. ;)
Goodnight from Northern Michigan!
-Derek
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