About Me

Professional

I am currently working as a consultant and doing some writing. contact me if you need some systems administration or IS auditing.

Until May 2006, I was a Sr. Systems Administrator for Multnomah County Oregon. (A county page with some of my thoughts about working in IT for Multnomah County.) I also do occasional consulting.

In response to the excessive concern with uptime that seems to be taking over my profession, I have written - Baumler's Law of System Administration.

I am a Sun Certified Systems Administrator, a Sun Certified Network Administrator, a Sun Certified Storage Architect, a Sun Certified Security Administrator, a GIAC Certified Unix Security Administrator, GIAC Security Essentials Certified, CISA and a CISSP.

I contributed to the SANS HIPAA Security Implementation Step-by-Step Guide.


Pico

After years of a sad, dog-less existance, I finally got a dog!

Pico is a former resident of the Bonnie L Hays Small Animal Shelter in Washington County. She's about 6 years old and I'm guessing she is a runt English Cocker with maybe some standard poodle in the mix. She was trained as a hunting spaniel.

She's an absolute sweetie! We bonded almost immediately. She enjoys activities like running on the beach or going hiking (and loves to carry her dog pack) but is also perfectly happy to snooze away in my car, the yard, under my desk, or where ever it's convenient while I work.

She even gets along with the bunny.

So far we've been to the Arthritis Walk, Bark In the Park, Oregon Barks Day, the Blessing of the Animals at the Grotto and Basic Obedience Class.


We met Pico's long lost brother, General, at Bark in the Park 2005. His foster dad named him General because he thinks he looks like General George Hooker.

Hobbies

I used to be your basic techno-geek, with hobbies like video games and reading O'Reilly books. I have slightly reformed. I admit I am currently addicted to snood but I can go days without playing it (plus, I believe I should get extra non-geeky hobby credit for learning about it from reading a review in Playboy.) Reading during non-work hours is more likely to be a romance novel or my homework these days. And now that I'm in my 30's I've actually found sports I like.

I am an avid walker and Volkswalker. I am a member of the Rose City Roamers, one of several volkswalk clubs in the Portland area.

I have recently gotten interested in the shooting sports. I am the past President of the Portland chapter of the Pink Pistols.

I encourage everyone to learn at least enough about firearms to know how to be sure one is unloaded.

I am a honored to be a life member of the Rose City Discussion Club.

I like to eat. Most summers I can at least a few jars of blackberry jam and peach butter.

I strongly support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I don't always like the implications of some parts of the Constitution, but I believe we either need to support them or change them and definately not ignore them!

Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy

While I believe it is important to fight to defend our rights, we also have to use them and look at how our actions affect the existance of our ongoing rights. For instance, if two or three companies own all the bookstores and pubishing companies, do we still have freedom of speech? (If you think the answer to this question is other than "yes, absolutely", I suggest you support independant booksellers and independant presses.)