Blogger's Worst Nightmare...the Firewall

Tweet IT folk are a curious lot. We had made a decision at my firm some time ago to install upgraded firewall software to protect our network from external viruses and the like, more powerful than the one that we had. I had some concerns (not for me) that this could be perceived as just another Big Brother move by 'the powers that be' by our staff and voiced them in a meeting. I said a lot of people work really hard and if they want to blow off a few minutes a day (especially if they are working until 7 or 8 at night for us) why can't they check their Facebook or external email accounts, or watch a youtube video, etc., it's not like we're IBM. Well, in typical IT fashion we all received an email at 4.55pm (convenient) that the firewall is up and if you're blocked on a site give me the business reason for unlocking it. The 'ole chuck and duck, I know it well. Facebook....blocked. Twinspires....blocked. Youtube....blocked. Aspiring Horseplayer....blocked. (Note to those who put the word "gambling" in their titles or profiles) I check some other sites like DRF, TBA, my blog, brisnet, Hotmail....not blocked. I will live as I can access Facebook and Twinspires from my phone, it'll just be a pain in the arse. Like I said, I wasn't worried about me.

The Space Gal and I have this running joke about The Man. She likes to work for The Man and she likes to tell me I am The Man. She says she doesn't have to worry about her next paycheck and she can live with the corporate BS (although it seems to be the constant complaint, rightly so, I may add) Some freedom comes with being The Man, but also a shat load of responsibility such as feeding 90 people's families, guaranteeing bank debt, making payroll, etc. We've always tried to avoid instituting all the typical corporate BS at our firm, but it gets harder and harder when you grow like we have. I came from a corporate environment and I'll never go back. I'm sure we'll unlock Facebook, as I've put forth a group initiative to build a firm Facebook page/group to help with college recruiting (this horse racing blog and the interaction I've been able to have with different folks has been a godsend) and staff communication. You know, trying to be the hip CPA firm. After searching my employees (by employer) I found 33% of my staff have facebook pages. Anyways, some of you other bloggers probably have to deal with this stuff. I'm sure the Space Gal will just tell me "you're The Man, change it." All I can say is, those IT folk sure are a curious lot. Ok, I said it twice.

Some post mortem on the Eclipse Awards. Umm, geez, what hasn't already been said. The IEAH owner loss to Stronach has been beaten like a dead _______ (fill in the blank I don't want PETA mad at me). I guess I don't have any post mortem. I did enjoy twittering with some fine folk (EJXD2, mibredclaimer and raceday360) all way more knowledgeable than I am, while watching the Awards on my slingbox (the coolest thing I own).

Anyone care about the Super Bowl? I like the Steelers -7 and the under and will head up to Canada to make a wager at the sports book to back up my gut feel on this one. They were good to me a couple years ago and I think their defense will prevail. Other than having the super awesome numbers of 1,9 and 5,4 in a fairly sized pool ($4K to final score with lesser payouts by quarter), I will be at a party probably doing more networking than football watching.

Looking forward to some handicapping on Saturday and getting this week over the goal line....isn't it the longest week in history? Is there some time thing I'm missing, did we gain half a day somewhere? Oh well....stay warm.