SAFUN

There’s something about the Weston Centre in downtown San Antonio.  Louis always waves to you as you enter the parking garage, Morris and Hilton always greet you with your first name as you walk to the elevator and Bee from the café, Panache, always has a big smile on her face. It’s a warm and familiar place and doesn’t feel like your typical office building. In an upscale law office high rise, Rackers stand out like sore thumbs.  In my 7 years of working for Rackspace / ServerBeach, my job has taken me back to the Weston Centre 3 times.

As a Racker, you learn to be a nomad. I started at Rackspace in the Broadway building for 3 months, moved to the Paragon building to work for ServerBeach for 6 months until we moved to join the rest of Rackspace at the Weston Centre. I remember literally rolling my desk chair with all my belongings down Pecan Street to the Weston Centre building.  We worked at the Weston Centre until we outgrew the space. Rackspace moved headquarters while ServerBeach stayed at the Weston Centre. I left with Rackspace. After a year, I actually came back to the Weston Centre to work for ServerBeach again. ServerBeach finally outgrew the space and moved headquarters. After working for ServerBeach for 4 years, I returned to Rackspace but this time working for the Cloud Division. And guess where The Rackspace Cloud was living? That’s right, the Weston Centre.

Rackspace is moving headquarters to the refurbished Windsor Park Mall which we have renamed “The Castle.” The Rackspace Cloud’s last day at the Weston Centre is today. This time, I think my move away from the Weston Centre will be permanent. A Racker wrote this really kind email to The Rackspace Cloud staff with his thoughts on the move (I reposted to The Rackspace blog). I actually got teary eyed and that might be because I am an emotional person to begin with but nonetheless, it brought back memories. So what are my special memories from the Weston Centre?

1-     This is the place where I met Jason, my husband. Sounds so cheesy but I do remember the first time meeting him.

2-     I attended my first Rackspace holiday party at the Weston Centre. These were the days we’d always end up at Daven Port’s.

3-     The days when you didn’t know what to eat and ended up at Lula’s

4-     The fabulous Fiesta party the Weston Centre puts together for the River Parade

5-     Panache bean and cheese tacos are the best!

6-     Most recently, my long but fun walks to Starbucks with my marketing team

7-     Morris & Hilton– The friendliest guys I have ever met. They are always laughing about something.

8-     Rubbing shoulders with lawyers and feeling so under dressed.

9-     Even though I never went to Bill Miller’s I feel like did go because every day at least 1 person picked up Bill Miller’s.

10-  I can’t forget every weekend going out on the town and parking at the Weston Centre!

The Weston Centre is definitely a special place in San Antonio and will be missed!

The term “cloud computing” is becoming more mainstream (it’s on today’s Dilbert comic strip!). In the 90’s, it used to be that only IT professionals knew anything about building an infrastructure in a data-center, developing web applications and serving data over the web. For everyone else, the extent we knew about computers was to create word documents, spreadsheets, and maybe store photos. We always kept our data stored safely on our computer at home.

Today, more and more people are signing onto the Internet and utilizing platforms like Facebook or Twitter to communicate, Flickr to store photos, WordPress for online journals, eBay or Craigslist to sell items. With cheaper hardware, faster networks, tech-savvy entrepreneurs are building platforms where end users can easily upload their data to share with the world. Most importantly, these platforms are developed with simplicity so anyone can virtually use them. My grandmother,  who didn’t grow up in a world with computers, very easily created herself a Facebook account. So every time you upload a photo to Flickr, send a message on Facebook, update your status on Twitter or write a post on your WordPress blog, do you wonder where it’s going? Many people don’t really know or care until their data is either gone or their information has been compromised.

When you hear the term cloud computing, this is the place where your data is going. If your data is important to you, it’s important that you know where your data is going. In some cases, it’s worth paying for a service to ensure your data is backed up and secure.

Here’s a link to a video (couldn’t embed) that CNN recently produced explaining cloud computing in it’s simplest terms. (I also encourage you to read the entire article):

My cousin, Renee, a senior at O’Connor high school played for the varsity volleyball team this past season. They beat Reagan, making them number 1 in the city.  They made it to the final four for the 5A State Championship, beating a team from the valley. They went up against Austin Westlakes, a team that had won the IV-5A title the past 2 years. This was new for O’Connor and I am so happy Renee had the opportunity to make it that far. It will be an experience she will never forget. She is #5 on the far right. Go Renee! Read the full article here.

Jason and I typically hang low for Halloween. We enjoy hanging out with my family and watching my nieces and nephews dress up in their cute outfits. This year, since it fell on a Saturday, we went up to Austin to visit my brother and his wife. Their friends were having a costume party so we got all dress up,  Star Trek style. We made our own outfits and I didn’t even have to buy anything! Jason made the cool Star Trek logos out of foam paper and we just got him some ears and a gun. My brother did an excellent job as Billy Mays (video below) and Layla did the Jessica Simpson look. There were actually some pretty creative costumes at Sean and Sarah’s party, who were Kayne West and Rhianna. My favorite? YouTube!

See all photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/safun/sets/72157622714512654/

We were blessed with a beautiful weekend in San Antonio. The Jefferson High School 4^th Annual Trick Treat & Trot 5K was a big success. My Uncle Paul is head basketball coach and teacher at Jefferson High School. He puts this event together every year to help raise money for the basketball team to attend a tournament in Washington DC.  As a graduate of Jefferson and coaching there for 20 years now, he does a lot for the school and the community. Many of his students have never had the opportunity to travel outside of San Antonio and they might never have that opportunity. Participating in a tournament in Washington DC gives them that opportunity and what greater place to go then our nation’s capital.

Former Mayor Ed Garza and Mayor Julian Castro, both Jefferson graduates, along with the Spurs Coyote and Silver Dancers all came out to support the event. It’s always great to see family, friends and neighbors come together to support our youth.

See all photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/safun/sets/72157622550148251/