7 things you don't need to know about me.

1. I'm a procrastinator, but somehow get things done despite that handicap.
2. I've had back problems requiring surgery, but am doing much better these days, though I will never be able to be quite as physically active as I used to be. (Not a big difference really, see no. 1 above.)
3. Politically I'm a Libertarian, though not actively so, as in the real world I try to be more of a pragmatic realist. I'm also something of a nationalist, but isn't nearly everyone in some way?
4. I believe in self-defense and being an independent, self-reliant and responsible adult. I don't have much patience for those that wish to treat everyone else, other than themselves (or including themselves for that matter), as children incapable of making their own decisions or incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions.
5. I don't believe in blaming others for my own problems, of which I will always have some.
6. All that being said, I'll take help from nearly wherever I can get it in life. (See no. 3 above.)
7. I am both pessimistic and optimistic about the future. I'm mainly optimistic that the things I'm pessimistic about won't end up being as bad as I think they will. They may even end up okay. Just don't get me started on politics.

Day 1: Getting Started.

I finally got my Linux textbook late yesterday, A Practical Guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, so I'm finally ready to get started with my introductory Linux class, starting with this blog. My assignment for this week, so far, is mainly just getting this blog going and reading chapters 1-3 of the book. We won't actually be using Fedora or Red Hat, but will be using Ubuntu instead, which I actually used very briefly for an introductory CIT course I had my first semester of college. Of course, I remember very little about that first experience, so this will all still feel mostly brand new to me. I'm primarily taking this Linux class because of my interest in Cisco, which is my main focus of study in getting my CIT associate degree in networking. As best I understand it, the Cisco IOS is Linux based, and since I want to be Cisco certified it makes sense for me to try learning something about Linux as well.