2025

Trains are Rockin’ & Rollin’

Modern high-speed bullet train in motion, captured at a station with motion blur to emphasize speed and technology

I’m fretting because as I was on the Amtrak Northeast Regional last week to Boston and then the Downeaster to Portland, Maine I read that Amtrak’s CEO Stephen Gardner abruptly resigned. News reports reported that he resigned because President Trump asked him too. And then Elon Musk weighed in in a recent Morgan Stanley conference

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On That Train to Portland, Maine

View from an Amtrak train window approaching Boston at sunrise

A 6:13 AM departure to Boston on the Northeast Regional and then a transfer at Boston’s North Station to board the Downeaster to Portland. I had to forego CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning, which has been a favorite to watch these days rather than political news because the market is awash with mad money. The

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Purchasing USBs for MarcB IT

Illustration of a black USB flash drive with a white connector on a white background

When I built my first personal computer I purchased most of my parts and hardware from Micro Center, which is a wonderful shop. But for my second build I purchased from newegg.com such as cases, CPU, RAM and and an ASUS motherboard. When I checked today both Best Buy and Micro Center websites there were

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Occasional Troubleshooting Fatigue

Illustration of a tired woman slumped over her laptop at a desk, symbolizing burnout or work-related fatigue

So I was really looking forward to gathering a number of utilities to create the world’s best—not quite, but effective at least—IT Toolkit storing multiple .iso files on a bootable USB drive for easy troubleshooting. But the computing sphere wasn’t cooperating. So when troubleshooting goes awry, it’s time to open WordPress and write about the

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Pondering Maine

Canoe gliding across a calm lake in Maine with clear blue sky and forested shoreline in the distance

Last September we traveled to Portland, Maine via Amtrak and then rented a car to drive north to the mountains and woodlands where we hiked and canoed the Maine backcountry. I recently passed the CompTIA A+ exam, thus earning a full-fledged certification in information technology. Now before I start the next certification journey, specifically CompTIA’s

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CompTIA A+ Certified!

CompTIA A+ Certified CE badge logo representing IT certification

It’s official. On Friday I passed the CompTIA A+ Core 2 exam, thus earning full-fledged CompTIA A+ certification. Two months of rigorous study and retaking multiple practice exams paid off! Onward now to additional certifications such as Network+, Server+ and Security+. Whether its from the Windows command line or Control Panel, I’m troubleshooting a variety

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Onward to A+ Certification

Large red letter A symbol surrounded by interconnected electronic circuit boards, representing technology and IT certification

Back on Wednesday, January 29, I passed the CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam. Now on Friday, March 7 I’m scheduled to take A+ Core 2 at 8:15 AM. Since January I’ve been studying, reviewing and re-studying all the concepts and chapters required to pass Core 2. I’m excited about the possibility of attaining A+ Cert,

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