This is a “Best of” podcast.  After it was put together I found I really liked it.  I hope you do too.

Hi everybody and welcome back.  Here we are, Christmastime, another year-end, another replacement surgery.  Well, 2 out of three ain’t bad is it?  Actually the downer out of those three times won’t be the one you think it may be.

The year-end isn’t necessarily a happy time for the IT Consultant.  In the Education IT industry it is more than likely a time for larger projects to get done.  It’s easier when there are no teachers or students but there are always more than you can handle.  [laughter] a couple of years ago I Twittered during one such break that the true meaning of happiness is working without the presence of teachers or students.  No big deal…just an innocuous comment right?  Wow, I had no idea.  I couldn’t tell you just how many times it was retweeted and favorite.

It’s also a time (more than likely) to start preparing for all you end of year reporting for your clients.  If you have any Accounting and/or CPA clients you better make sure they are at 100% tech-wise in preparation for the tax season. Stuff like that.

Ok, let’s take care of business here.  This next week is my hip replacement surgery and then its Christmas and News Years.  So this will be the last original podcast until January.  So from all of us here at The Help Desk Podcast:  that would be Ed, my wife Patty, our dog Buddy who has managed to get into quite a few podcasts and myself:  may you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Because it is Christmastime just try to remember these simple rules:

• 
  
• Be aware that nobody will send you a gift car for nothing so look out for unordered gift card in the mail.
  
• Watch out for online (any offers actually) offers that seem too good to be true.
  
• Never, never click a link in an email. A note:  if you hover your mouse’s cursor over the link your email software will display the actual IP address.  If you don’t recognize it then delete it
  
• There isn’t a reputable company in the world that would ask you for your password over the phone or in an email.
  

This podcast is going to be the best of… Ed has been ready to take over the production end of this podcast while I am recuperating but because of my health we haven’t been able to get together to record anything at all for him to produce.  So here we go with the best of.  Next year when we start producing new content again we have some really good shows coming up.  A series of podcasts about security beaches, malware, Internet safety and how it affects you and what you can do about it.

Also we will start to interview people again.  We hope to interview some more Microsoft MVP’s, peeps from Oracle, and vendor companies like Spiceworks, Xirrus and the like.  We have a podcast coming soon talking about the book: “The Phoenix Projectâ€.  Also another series about different certification tracks you may want to follow to get what you want out of your IT career and there will always be the timely subjects that grab current events that will demand that we cover them just to keep you informed.

We went through a dark time during the last two months here because of my failing mobility as I approached surgery.  I feel stronger now….the wait is over.  It will be done and we will get on with it on the other side.  I can’t help but thank all of you for remaining loyal listeners throughout this past year and we will repay you with great content in the coming year.  Now that our corporate website is updated:  IT Solutions-MI.com we will be offering much more content for your consumption.  We have the Buying Guide series for laptops which is now finished and will be followed by a tablet buying guide and maybe a monitor guide.  We also have a “how-to†video series coming up.  All of which will be found at itsolutions-mi.com.

I’m very bullish on upcoming 2015.  This has been a break-out year for us (in spite of my limitations) and I foresee only the same for next year (only more consistent this time please).  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year.  Remember moderation in everything you do this Holiday season (party-wise that is) and we will meet in January back here and hit the new year running (see what I did there?)

Bye-bye for now.