Meet Todd Hendricks, Server Suport Engineer

 

Todd Hendricks is a Server Support Engineer at FastServers.Net. Back in the early 90s he was a member of several FidoNet style message exchanges, as well as an alpha tester for the Iniquity BBS software. Todd described the experience working with the BBS software. "Unfortunately the Iniquity BBS software was introduced rather close to the decline of the BBS movement (this coincided with the upsurge in the popularity of the Internet)," he said. Prior to that Todd ran several Telegard/Renegade based bulletin boards, and even released a piece of shareware he wrote in QuickBasic. He called the program "OvrEdit," and to his credit, the software ended up cracked. "It was designed to modify the internal un-modifiable strings within Renegade," said Todd.

Let's move out of the 90s and into the 2000s. In 2003, the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois graduate, started a matchmaking web site for people interested in electronic music. The web site had approximately 11,000 active users at the time of its closing in 2006. Todd never told us why he closed the site. Nevertheless, his experience has led him to where he's at today - patrolling the monitoring system and watching to ensure consistent server availability for FastServers.Net customers. "I am also responsible for ensuring support tickets are responded to quickly and efficiently," said Todd. You can also find him conveying background information on the problems he solves for customers to other team members. "I am a firm believer that a solid understanding of the underlying concepts of the technology we deal with on a daily basis, ultimately helps us resolve customer issues and gives us the ability to answer questions quickly," he said.

Todd went on to explain that "knowledge of the specifics" will only get you so far until you encounter something unfamiliar. "It's at that point that you need to tear the application down to its basic functionality and examine it from a bottom-up perspective in order to see what it's supposed to be doing that it's not. From that vantage point, you can fix just about anything," he said. Great advice Todd. We always enjoy hearing our support engineers discuss their philosophy on resolving customer issues.

As you can see by reading Todd's innermost thoughts on his daily tasks, he really enjoys what he does at FastServers.Net. "I actually enjoy the job itself the most, which I think is the most important thing you can ask for in any working environment," he said. Todd told us that his colleagues and the working environment at FastServers.Net are top-notch, but it's the job itself that keeps him engaged on a day-to-day basis. "I've always enjoyed fixing things. In fact, previous jobs I have held include repairing lottery machines and board-level laptop repair services," said Todd. Does he sound like he can keep servers running at maximum level? You bet he does. And he can.

When the weather is nice, you can find Todd and his family at just about any park in the city. "As long as there is a swing set or other park features that will entertain my girlfriend's two-year old daughter, you can often find us at one of the local parks as long as the weather is nice," said Todd. He explained the importance of family to us. "While we are not a family in a strict traditional sense, I see it as such, and I accept and embrace all the responsibilities of caring for them that would otherwise be attributable to the head of a family," he said. Todd also told us that it does not matter which park he goes to, as long as he is there with his family. Great values Todd. We like that in our employees.

Todd is unique in that he is not a sports fan like most other FastServers.Net employees. "I'm not at all engaged by sports. The only value I see in sports is going to an actual game - preferably, a Cubs game - to drink cold overpriced beer on a hot Chicago summer day," said Todd. "The game itself is inconsequential (although winning is nice). It's who you are there with that makes it an experience worth having," he explained. Well Todd, it's okay that you are not a fanatic sports fan. We have plenty of staff members that can easily make up your share. "I'd rather go to one of my two favorite places to eat - Mongolian BBQ and Outback. I'm quite fond of Outback's cheese fries. I also like to order pizza in, but I have to pick it up myself, otherwise it arrives at my door cold as ice because the delivery person takes too long."

Even though Todd does not engage in sports, he, like other FastServers.Net employees, has several favorite television shows. "I like Law and Order, Family Guy, and MythBusters," said Todd. He claims they are well suited to a person with a busy lifestyle. They do not require the time commitment of "serials" such as 24. He says you can sit down at the beginning, get engaged, and then after the show ends, it's resolved. No more waiting for another episode to see what happens next. "It's nice and neat and does not lead to the frustration or panicked feeling of needing to catch up should you miss an episode or two," he said.

We asked Todd to tell us some of his favorite aspects about the television shows. "Law and Order's various iterations are all engaging because they explore the parts of law enforcement and the judicial system that people actually want to believe in. Even though the show is fictional, sometimes we need to see our legal system doing what it's supposed to be doing - taking evil off the streets - rather than being bombarded with the constant corruption and lackadaisical attitudes you are like to see when watching the news," said Todd. He continued by describing Family Guy. "The show suits my particular sense of humor as it touches on every comic style, from slapstick to satire. It touches upon all aspects of pop culture and current events, reminding us of those things from our past that we may have forgotten. And it allows us to find laughter in topics that may otherwise be uncomfortable," he said.

If Todd were stuck on an island and could only take one television show with him, it would be MythBusters. "This show is the best reality show on television today. It's educational, inspiring, and features a lot of gratuitous pyrotechnics," said Todd. He told us that he has learned plenty of things he never even realized he wanted to know from the show. And like we always do, we asked Todd to choose his favorite character. "I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite character as they are all equally important to the tackling of myths and urban legends they approach," he said. So now that you know which television shows are Todd's favorites, and what he likes about them, tell him what your favorite television show is the next time you create a support ticket.