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Biographical Information and Interests
editHi! Welcome to my user page. My name is Andy Nordin, but you may know me by Mordalf online.
I was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1988. I grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin and graduated from Marshfield Senior High School in 2007. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and Government with a minor in National Security Studies from Ripon College in 2011. After I graduated I trained as a commercial helicopter pilot and received my license in 2013. I then switched gears again and moved into information technology where I have made my career since 2015. You can read more about my current life and interests below.
Engineer
editI currently work as an engineer in the field of information technology. My interests include DevOps, Cloud, Linux, Information Security, and AI.
I have hands on experience with an evergrowing list of software and services including: Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Microsoft Windows (including Server 2008 R2 and newer), Microsoft Dynamics 365 (F&O and CRM), Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft SCCM, MaaS360, MobileAsset, ConnectWise, Science Logic, ServiceNow, ServiceWise, cPanel, QuickBooks, PioneerRx, Enterprise Rx and others.
In addition I also have scripting experience with Bash, PowerShell, and ConnectWise Automate scripts as well as writing Windows batch files.
I've also worked with Dell SonicWALL firewalls and Cisco Meraki networks.
Author
editI am a passionate writer. I have written both fiction and nonfiction prose as well as poetry. You can find examples of my writing here. I am also a voracious reader on every topic and in every genre imaginable. I'm particularly interested in the science fiction and fantasy genre's and have been since before they were cool. My favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Frank Herbert, Robert A. Heinlein, George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Alden Carter, Ernest Hemingway, Andy Weir, James S.A. Corey, Walter M. Miller Jr., and many others. You can find my Goodreads profile here.
Amateur Astronomer and Meteorologist
editAstronomy has long been an interest in my family. We bought our first Meade telescope in the early 2000's (after a family member took a position at an observatory) and since then have been avid stargazers. I particularly enjoy sitting outside without any optics at all on a dark night and just marveling at the wonder of outer space. Carl Sagan was so profound when he convinced NASA to flip Voyager 1's cameras around in 1990 out beyond Neptune's orbit to take a photo of the "Pale Blue Dot" we live on. The night sky really does put everything else into perspective.
Meteorology is also an inherited interest. Even before my days as a pilot the weather was something fascinating. The ability to measure and record the weather and its changes is a never ending source of fascination to me. I have had a few digital weather stations that measure temperature and humidity, but soon plan to upgrade to a more comprehensive station and possibly even share the data online on this site at some point in the future.