I wise old redneck once told me that every really good redneck story (or military story for that matter) had to start of with "No shit...there I was..."  I laughed at the time, but after many years of considering myself in the redneck ranks, I have found this to be true.  This post will be no exception.

No shit...there I was...sitting at dinner with a buddy who happens to be an Exchange engineer (don't hold it against him) and we were talking about email addresses.  He had explained to me that the nice young lady who performed my technical screen when I was interviewing for my current position had a vanity email address that he had given her and he might be able to get me something too.  So I sat and thunk about it for awhile and originally came up with the address of SharePoint.Samurai@microsoft.com because we are often called upon to go into the fray and be victorious warriors.  But the more I thought about it, the more I started to think I had it wrong.

We aren't samurai doing battle in the name of the mighty SharePoint.  We are more like rednecks.  Now I know there are some of you who will read this and not get it.  Coming from the south and having married into a family where redneck is an art form, I have seen my share of guys say "Here...hold my beer and watch this!"  But that isn't all the redneck society is all about.  Those are the folks who rightly deserve Darwin awards.  I am talking about all the other rednecks out there that know the deal and have no allusions to what this life really is. I am talking about the guys who can (and do) fix their own trucks, trap their own food, build their own houses and can find a way to make just about anything work in some fashion.

SharePoint is this huge tool that can be just about anything to anyone who want to mold it into the shape they see fit.  But who better to make those ideas come to life than the Cooters and Duke boys of the world.  A little duct tape, some sheet metal and a little bit of time (not to mention a fast orange car) and we can get the visions of management shoe-horned into the architecture better than anyone else.  We can hack it and push it and change it in a way that goes from undoable to done.

So...today I have decided to change this blog from "The SharePoint Traveler" to "The SharePoint Redneck" and will try and post more information about making this tool I have risked my family's well-being on into the thing of beauty I am sure it can be.  As I find those little trick questions that my customers are always asking me, I will try and get them down and distill them into helpful posts we can all use.  BDC, Excel Services, WorkFlow, just plain admin.  All of these topics will cause us pain at one time or another.  Maybe we can use that redneck spirit and ingenuity work for us.  Who's with me?  Post your comments here or feel free to send them to me in email at SharePoint.Redneck@microsoft.com.

SharePoint Rednecks Unite!