This is what I’d be doing if I didn’t have any responsibilities:  Photoblogging Athens Shows.

So our AC went out over the weekend.  The downstairs unit has lost the ability to cool air, which i consider to be very important.  We have a guy coming from Stiles tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, I’m hot and sweaty and it sucks.

So this weekend, we went to Carmax and bought a new car. We’d made the decision a while ago. Our beloved 1998 Subaru Forester, which kept us safe during countless blizzards in Erie PA, finally decided to start bleeding to death in our driveway. An oil leak, and then the front wheels started making that bearing-is-siezed kind of noise. It was time to take it out back and shoot it.

Then there was the matter of my Jeep. I loved my Jeep, but I hardly ever drove it. And it was costing us a lot. So we decided to trade it in, along with the Sube, and get something else.

The whole idea was to get a car that would last us about 5 years. during the next 5 years, we’re planning on having a couple kids, so we had to keep that in mind. We knew what our budget was. Since I have the Honda Civic that I drive to work every day, this was going to be the family car, and Meg’s daily driver.

If you’ve never been to Carmax, you should totally go. It was the best car buying experience i’ve ever had. We already knew the cars we wanted to look at from checking out the website. We narrowed it down to two. My pick was a 2003 Honda Pilot, which was nice. It had lots of room, leather seats, the whole deal. Meg’s pick was a 2003 Lexus RX300, which was nicer, but had less room. They both cost the same, around 20k. We test drove the Lexus, and I was impressed. Good solid car. Meg fell in love with it, and that was that. We didn’t even bother test driving the Honda.

I’m satisfied with our purchase. It’s a reliable, comfortable car that gets decent gas mileage, and is family friendly. The problem is that it’s a Lexus. That’s sort of a luxury car. Meg and I are having to adjust to the fact that we own a nicer car than just about anybody we know. It doesn’t matter that it was one of the cheaper SUVs on the lot at Carmax. It’s still kind of weird. But that’s the way it fell into place.

I never buy anything without doing a lot of research, having been burned in the past (Dodge, I’m looking at you). I knew I didn’t want to get a domestic car. Just haven’t been impressed with the quality of anything domestic lately. I also knew I didn’t want to get a truck-based (body on frame) SUV. Those typically get shit gas mileage and ride rough. Car based SUV narrowed it down to the Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX300, Acura MDX, and Honda Pilot. And then we decided that we were going to Carmax, and were going to pick something in inventory that day. So that’s how we ended up with the Lexus.

So that’s another piece in the puzzle. I feel pretty good knowing that we have a reliable car that will last us a while. The uncertainty that comes from an unreliable vehicle really cramps your life. We have a trip coming up in a couple weeks to West Virginia for my sister’s wedding, and if our shit broke down in the middle of that, we’d be in a world of hurt.

So, my question now is:  Do you think I’m a stuck up rich mother fucker for driving a Lexus?

My dad’s favorite trumpet player, Maynard Ferguson, died.  He played for Stan Kenton’s orchestra, and Stan was my Dad’s favorite band leader.  You may remember Maynard since he recorded the theme from “Rocky”.  anyway, I’ve got a stack of his cds that dad used to have.  sometime soon I’m going to have some beers and play them.

Back downtown tonight for some more studying.  I was in Savannah this past weekend for my father in law’s 60th birthday.  While I was there I did one of the online labs that go along with the IPExpert book that I bought.  I spent about 5 and a half hours configuring this and that.  It was pretty good.  So I scheduled two labs for this weekend, and two for the weekend after that.  It’s time to get busy with this.

So I’m at ERC tonight, looking to bone up on some more Cisco.  It’s $2 Latte day, so I’ve got a big one sitting right in front of me.  Caffeine is a must.

Maybe it’s because the heat wave is finally lifting, and the students are coming back to town, but I can feel summer disappearing.  I usually start getting really weird dreams when the seasons change, and the transition from summer to fall is usually the time when the dreams are the weirdest.  This year it’s even worse.  The added stress of preparing for the CCIE is causing some wacky shit.

For example, the other night, I couldn’t sleep.  I stayed up till about 1:30 and in the end I just gave up trying to occupy myself with TV and went to bed.  Meghan was already in there asleep.  So I lay down in the dark and tried to turn off my brain.  Well, the bedroom was not quite pitch black.  There was moonlight coming in from the window.  As I closed my eyes to sleep, I found that I was still seeing the inside of my bedroom, through my closed eyelids.  It was as if I were seeing through a third eye.  Sound crazy?  Yeah.  It probably is.  During this time I was also reading through pages of my CCIE study guide that I’d been looking at all day, only in my mind.  It was as if I were able to access the part of my mind that enables total recall.  A shame I can’t do that during waking hours.

So am I cracking up?  Maybe.  But as time goes on, I feel more comfortable with dealing with this new CCIE stress.  I can’t adequately explain it to Meghan.  This is a new, different kind of stress.  It’s as if I have been on a journey of almost 10 years with the goal of passing this test.  I’ve been through many hills and valleys in the pursuit of this goal and now I’ve finally come to the base of the mountain.  All the trials and trilbulations I’ve faced, and now I still have to climb this Mt Everest looking mother fucker.  It’s a strange feeling to be staring up at this peak, only it’s all in your head.  You know that feeling of vertigo that you get when you look over the edge of a steep drop?  Well, my brain is sort of feeling that way and it’s taking some getting used to.

Now is the part where I look down at my feet and just start walking up.  One foot at a time.  Hopefully before I know it, I’ll look up and be standing on the top.

Check out this blast from the past.  That’s right, Groo!!  I fucking loved this comic.  My friend Eric used to have a box of like 50 or 60 issues I think.  Wonder if he still has them?

Students have returned to the Classic City.  How could I tell?  Easy.  I got stuck behind some car from Illinois filled to capacity with clothes, sheets, and ramen noodles.  The driver obviously didn’t know where he was going, but he sure was determined to get there as SLOWLY as possible.  That’s when I saw the sign.  “Reed Hall Registration —–>”

Shit.

Here’s a little info on the CCIE exam.  You all know that it’s hard as hell.  They expect you to be able to configure everything, but they don’t expect you to do it without a little help.  You are allowed one tool to use during the test, the Cisco Documentation CD.  This is a powerful tool if you know how to use it.

Basically, it’s all of Cisco’s documention on all of their products, loosely organized.  You can find out how to configure anything you might need.  The trick is to be able to locate the information in a reasonable amount of time.  You could spend hours sifting through all that crap.  So part of anyone’s study philosophy should be to integrate that documentation into your mind.  Know where to find commands that you are sure to need.  For example, configuring Call Manager Express is strictly a Command Line thing (the GUI is not going to accomplish what you need for the CCIE Lab).  The problem is that the commands are lengthy and difficult to memorize.  The solution?  Know by heart where to find them in the Doc CD, and you will have saved yourself a lot of frustration.

Easier said than done though.

Also, I’m currently making flash cards based on the IPExpert Proctor Guide v4.0 that should really help me speed up my configurations.  Time is of the essence.

Also, thanks to Nick, I’m now worried about what the CCIE Lab proctor is going to do to my configs during the test.  The rumor is that they screw with them.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see that they randomly reboot routers just to see if you’re saving your configs.  Of course, they could leave you alone the whole time.  No one seems to know for sure, and the CCIEs aren’t saying squat thanks to the NDA.

Check out this bike.  It’s Trent Wilson’s Garneau Sonix 6.4, a bike that is very orange.

Check out this link.  The guy doesn’t do permalinks, but just look for the two gay guys and prepare to start laughing.  I am just having a hard time envisioning Lance Armstrong and Mathew Mcconaughey hanging out.  It’s a wellspring of humor.

I’m reading a pretty good book right now.  “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman.  I’m only 75 pages into it, but already I like what he’s saying.

Basically, the gist is that we are moving towards a global economy.  But it’s more complicated than that.  The walls between societies are breaking down in many ways.  This book details how it has happened and what it means for our future.  The reason why this is fascinating to me, is that I work in one of the industries that is bringing about these changes.

I can turn a company that has offices in many nations and cities into one that operates as a single office, mom-and-pop, style of business, effectively erasing the distance and the limitations that would bring.  It’s more than just a bottom line kind of thing.  Because of the ability to shrink or erase the physical distance, you can build a business that operates as units all over the world, and it will actually make you more competitive.

It’s a huge thing, and it’s going to change the way our world interacts.  I’m pretty excited to be a part of that.

I’m sitting in my old familiar table at ERC, staring at a 1000 page book that I must learn front and back if I am to pass my CCIE Voice lab exam.  I’ve got a good head start, but there is much to learn before I’m confident in passing that test.  I have until September the 23rd to decide if I’m ready enough to commit to my October 23rd test date.

This will be the most challenging test I’ve ever taken (and probably will ever take).  So it goes without saying that that’s all you’ll be hearing about from me for the next three months.

Having said that, you won’t hear me talk about how tough this test is anymore.  It’s entirely beside the point.  I’ve made up my mind to pass it on the first try, and that’s what I’m going to do.  Everything I do from now until then will revolve around me passing that test.  Which means I’ll be drinking gallons of coffee.  If I’m really good, I can time it just right so that right before I go into the test center in San Jose, I’ll have a “coffee epiphany” like Fry did on Futurama, and finish the exam in less than 5 minutes.

Floyd Landis B sample shows elevated testosterone, as well as foreign testosterone in his body.

So having read that this morning, I’m officially no longer following professional cycling, with the sole exception of the Jittery Joe’s team.  It’s just not worth it.

However, I’m anxiously awaiting the start of NFL preseason, so does that make me some kind of hypocrite?

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Floyd Landis testing positive for testosterone.  I haven’t written about it because I’m too depressed about the whole business.  Last time something like this happened, it was Tyler Hamilton, the boy scout of cycling.  He was found guilty and banned for two years, and now has been further implicated in the Operation Puerto scandal.

When he was banned, it severely diminished my enthusiasm for the sport of cycling.  I was reluctant after that to root for any pro cyclist, including Lance.  This year though, I let my guard down and began to root for Floyd in spite of myself.  His story was just too interesting, and with his amazing comeback after such a bad day, how could you not be awestruck?!  My enthusiasm was renewed.

Now this.  I was actually depressed for several days after hearing about this.  I didn’t want to talk about it or think about it.  I want to believe in Floyd, but after Tyler, I just don’t know if I can.  I can say this though, the sport of cycling is fucked with a capital F.  It’s going to be hard for it to recover from all of these scandals.

The good news is that I can go out into my garage and get on my bike anytime I want, and I’ll have a better time riding myself than watching a race on TV.

Check out this site if you want some technical dope on doping.