Recent Updates
So it’s been a very long time since I updated this! And since I’m sat at work waiting for a machine to reboot (which it estimates will take up to 20 minutes!) I thought I might as well give you guys a run-down on what’s been going on recently.
Most of my time has been spent at Cisco, working away hard Monday to Friday. On Friday the 15th August I managed to pass my CCNA, so I am now a fully qualified Cisco Certified Network Associate! What that means, to those of you who don’t really know, is that I know the basics of computer networking, done the Cisco way. I can configure Cisco equipment to a basic working level, and I know how to troubleshoot standard IP networks. To a degree. Obviously there is a limit to what I know, which is why I am now studying for my Cisco Certified Network Professional, the CCNP. The CCNA took one exam to pass; the CCNP requires 4. The first exam, that I am currently studying for, is called BSCI, or Building Scalable Cisco Interworks. So hopefully I’ll be taking that exam around the end of this month. I received my CCNA certificate in the post yesterday, along with a card which I presume you’re meant to keep in your wallet or somewhere.
The other big thing that happened recently was my holiday to Switzerland with my family. We flew out on the 20th August, and flew back on the 27th, Wednesday before last. Staying in a hotel in Montreux, on the banks of Lake Geneva, meant that the scenery was beautiful. Surrounded on one side by the Swiss Alps, and a large lake on the other: it was idyllic. Here’s a sample photo of the lake (click for a larger view):
It really was beautiful there.
So what else has happened? We have the internet at our home in Reading now, finally, though I’m finding that as I spend all day at a computer (or various computers) at work, I’m less and less keen to spend the evening on a computer at home. In a way it’s a good thing - less time staring at a screen! But it’s also a shame - I love my Mac, would much rather be using it than XP (which is what Cisco use on their company laptops), yet I don’t get the opportunities to at work, and I don’t feel like looking at a computer at home!
I went back to King’s on Sunday morning this weekend just gone, due to the fact that I was down in Portsmouth for the weekend as I had only just got back from Switzerland and wasn’t working until the Monday. I spent the weekend at Annie’s, and had a great time. It was really good to see everyone at church again (well, to see those who stayed over the summer). I even managed to persuade the speaker to give out Mars Bars in the sermon - bonus!
Speaking of churches, we haven’t yet found one in Reading that we’re entirely comfortable with. None of us particularly enjoyed the Anglican Communion we experienced just before I went away, so we’ll be looking around again. I think Dan and Kita have their eye on one called Vineyard Church a bit further out that we’ll try this weekend. Annie will be up to, so she can give her opinion of it!
*EDIT* She has to go home earlier now, so she won’t be able to give any opinions :( Her holiday starts a day earlier than she thought, so has to catch a train!
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