Man, it was January the last time Marci or I posted on the BLOG, seems like a shame. My January mindset seems like it was ages ago. Marci and I did get out during the shad run this year and I hooked several and landed 4. Marci did not hook up with a shad but did get a huge Bluegill if I remember correctly. I also had the opportunity to take my godson out on the water for his first shad run experience. He did not catch a shad but did land a good sized catfish.

I will say that there has not been much time for creative writing or fishing lately. The company I worked for was acquired by a public company in February, and that lit a fire under my butt. After 11 years of working for the same employer, I found myself vulnerable, as I had not kept up with certifications in my field. There was not alot of incentive to do so before… no reimbursement, no increase in salary for updating certifications, and not really any help on the promotion side of things. So, the only real reason to certify would be if you were looking to jump ship and start with a new company.

After I found out we were being acquired, I decided it was time to “Cert up.” Working in I.T, you really never know whether you will be brought aboard after the initial integration, and I wanted to make sure that I was either an extremely viable employee to my new company, or an extremely viable candidate if I was sent packing. Even though I have nearly 14 years of experience, this has basically meant a lot of long nights studying after work and on the weekends since the acquisition. The Cisco path was my first choice for certification. It was time to dig back in to routers. BTW, the big blue image at the top of this post is the symbol for a router in a topology diagram in case you did not know. I completed my CCENT in March and hope to complete my CCNA in May. Next I may go the Checkpoint route as I have spent the better part of 8 years managing Checkpoint firewalls, but, have never certified. My next move will either be a Microsoft certification, or, a move in a new direction such as Project Management. We will see.

There seems to be a lot of opportunity at my new company, but I will still be spending a lot of my off time certifying. It has already made me so much more confident and, competent. You can never be too qualified.

Vacation is coming! Marci just booked a trip to the Turks and Caicos for us and we will soon have pictures of beautiful beaches, bonefish, and booze to share. 🙂 She has been so wonderful the last couple of months and has been incredibly supportive of me in my studies. She has been cooking like a master chef and keeping the house together while I spend most of my “free” time in what we both call “my hole…” aka my home office, plopped in front of a computer taking courses, practice tests, and building labs. I look forward to spending some quiet time with my wife on a sunny beach. Until then… back to my hole!!!