Passed the CCIE written exam this past Friday.  WTF is the CCIE??...

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/index.html
Cisco Certified Intranetwork Expert is Cisco's highest level of professional certification. 

Next up is the CCIE lab exam....in a few months..

It starts with this...
http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21666

Then moves on to this...
http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22038

...and ends up with me getting rid of my lovely blue 2005 nissan frontier (as pretty much planned) with 56,xxx miles.  New truck is "storm gray"


Kimber has already named it "Mr. Gray."   I like it :)

Also picked up a lovely (and most badassed) ride a few weeks ago too.  Yes, a 1992 honda accord with 92,000 miles for the amazingly low price of $1000.  His name is "Clank" because he has a bit of a valve/lifter tick.  He's been given the task of commuting to/from work and gets great marks in the mileage department although somewhat disappoing grades in the overall power and fun-to-drive categories.  Oh well, win some lose some eh??

The new 12 stones album is out today.  It's fantastic.  They were due for a new album and after my first listen I'd say they delivered.  The current single (Lie to Me) has an acoustic version on the retail album.  The acoustic version is absolutely fantastic.  The lyrics and meaning of the song blend with the acoustic track.  It seems to give more meaning to the song.

New CBR in the garage... It looks just like this:


Riding again is very strange.  I'm not scared, but i'm not comfortable (yet) either.  I know it's just those 'new bike' jitters...getting used to the handling and the little oddities of the new machine.  But, it's different now.  Everything is different.  It's surreal knowing that i'm riding a faster, better version of the machine that almost killed me.  I'm not afraid, but i have an incredible respect for the machine.  Riding it and knowing it's in my garage brings a smile to my face though :)

Welllll, i'm certain that the bowels of hell have frozen over and Satan is practicing his triple-axles and backflips.

Why would I make a statement like this?  Well,....read this....

http://www.mattvirus.net/files/waiver.pdf

What does this mean?......it means that after over a year of struggle, worry, and hopelessness.......i'm a free man and I owe nothing to anyone!

(permit me to say...... w0000000000t!!)

I start (tomorrow) with Booz Allen Hamilton and begin "the rest of my life" with a clear mind, free of anxiety about my future.

Oh, and yesterday...yeah... I bought a house.  Seemed like a good idea at the time ??  :) 

Matty's New House...

It's very nice, clean, ready for me to move-in.  No painting, no carpet replacement, nothing...just move in.  Everybody knows i'm lazy like that, so it works out well.  It even has a non-conforming bedroom in the basement that will be my server room and mad-scientist lab  (evil laugh here).  

Who wants to help me move later in the month?  :) :)

Tore my Wii apart and installed a magic chip tonight.  Took longer to get the Wii apart than it did to do the actual soldering.

It's magical :)  That's all I can say.  Want yours done?  Let me know........i'll see what i can do for you...

If you know me at all, you know all about the graduate scholarship I accepted and the requirement to work for the federal government that came along with it.  You also know that the government flat out isn't and hasn't been hiring for quite some time now.  The worry and unsteadiness has taken a lot out of me, probably more than could be imagined without having to deal with it 1st hand.

The end of the struggle is near.  The official paperwork requesting that my service obligation to the federal government is backed by those that need to support it and has been submitted.  I'll find out any day now if my waiver request is approved, and it will be approved.

I've accepted a job offer from Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the world's top information assurance consulting firms.  I'll be working at US Stratcom, doing the same job I have been doing on a temporary contract since this past october. 

I'm still uneasy and anxious right now.  I "know" how things are going to work out, but i don't KNOW just yet....but finally....finally it looks like things might work out for me.

Thank you to all the people who listened to me, tolerated my rants of rage...my moments of anxiety and uncertainty, and my moments of hopelessness....and thanks to all of you who told me that everything would work out as it should....it looks like that is finally happening.

LOTS of stuff going on now, many choices and options.  Got to get things sorted out in my head and make some decisions about what I want to do.  Crazy to go from no choices and no hope to a number of incredible options and a feeling of control.

Maybe some SERIOUS things going on with regard to permanent employment.......things may start falling in to place tomorrow.   Trying not to get my hopes up, but now more than ever things are in my control and I can make things happen.  I've waited long enough....and now, finally...after timidly voicing options to the powers-that-be, what I want is in-line with what they want.  So, it's time for things to happen.

The next week or two could be very very exciting.

Well, just before christmas I was home visiting my parents.  My mom sent me on an errand to the podunk-small walmart to pick up a prescription in the next town over, about 30 miles away. 

Now, this is an especially-ghetto walmart.  Typically, they never have anything in stock and if they do- they never have enough.  I laughed to myself when the thought of "hmm, wonder if they have a Wii" crossed my mind....

As i walked back to the small, lacking electronics department....i saw empty shelf racks that once held wii-controllers and cables....but no wii systems.  I looked up to the back wall and saw what must've been 50 or more Xbox360's.... looking to the left of them as i walked...i saw a bunch of PS2's and a PS3.....and........far in the distant corner.......one lonely Nintendo Wii (yeeeeahhhh!!)

I asked the counter worker if the system was reserved or for sale....he grunted and replied "if it's on the shelf, it's for sale."  My immediate reply was that it's not for sale anymore, and I asked him to get it down for me. 

I set it up that night at home and my whole family took their turns playing Wii Sports.  My mom and my 6 year old brother, having NEVER played video games before, immediately loved Bowling.  Boxing went over well.  Kimber took her initial turn reluctantly, but she got into it :)

Since that night I've gotten a few new games, including Excite Truck (which kicks ass by the way) and had lots of fun.  Waiting for my 2nd remote to ship to me is killing me....can't way to play excite truck against someone and i'm sure boxing and tennis in two-player mode would be great fun :)

All in all - there have been days of soreness from Boxing, but no broken TV's, no holes in the wall, and no injuries to body or property.  The Wii is the first videogame system I've ever bought new and also the only system I've ever bought at launch.  Fantastic experience :)  You should get one.......or at least call me and come try mine out :)

After a little bit of Santa Claus moonlighting this morning at dark-thiry before heading home, it was a day full of smiles and constant jabbering from Carson as he switched off between his two remote-control cars and remote control airplane while stomping around the house in his new alpinestars motocross boots.

It was good to see him smile like that; it made me feel really good inside.  It's been a pretty good holiday season so far.  New people and new traditions, and for the first time in a number of years - an actual extended family gathering at my parents house.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday...