Well it’s been horribly rainy in Vancouver the last week. Really large downpours and such. However, I’m glad that in about a week’s time I will be on a plane heading downunder. I’m really excited and such, and am looking forward to having one of those experiences that I’m going to remember always.
I’m flying in and out of Melbourne, Victoria, with a trip up to Sydney at some point. However, I’m just going to take things how they come and really enjoy what I see. I’m not going to be able to do everything I’m going to want to, but I don’t want to be in such a rush to see things, that I’m not enjoying myself to the fullest.
Holy crap, I’m going to Australia. I keep having these mini-realizations about it. It’s going to be a blast, I’m sure. It’s going to be my first time overseas, and it’s going to be the longest amount of time I’ve taken off of work. Which, thanks to the guys who are able to hold down the fort while I’m gone 
. Well, this week I’m on solo, because one of my colleagues is in Mexico. I don’t feel quite as sorry for him.
In any case, I’m going to be posting lots of pictures and such, so keep an eye out.. or subscribe to my feed for updates.
I’m going to do a splattering of topics on this entry. Okay, if you get where the above quote is from, then you can skip the first bit.
If you haven’t seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, stop reading this right now, and go watch it. I’m serious. Go. Now. I’ll still be here. Honestly, this is one of the best put together and funniest mini-series I’ve seen. It’s by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, etc.) and stars Nathan Fillion (Mal Reynolds) among others. Oh my is it funny. I don’t buy DRM’d stuff, but I bought all the videos on iTunes, as well as the soundtrack (which has no DRM!). If you like satirical and/or slapstick humor, you will like this.
On the work front, I’ve taken on a couple new projects, including building out a new test lab. We had one, but since our last round of upgrade work, it needs to be put back together from scratch. We have example equipment of stuff from all over our network, and I get to play around with it and get it back up and running. It’ll help all of us when working on certs and stuff to be able to test out things with a set up that we can break, rebuild, and then break again.
I’m also starting on some Juniper certifications. I’m working on JNCIA-EX right now as I have a free voucher. Should be a good place to start. JUNOS (the Juniper routing OS — their version of IOS under Cisco) is actually very versatile, and more logically configured than a lot of things in IOS. I’m really hyped and interested in this stuff, so it’s good.
And lastly, I’m going to Australia. I know, holy crap. Tickets booked, visa is had, all those kind of good things. I’m taking 20 days off of work, and flying from Vancouver to Melbourne. So excited. It’s gonna be my first overseas trip, and I’ve got a large chunk of time to explore. I’m just going to backpack it and stay with friends while down there. Solo geek taking on Aus. I can’t wait! I leave mid-November, and am back first week of December. This all from a guy who has taken like.. 4-5 days off total in the last 3 years.
Lots of busy and exciting things happening!