life update

Yes, I have neglected the blog for quite some time now, but only because Google+ had distracted me for the most part.

I have managed to loose approximately 5Kg of weight through eating (or should I say drinking) meal replacements, eating smaller portions, significantly reducing carbohydrates and exercising a bit more.

My stress levels are still high since I successfully completed my Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) on October, but thanks to my doctor and a renewed approach to work (ie. less caring) I'm able to cope a little bit better.

One of the biggest issues I am faced with right now is the frustration that comes with trying to pursue my chosen career.


I foresee a major delays in my current employer providing career progression due mostly to the radical changes to the business and sadly I must look elsewhere.

So, I have my CCNA as well as some practical experience from a previous job (before I got the qualification) as well as many hours of lab time on Cisco equipment and I know my way around IOS very well but most of the Network Engineer/Administrator roles I am applying for I am barely getting to interview stage.

I am wondering if part of the problem is that recruiters and employers don't seem to comprehend what is actually required to get a CCNA (there is a lot of lab time and one must fully understand the content to successfully pass) and they are mostly under the impression that the curriculum is purely theory-based, which is entirely untrue.

I have begun reaching out to my collective friends, colleagues, acquaintances and recruiters in the hopes that I can secure a new role that actually exploits my strong Cisco skills.

Lucky for me I can be quite stubborn, and I don't give up so easily.

There has been more social interaction with Google+ friends, and a little less with my old group of friends, but this is in part due to their obsession with Warhammer (tabletop) and the games that they all play are not the genre that I am interested in, which has my slightly concerned.

I'm also not sure what game in my libraries I want to play next as I often find that I am too tired to engross myself in some of them and as such find myself tending to avoid them.

This year is anything but interesting with all of the above and more, but hopefully I will be able to get back to enjoying myself like I used too.

- D

SUPANOVA 2009

So Supanova has been and it was an absolute blast!

Friday
(previews) night was very very cold! we heard Spike Spencer talk about some of his stories from his CD "What Happens at the Con. Stays at the Con" and an auction of some donated stuff (including some of his own crap things like old con passes etc). We also saw two stories from "5 centimetres per second" in Japanese audio with no subtitles *lol and the first episode of Wonder Woman, which I realised had Nathan Fillion in it!

Saturday
This was by far the most awesome day of them all!
As soon as we got in there, $GF ran straight to the Madman stand and bought some anime :P

$GF then got some comics signed by Tim Sale before we went and did some more stall searching and interacting with the cosplayers etc. We saw Spike Spencer's talk, bought his CD and $GF got some Neon Genesis Evangelion stuff signed by him.

We also went to Tim Sale's Q&A some time between Spike Spencer's signing and the Madman cosplay competition (which I was also waiting for my other friends to arrive). While they were out getting food, we wandered around, got more photos bought more useless junk *lol until my mates came back and we left at about 4pm

Sunday
Wasn't as exciting as Saturday, but it was a day for looking at the things we didn't get to see on Saturday as well as $GF getting more stuff signed by Spike Spencer and seeing the silly 15 minute 3D tent thing :/

We also had all sorts of conversations with other random geeks on the train as well as lots of photos with cosplayers.

Oh we also found out the dates for Wai-con 2010 and discovered that Scott Sigler will be at Swancon!!!

Out of all this I managed to get some t-shirts and a free DVD (Argentosoma) from the madman Q&A session. All in all, it was fun, except I would love to see it move to the Perth Exibition and Convention Centre as the cosplay competition was way overcrowded!

And here are some pictures from the event:




Current Mood: Content

Birthday Boredom

Today is my birthday and I'm bored.

I was trying to organise a LAN at one of my friends' house, but it looks like none of them want to attend/host it :(

Perhaps it's another excuse to get drunk, or catchup on some much wanted gaming...


Current Mood: Irritated

Still Alive

I have neglected the blogs of late, I'll try and fill you's in on some stuff that's happened recently. Well

I been maintaining the tech blog a bit more than this one and for some reason, doing episodic blogging :/

I got my final retention/redundancy pay last week *yay* now I'm thinking of investing my savings (for real this time, honest :P).

I finally caved in and decided to go to my friends place for the LAN, but I didn't get to play rock band this weekend. Apart from that I studied and worked on my assignments (kinda) while watching my brand new Cowboy Beebop Remix :) - Now if only buying DVD's where an investment...

So it's now 10 minutes 'till midnight and I'm still here blogging (how pathetic...) I really should sleep. Happy Easter everyone!


Current Mood: Unknown

This is a triumph...

On Saturday, my sister gave birth to a healthy little baby girl *awwww*.

Not only is she now a mother, but I am now officially an uncle (which is quite a scary thought - the uncle bit I mean :P)!

Christmas and new Year's Eve was boring - except for the post-boxing day friends gathering, which we went and saw AVP:R (which was supprisingly better than the first AVP), had an EXTREMELY late dinner and then went home (only to to play Portal :P )

I have booked my Sydney flights and accommodation and all I need to do now is find some more tourist stuff and then actually go there (PS: Don't expect any blog posts while I'm there!).

Current Mood: Neutral