Jimmy.Brainflush.com

That’s Best Buy’s slogan, and it’s frankly overwhelming. I got a 150 dollar gift card and suddenly I’m twelve again wondering how I can spend That_Much_Money. Add to that the Gravitas of being granted an 8100 credit line and shucks, I could buy one of those and one of those, and.. then I saw a heavyset couple beaming proudly after purchasing a 60 inch monstrocity that costs roughly the worth of my car - Two Years ago.
Three hours of near-breakdown.

I told myself I’d buy the Open-Box computer if they knocked $120 off of it. They never relented, so I went off to Big Screens and met the heavyset couple who I’ll call Wheel and Fortune. The larger of the two male, who we’ll call Fortune, I assumed drove a huge 4×4 SUV Monstrocity, and I was right. It was black, and I believe GM, and it had pinstripes.
It’s about that moment that I wished everyone wasn’t so predictable. I walked out without spending a dime.

I haven’t done Jack with Studying lately and I tell myself this is a normal thing. I enjoyed the OSU game today, and got some laundry done, but now in this night I feel guilty for affording myself these consumerist pleasures. Maybe its the Polish side from my father’s father who worked really long days as a packer on the Erie Illinois Railroads. Grandpa Joe didn’t say much, and I’ve learned more, sadly, about him from Google then my dad really shares.

This folks, is what happens when you’ve been through my steps. Everything banal suddenly becomes not only a waste of time, but a Guilty Pleasure. I felt unworthy watching the big, voluptuous HDTV splendor that Wheel and Fortune had just charged at 0 percent interest for the next twelve months. I calculate it out - 9,989.99 divided by twelve is roughly 832.50 per month, which is more than rent and living expenses combined for my sorry ass.

Reality check though - did I really think Wheel and Fortune are truly happier than me? Sure they have each other, and a beautiful TV. They will watch the Browns game tomorrow afternoon, probably inviting friends and/or people they want to brag to - which I realize are probably not mutually exclusive - and have a great time.

Wheel will probably buy some beer for Fortune, and she and the other wives will probably share stories of their husbands, kids, and jobs. Fortune and pals will drink the day away, cursing or praising the Browns and their competition. One guy in the group will be Stat guy. Usually identified by mid-first quarter, he’ll throw out a relational stat about Jim Brown and the 1965 season - and everyone in the room who doesn’t like Fortune will subconciously bring Stat Guy into their arguments.

All the while, they think their relationship is somehow getting better with this New TV - they can’t remember the last time they had people over. They’ll have to do this again.

A typical Sunday in Cleveland… or any US city, town or burg. Then I ask myself, how many Wheels and Fortunes are out there? Tonight? Leaving a Best Buy with their new TV in time for the Big Game tomorrow.

Don’t forget Monday Night.. when they invite the neighbors over for the GameDay leftovers. You know, the neighbors who they don’t exactly know well enough, who they aren’t ready to introduce to their friends for fear of some future neighborly retribution.

Then it just becomes Their TV. They start watching dinner around it “Just for one meal as a treat.” Fortune seems to Wheel to be a bit more open and romantic, sitting right next to her on the couch.
This turns into two nights which turns into a month, then habit.

Fortune’s back on his recliner by week 2, using paper plates now.

12 months later, after they’ve paid off the TV (if you can call rolling it into their Home Equity Loan paying off the TV) they will decide they deserve the 1200 channel DirecTV HD channel lineup.

And Life becomes Easier. They Get Along Better.

They Don’t Talk Much.

What’s On?

Predictable Programming for
Predictable People
in Predictable Places
with Predictable Careers, futures, lives, and deaths.

Hi. This may be the first time you’ve visited, so let me introduce myself. I’m Jimmy. This is my blog. I used to dream about becoming an MCSE. I finally did, and here’s the story:

I began like everyone else, with the CNE for 3.11. Back then, things were so much easier, but no one realized it. I take that back - people did, they capitalized on the market.
Microsoft started the MCSE track with NT 4.0. If you’re like me, then you bought the books. Twice. With the best of intentions to study. But you never got to it, and the books piled up.
Fast forward 3 years, and Windows 2000 comes out, the ultimate excuse to wait out and get certified on that version. Again, you purchase the books. They’re on your desk the first week. Then they get put on the shelf out of the way so you could pay your bills. In fits of desperation, you promise yourself that’s it! I can’t handle the crap and disrespect our network administrators give me!

I’ll show them!, you tell yourself. If you’re lucky, you keep the blind rage until you get home, and crack the 2000 Professional book. At 7 o’clock, your favorite show is on, or you have to cook dinner, workout, feed the kids, take out the trash, pay your bills or watch that DVD before you return it to the video store.

This vicious cycle continues. For years. You read all the success books and listen to success books and then you hear someone mention goal setting and modeling and if you’re very lucky, something clicks.

I asked our administrator how he got his MCSE. He told me he went to a boot camp. This is where I define modeling: It’s simply doing the same thing that someone you deem successful in a particular area did, and getting the same results. (That’s over-simplified, research more).

I asked him what he recommended for me, and he said to try doing it at home, because bootcamps are expensive.

Again, I get the books, and even spend 600 dollars on testprep software. But the software wouldn’t install right, and my cousin called, and work ran late, and I’m working on becoming a comedian. (You can browse the years of this here, at jimmy.brainflush.com).

I have another desperate moment, and start researching bootcamps. I find one that looks really good. It’s really expensive, but I have a 401K. Screw it! I’m going to do what our Admin did!, I told myself.

Then I took a hard look at my finances. The 8000 dollars was out of control. I couldn’t get a loan because I have crappy credit.

A co-worker’s son lost his job, and I recommended this particular bootcamp, and he went, and got his MCSE! He got a job as an administrator. I felt great for him, but horrible myself. Here this guy was, living my dream! Damn!

FINE! I told myself, I’ll get out of debt, and THEN I’ll go to bootcamp!

This is where things, rather I, got weird. I actually followed through. A year and a half later, I was debt-free.

That was cool. It helped me realize I really could accomplish things.
I ordered my tickets for bootcamp in February. Then work intervened. Twice.

I finally got my 2 weeks vacation for BootCamp, and went. Yes, that’s right, I’m still being weird. I took my precious vacation and spent it in the hell that is boot camp.

I lost a bunch of hair from the stress, and with the difficulty that Microsoft has added to Server 2003 exams, not many people will pass. I didn’t finish my MCSE at boot camp.

I did, however, follow my instructors advice and booked my 2 remaining exams as I was driving home from boot camp. Thanks to the continued momentum from that time, and the pressure I put on myself, I actually finished the MCSE, which hangs above and to the left, quite nicely, I might add, to the desk at which I’m now sitting.

Did it mean an immediate raise? No. Does it guarantee anything? No. Am I a different person for having gone through the experience? Abso-friggin-lutely.

It’s allowed me to move successfully into a Security management role in my engineering job. It’s helped me better understand the fundamentals of Windows, Server, and the entire computing environment.

If I lost my job tomorrow, could I get one? Sure. Am I more confident in the technical decisions I make for my firm? Yes.

I didn’t have faith in my abilities, and up to the start of camp, I was afraid I wouldn’t make it. That fear, it turns out, served me very well.

The camp I attended was The Training Camp, located in Bushkill, PA. I went there because it’s their original location, and I’d been mentally preparing to go there for years.

The pre-reading material they provide will get you started on the right track. If you study the pre-reading, and give it everything you got, then you’ll have your opportunity to share your story.

If you’d like more information, or if you have any questions, you can email me at mcse03@myway.com - I check it occasionally.

As they say at camp, You’re only as good as what you know.

Hey all,

It’s September, which means nearly time to get back on the horse. I’ve got this last week of freedom, and I’ve squandered it working. Why does MouseCalls support demand get crazy when I least expect it to?
I’m not complaining.

I started at KMart 2 years ago selling cell phones to pay for my teeth.

Getting DBA & CCNA done comparitively should be a walk in the park. Heading off to Chicago this weekend to check out Millenium Park. Rumor has it there’s a new study coming out about Cleveland, my fair city, rating it with the highest poverty anywhere.

Driving through some East side neighborhoods tonight I remembered living in the hood, and how it affects your mood and general disposition on life.

While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was both happy to be out of there and sad to not be able to connect to the me that lived there just 3 short years ago.

The lake looked awesome coming west over 90 and around to 71 after sunset tonight.

Got done with TH work by about 5:30, and MCCS work about 10, and rest of TH work about well, 20 minutes ago.

Yup, I’m going to miss this time of carefree bliss.

It does suck that this weekend is the last of summer. At least, finally, for one year, I know where it went, from Start to finish.

May: DC, DC, and Poconos.
June: DC (doh!), Wise, , DC,
July: Altiris, Cisco, Brussels,
August: Brussels, Cleveland, Cleveland? Cleveland!

Proposed For the Fall:
September: SQL, SQL, and SQL
October: SQL, CCNA, CCNA
November: 2 Weeks free, Holiday, Cable

… or something like that.

Go to sleep! You can! Lucky readers.. lucky writer..