The closing is progressing slowly. Documents to sign, emails to wait on.. right now the date is set for around 12/5. Not too exciting, because that is my finals week. I am considering taking the week of Thanksgiving off so I can pack. It needs to be done, the wife is off, and her parents should be here to help. Packing mainly involves throwing away all the crap I've accumulated.

I'm excited about my training in December, then two week vacation at the in-laws. I do not need to check in with work during this time. WOOHOO!!!! I get to go fishing with my brother-in-law, play with my nephews, shop, and all you can eat sushi!!!

My promotion/raise... ugh, somehow, someway, a part of our HR database was updated to reflect my new title and start date (9/something/09), which means I will get retro pay... but my boss didn't know anything about it! Woo. Anyway, he can't *WINK* tell *WINK* anything *WINK* about *WINK* it. Even him saying anything *WINK* is too much. Too much bullshit, am I right?

I've been asked to travel next week to Maryland and our Security Intelligence Center for training. I am taking over some responsibilities from our Computer Incident Response Team and they are up at the SIC. I told my lead that I have some issues, being that I would miss two classes, and I am also waiting to close on the new house. I also needed to check with my wife.

I called my wife and explained the situation. I told her that I would normally have waited until tonight so we could discuss this, but they are trying to rush to get this trip planned so it falls under the 2009 budget. Her response was "Do what you need to do".. in an angry tone. The compromise I am willing to make is to be up there for a few days, rather than the whole week. I also told work that it would be idea for me to travel the first full week in January, because I do not have school and I would have closed on the house.

I am also concerned that this activity is being planned by my lead, and not my manager. My manager is in Maryland right now for a managers meeting. So, I assume in between meetings my lead is trying to pressure my manager into this decision... I do not know if this idea is fully supported by my manager....

UGH!

My dad called last night and said the bank approved our purchase of the new house. WOOHOO! The deadline for closing is December 15th. I'm out of town that week.. Tina thinks that Thanksgiving would be the best time because she has off the entire week. I may even be able to get the week off too.

I just passed my GCIH! W00t!

It's stick figures, so it must be easier to understand, right?

http://www.moserware.com/2009/09/stick-figure-guide-to-advanced.html

Happy New Year to my Jews!

My manager, a coworker, and I were discussing adding an account to 250 UNIX servers. My manager asked my coworker if it is a manual job or if there is an automated method for adding the account. My coworker replied, "It's a hand job". *rim shot* It was the best laugh I've had in awhile. We all laughed for about 5 minutes straight.

Tina and I were wondering is there a switch that gets turned on when a baby turns 18 months? Turns out, there is! Addysn is regularly putting together two or more word sentences, she also copies a lot of the words we say, and has the strange ability to identify objects with people. I've been doing a lot of studying and homework since I went back to school. On two occasions, Addysn has pointed two items, a big binder and certification workbooks, and said "Dat Daddy's!".

She is an amazing little girl. And although she may seem like she is going through the terrible 2s, very early, we still love her. :)

Tina wants to start potty training. Apparently all her mother had to do is get a doll that tinkles, put it on the toilet, then that was it. From then on Tina used the potty. I don't think it is that easy.

Also, is anyone on Facebook? If so, do you play Mafia Wars?! I need to grow my mafia. Oh, yeah, and having more friends would be nice too. :)

I matter to my department. The voucher for training was approved. I am in the process of figuring out how to charge the hotel and flight. As well as getting a scrubbed laptop for the training. w00t! DC here I come!

In related news, what is there to do in DC? Anyone know a good sushi restaurant? I was thinking the standard Wall/Mall/Lincoln Memorial thing, but then again aren't there some really good museums in DC? I will have the evenings to myself, if I choose not to do the after hours events at the training. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I think I will fly back on Wednesday evening.

Now, since I managed to score this feat, I wonder if I would be able to show my value enough to earn the promotion/raise.

I am scheduled to take my GCIH on 9/3 @ 9:30am. I am nervous because it is 23 days away and I am still working hard to index the material. I've studied for awhile, but the biggest time consumer is the index. Key words, slides, etc. For about 1,000 pages. Now that I've gotten through the first day, my pace has picked up. I finished half of day two yesterday, so I will have to work more. I also have two tests this weekend... ugh...

My boss said there is a seat for me in SANS training. I am going for SEC503: Intrusion Detection in-Depth, which maps to GCIA certification. It is being held in December in DC, right after finals. Woot! Tina is being supportive of me going.

I'm also going to have "the talk" with my manager next week about a promotion/job title change/something. Since I had the let down a few months ago I've been checking in with him to make sure I am going everything I need to be doing. He says yes, we will see once next week comes.

Do you need to switch between a static IP and DHCP? Or two static IP configurations? Well, look no further than the powerful command NETSH!

I just got a static IP to access a super secret database (for some reason they feel that access control via IP is the bestest). But I have a problem if I take my laptop home and need to use my DHCP. I am lazy, so I setup a batch file to configure my static IP when I am in the office, or to use DHCP when I am out of the office.

In other news, I lost my Account Operator rights to all the domains I had access to (I never had AO in some select domains). I could not justify having the rights anymore, because I didn't want to be a backup for account management anymore. And eventually I'm turning over my service account to my co-worker, so I'll lose more rights... but I get to play with all the new toys and services my department is taking in, like IDS and ArcSight. WOO! I may even get proper training 'cause the customer will pick up the tab.

Plus, I hope I am still on track for my promotion. My manager wanted me to check with him in the middle of September, so.. it's around the corner. I don't think I'll have sat for my GCIH before I talk to my manager, but I'll be close. I only have 30 more days. I haven't studied since I went back to school last week. I have three classes now, plus a late addition for a required prerequisite for classes I *HAVE* to take next semester, because they are going away per my adviser. I am on track to graduate Spring 2011.

And a weird side note, I just thought of a new nickname for myself if I ever needed one, Techbaca.

I just found out two weeks ago that UCF is phasing out my major. Slowly, required class by required class will be removed from the schedule. But they did not come out and say that! They said this is the last semester they are offering this class, if you do not sign up you must change your major. It was not until my neighbor confirmed that they are dumping MIS in favor of the new medical school. Woo! I spend 2 hours on hold with the advisors office. I need to get in touch with one of them so I can find out when the program is being closed, so I can schedule all the classes I need. Or schedule enough, and find a real college to transfer to... bah!

Too bad Rollin's dropped my program awhile ago, otherwise I would have gone there.