So after failing my CCNP Switch again for the second time I have spent most of the last week either wondering how I managed to convince myself I had passed it while waiting for the result to load, or watching The Big Bang Theory. The rest of it was filled with problem solving training which was actually pretty good.

It was centered around a structured approach to information gathering, problem analysis and decision making. Surprisingly I was actually pretty good at it – I think it’s a skill I’ve honed while troubleshooting so many computer problems over the phone for various people in the last 2-3 years. It was a really good course though, and while it was pretty hard to sit through at times (laptops off rule kinda sucks) the trainer was really great and the training itself is very much applicable to real world situations.

So, with the training finishing on Friday, a few of us decided to have a mini LAN party in work over the weekend, based around retro games. It’s actually a topic I find interesting becuase retro games for us are games like Half-life, Counterstrike 1.6 and Age of Empires II – games that are only around 10 years old but that have been left in the dust of an ever expanding games industry. Indeed, upon logging into Half-life I couldn’t believe that only 10 years ago a cylinder and a cone settled for a tree, especially given the painstaking time and effort that goes into modelling modern game objects now – even to the point of making dynamic environments that react when you blow holes in them.

Working for Cisco defintiely has it’s advnatages, and being able to borrow an unused 24-port switch is definitely one of them. So 9 hours later after getting my ass handed to me repeatedly in every game we played we headed home.

I often receive odd looks from my family when I explain that playing games is a method of relaxation for me – I use it to temporarily switch off from the world around me and move my mind elsewhere, almost like meditation but with an interactive element. However, I can honestly say that arriving home last night I was more relaxed than I think I have been since arriving in Brussels. The day was fun, the company and food were great and there is definitely a team building element to swearing loudly at one another across a table filled with wires and laughing about it.

Also this weekend, we managed to clear out and inventory a labful of equipment we have recently inherited (sort of) and a couple of the guys even went as far as totally unwiring 4 racks of equipment and readying them for redeployment into some sort of useful network topology (we hope).

I did however miss one of my best mate’s birthdays this week, which kinda sucks, but the wonders of technology made it possible to communicate and birthday wishes were relayed. I often find the growth of video calling interesting – it is one of the technologies predicted by old sci-fi movies that we actually use almost daily and don’t even think about. I mean nearly every smartphone now has the option to video call but we rarely use it - Skype on the otherhand is used the world over and very regularly too. Funny how the general idea is the same but the implementation differs.

I know this entry has very little structure – while yesterday was spent relaxing today was a little more head-frazzling as I tried to sort out exam rebookings, server payments, service requests and heating – so my apologies for just writing things down as they tumble out of my brain.

Also my iPad screen has broken once again. It is about the only real case I can make for getting an iPad 2, the screen mounting is entirely different and this problem would not happen. I’ll try and get in touch with Apple this week and see if they can do something about it. I really hope it’s still in warranty…

So, after weeks of working I’ve finally completed my entire CCNA certification. This involves an exam with an 82.5% pass mark boundary (I got 88.1%) and a panel in front of experts, who pretend to be customers and grill you on a few networking topics.

CCNA is a big step because its the basic networking qualification that asserts you as a network technician, so it feels really great to have it out of the way. The panel was hard the first time because I was incredibly nervous (for some reason – I’m not normally a nervous person) but the second time was a great improvement and I was pleased with how I got on, although there are still some areas that require work.

Life in Brussels is continuing on. The mornings are getting visibly darker and colder, so much so that I am normally out of bed before the sun has risen. I’m still finding sleep a problem though, in that I cannot seem to find the right amount that will get me up in the morning feeling energised as opposed to zombified.

There is a lot of things still to see here in Brussels – because I live far away from the centre I haven’t been able to see as much as I would like and there are several very interesting landmarks to visit and photograph. I’m hoping to do this when November rolls around and I have a bit more free time, or December would be cool when the Christmas decorations start to go up. I do hope it snows.

It’s my sisters birthday next Sunday, which kinda sucks because I’m going to miss it. Our family is pretty old fashioned in that birthdays are a big affair – we have a nice dinner and open presents with everyone around – I absolutely love it.  I’m so used to always being around for family Birthday’s but I’ve now missed two in a row…very strange feeling indeed.

Anyway that’s all for now – I  settled on the Booq bag and was able to wangle some discount so well pleased. It’s just arrived downstairs so should be coming home with me today!!

So I have been searching for a new laptop bag since my old one started to fall apart. It was OK when I got here but I think the constant everyday abuse which I put my bags though is finally starting to show. The material is starting to fray, stitches are coming loose and padded shoulder strap is now anything but padded. Or complete for that matter of fact.

So I decided to start searching the Web for a bag worthy of the abuse I can give my belongings and protecting my various bits of gear. (NB: I have been known to carry three laptops at once, or xBox’s and laptops all in the one bag). It would need to be strong. A padded shoulder strap was also a definite as I wear my bag on my pacemaker shoulder. It needed to be roomy and looking nice is always an added bonus. It also has to be subtle. I hate bags that seem to scream “Hey everyone! Look, This guy is carrying a laptop! Can everyone see?!” which is one of the reasons I prefect satchel or messenger style bags.

 The Bag of Holding

I started my search over at ThinkGeek where I had recently seen an interesting bag. That bag was The Bag of Holding

The Bag of Holding gets its name from the game Dungeons & Dragons, where a similar in-game item exists. The Bag of Holding is a mystical object which would hold /a lot more/ than it looked like it could. The same is said to be true of ThinkGeeks tribute.

From the picutres and reviews around the web, the bag does indeed appear to be larger inside than out. The heavy canvas material its made of looks sturdy and lifting up the flap reveals a world of wonder underneath. There is room for a laptop, games, power brick, accessories, books, binders, gadgets, MP3 players, phones and anything else you care to cram into it.

For me though, as awesome as this bag looks it has two major drawbacks:

1. The bag strap has no padding whatsoever. Its just a canvas strap.
2. It ships from the US only, which means $42.50 in shipping. Not. Cool.

However at $59.99 that would be an overal cost of 102.50 and at todays exchange rate that works out at about £65. So one to think about.

Then my eyes set upon this.

Booq Taipan Shadow M

Booq have a nack of making incredibly good looking products and then take advntage of this by photographins them in amazing conditions and perfect lighting, to make an object that is instantly lustable. They leave no stone undturned on the products portfolio either, showing you in depth pictures of all the areas of the bag – something I have found a lack of while on this bag searh.

Along with a padded section fo a laptop upto 15.6″ (Work laptop or my Macbook) it also has tons of space for books and accessories along with pouches and pockets galore for quick access to things like pens, passports or airplane tickets.

The reviews around the web state that the build quality of this bag is second to none, with very close attention to detail being paid to the stitching, padding and overall construction of the bag. The strap is heavily padded which is great, and overall it looks inconspicious and professional.

There is one problem though, and that is the price. In the US this bag is $99.99 which I think is a great price. The problem is, in Europe, this bag is €99.99 which is a lot more. And odd becuase I’m pretty sure Booq is a Dutch company, as they offer both English and Ditch languages on their US site.

So that prompted me to keep on searching. I found some nice bags along the way from the likes of Timbuk2 and Crumpler but there were was very little that looked roomy enough for what I wanted. I then came across a brand I had never heard of before but that seems to be quite popular.

Everki Track Messenger Bag

This is a bag to rival the Booq, although it did turn out it had the same flaw, but more on that later

There is a ton of room in this bag, but it doesn’t really show it in the photos. However, this bag can confortably hold a laptop and all of its accessories – not only that but it also packs them into seperate pouches to stop them moving about or sratching anything else that might be in your bag. And it doesn’t stop at comptuer accessories either – there are pouches for pens, phone, MP3 player, earphones, papers, books – it even has collapsable sections if you want the bag to be smaller. And better yet, it has a paaded tablet slot designed specifically for the iPad, so not only can your laptop right in stye but your tablet can come along too, snug and cosy.

There is also a very padded strap included and the construct of the bag is excellent. But there was that one problem though, and that is that this bag is also from a US company. I did find it on ebay for £65 which puts it ahead of the similar Booq.

So, now I’m stuck. I have 3 great bags to choose from…so tell me people…thoughts?

P.S. Personal blog to come soon!

So I failed my CCNA last Wednesday which kinda sucks, but on the optimistic side, at least I didn’t fail it by a really small amount. In fact, I failed by 20% (82.5% being the pass and me obtaining 63.4%) so I don’t get to beat myself up over a few points. So I’m working hard to correct that failure and additionally have started studying for the CCNP Route exam which I will be taking next week.

I have also asked my ever patient Fiancée to make me a logo for the site given that I don’t really have the time to be working on it, so expect to see something up above by the end of the week. In other news I decided to bite the bullet and get my iMac shipped over here. I really am getting tired of stiff necks from leaning over laptops so I’m looking forward to having a decent screen and hardware to work with.

And totally off topic, recently I have been having a lot of flashbacks to a game I used to play in my childhood – that game being Descent, and more specifically Descent II.  When I was a kid playing games I tended to just play for the fun and generally used cheats to get me past the big bosses. However I’m very tempted to try a quick play through at some point with no cheats to see how far I get. It really was an epic game.

Buuut it is now rather late, so I shall leave it here for tonight. Hopefully this won’t be the last post this week!