![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Short travel summary
Back from Calgary this afternoon.
Left Sunday evening, April 3rd, with cow-orker to go down to Calgary for CISSP course. Course is prep for certification exam, which will probably end up taking either in Calgary, Regina, or Vancouver sometime in next month or so. Text-message![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
purplejavatroll to relay arrival status. Sunday evening, beer and burger at some pub in Calgary that cow-orker likes. Drink beer. Not bad overall. Phone purplejavatroll and moan about lonely bed. Send boring e-mail to commiserate.
Monday, attended course introduction. Worried that instructor is less technical than self. Worried that supposed technical contact in Calgary turns out to be "sales engineer". (Review of e-mail that night reveals that reading comprehension skills below par. Need remedial study.) Worried that cow-orker will get in shouting match with instructor or fellow students over minor technical issue or personal opinion (touted as best practice) and will be forced to restrain. (No worries in this department as it turns out cow-orker more reasonable with strangers than people he respects.) Evening, went to second burger joint/sports bar. Torn between watching basketball (hatehate) and 19 yr old wait staff (flagged as dirty old man during first round). Cow-orker 6 yrs younger than self, single, divorced, jaded, impressively horny, shows no such reservations about watching wait staff. Drink beer to numb senses to state of world. Order fish and chips for variety. Send steamy e-mail topurplejavatroll. Talk on phone.
Tuesday, reviewed material that cow-orker and several others were already deeply familiar with. Refrain of "just telling you what is on exam" getting tired. Instructor begins stating own opinion as fact in defiance of reality or content of course material, thus generating third view point for additional discussion in class. Evening, go to yet another sports bar. Order burger, drink beer. Wonder if rattling noise from kidneys considered normal. (Note to self: drink water occasionally. Without additional caffeine content.) Talk on phone topurplejavatroll. I think. Um. Memory somewhat hazy after regular ingesting of malt flavoured calories three evenings in a row. Realize am now wimp.
Wednesday, attended morning aikido class (1 hr) at 6:50am. Learn about "dual circles of death". Remove own lungs to alleviate symptoms of exercise. Go to class. Reviewed material on cryptography. Discovered only woman in class works on sensitive military contracts and breaks encrypted files for fun and profit. Hear mention of No Such Agency muttered with considerable sarcasm. Try not to scream or fall asleep during section on "Application Security". Succeed partially. No one notices lapses as general state of suggestibility permeates room, affecting even the instructor. Test theories of hypnosis without being detected. Wait fruitlessly for money to arrive in large buckets as promised. Evening, go out with aikido club to evening practice. Demonstrate depressingly low skill level to eager students. Swing sticks and scare small children. Go out to local bar for beer and food. Kidneys disembark for less hostile climes. Making due with carefully folded napkins and length of pvc tubing found in parking lot.
Thursday, ass falls off following unscheduled exercise previous day. Review laws and ethics section, sprain left nostril restraining giggle reflex. Head out to nearby bar with cow-orker and woman from local military contractor. Contractor cannot confirm or deny ever having worked with members of No Such Agency, but gives away game by rolling eyes suggestively while saying so. Cannot confirm or deny current security clearance, but indicates that she cannot visit Cuba for "the long term" and retain her current job. Drink beer and eat best wings of entire life. Lips combust, but feel this is a fair trade off. Wings result of hastily scribbled recipe on year old credit card receipt passed by cow-worker to local chef. Callpurplejavatroll to mumble incoherently before drooling on cell phone.
Friday, dragged self from bed to go to morning aikido class. Swing sticks. Try not to poke self in other eye. Pack bags and load car. Go to course and write "practice" exam. Allowed 2 hours. Finish in under 1 hour. Get 75%. Cow-orker takes additional 15 minutes, gets 82%. Cow-orker smarter than self, marks "correct" answer on paper and writes real world answer in margin. Provides detailed technical summary of corrections to instructor who is not appreciative of free technical advice and consulting. Should have mentioned $200/hr consulting fee first? Get in car around 1pm to drive back to Edmonton. Life saved many times by continuing to gibber in passenger seat. Cow-orker complains that noise keeps him awake. Arrived unscathed at domicile where was thankfully not required to consume more beer. Kidneys expected to return tomorrow.
Left Sunday evening, April 3rd, with cow-orker to go down to Calgary for CISSP course. Course is prep for certification exam, which will probably end up taking either in Calgary, Regina, or Vancouver sometime in next month or so. Text-message
purplejavatroll to relay arrival status. Sunday evening, beer and burger at some pub in Calgary that cow-orker likes. Drink beer. Not bad overall. Phone purplejavatroll and moan about lonely bed. Send boring e-mail to commiserate.Monday, attended course introduction. Worried that instructor is less technical than self. Worried that supposed technical contact in Calgary turns out to be "sales engineer". (Review of e-mail that night reveals that reading comprehension skills below par. Need remedial study.) Worried that cow-orker will get in shouting match with instructor or fellow students over minor technical issue or personal opinion (touted as best practice) and will be forced to restrain. (No worries in this department as it turns out cow-orker more reasonable with strangers than people he respects.) Evening, went to second burger joint/sports bar. Torn between watching basketball (hatehate) and 19 yr old wait staff (flagged as dirty old man during first round). Cow-orker 6 yrs younger than self, single, divorced, jaded, impressively horny, shows no such reservations about watching wait staff. Drink beer to numb senses to state of world. Order fish and chips for variety. Send steamy e-mail to
purplejavatroll. Talk on phone.Tuesday, reviewed material that cow-orker and several others were already deeply familiar with. Refrain of "just telling you what is on exam" getting tired. Instructor begins stating own opinion as fact in defiance of reality or content of course material, thus generating third view point for additional discussion in class. Evening, go to yet another sports bar. Order burger, drink beer. Wonder if rattling noise from kidneys considered normal. (Note to self: drink water occasionally. Without additional caffeine content.) Talk on phone to
purplejavatroll. I think. Um. Memory somewhat hazy after regular ingesting of malt flavoured calories three evenings in a row. Realize am now wimp.Wednesday, attended morning aikido class (1 hr) at 6:50am. Learn about "dual circles of death". Remove own lungs to alleviate symptoms of exercise. Go to class. Reviewed material on cryptography. Discovered only woman in class works on sensitive military contracts and breaks encrypted files for fun and profit. Hear mention of No Such Agency muttered with considerable sarcasm. Try not to scream or fall asleep during section on "Application Security". Succeed partially. No one notices lapses as general state of suggestibility permeates room, affecting even the instructor. Test theories of hypnosis without being detected. Wait fruitlessly for money to arrive in large buckets as promised. Evening, go out with aikido club to evening practice. Demonstrate depressingly low skill level to eager students. Swing sticks and scare small children. Go out to local bar for beer and food. Kidneys disembark for less hostile climes. Making due with carefully folded napkins and length of pvc tubing found in parking lot.
Thursday, ass falls off following unscheduled exercise previous day. Review laws and ethics section, sprain left nostril restraining giggle reflex. Head out to nearby bar with cow-orker and woman from local military contractor. Contractor cannot confirm or deny ever having worked with members of No Such Agency, but gives away game by rolling eyes suggestively while saying so. Cannot confirm or deny current security clearance, but indicates that she cannot visit Cuba for "the long term" and retain her current job. Drink beer and eat best wings of entire life. Lips combust, but feel this is a fair trade off. Wings result of hastily scribbled recipe on year old credit card receipt passed by cow-worker to local chef. Call
purplejavatroll to mumble incoherently before drooling on cell phone.Friday, dragged self from bed to go to morning aikido class. Swing sticks. Try not to poke self in other eye. Pack bags and load car. Go to course and write "practice" exam. Allowed 2 hours. Finish in under 1 hour. Get 75%. Cow-orker takes additional 15 minutes, gets 82%. Cow-orker smarter than self, marks "correct" answer on paper and writes real world answer in margin. Provides detailed technical summary of corrections to instructor who is not appreciative of free technical advice and consulting. Should have mentioned $200/hr consulting fee first? Get in car around 1pm to drive back to Edmonton. Life saved many times by continuing to gibber in passenger seat. Cow-orker complains that noise keeps him awake. Arrived unscathed at domicile where was thankfully not required to consume more beer. Kidneys expected to return tomorrow.
no subject
Amazingly, it seems that you may have drunk more alcohol than me this week, even though I've been at a conference. Good luck finding your kidneys!
no subject
no subject