But no, that’s not why I’ve been lax. Simply, I’ve been doing other things, and blogging, while fun and interesting, simply did not make the cut as far as time was concerned.

So, the highlights:

1. Fitness Training. I said I was working out to get fit, last time. Guess what? Since I left, I’ve lost a bit over 30 pounds and regained some of that lost muscle tone. Despite a few setbacks and a few “fuck this” mornings, I’ve been more or less on track…. and outside, as my dumb ass has taken to running outside in the wee hours of the morning. Every morning (except Sat) between 4 and 5 am, I get up, work out (either weight lifting or running), and all that jazz. Go me. I intend to lose a bit more, build muscle, and come back looking awesome.

2. Computer Training. I have been exceeding my own rather ambitious goals, here, and I have to say that I am proud of it. In the last 30 days, I have completed 4(!!) certification tests. I am now an MCITP: Server Administrator, an MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician, and exactly halfway to my goal of having 12 certification tests under my belt by December. Right now, I’m taking a break from Microsoft to pursue my first VMWare certification… but I will be jumping back on the Microsoft bandwagon before December, as I want to at -least- finish up my MCITP: Enterprise Administrator.

I also intend to take the 70-686 when the self-study book is released in October, thus granting me a fourth Microsoft certification… the MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator. That would put me at 10 certifications. I am undecided on what to do after that… should I take the new Linux+ tests to get both Linux+ and LPIC-1 (My first Linux certification) Or should I backfill and do the two (somewhat overlapped) tests that would grant me my MCSA on Server 2003? I’m generally not one to go “old tech,” but I can see some value in having both 2003 and 2008 certification. Thoughts?

Me bragging, real quick: 70-642, 70-640, 70-680, 70-685. Done.

3. Traditional Education. The University of Maryland did not work out, alas. They wanted me to pay out of state rates and I wanted to not pay out of state rates, so I took my business elsewhere. The good news it that I’m in the final stages of the preliminary process at American Military University. I’ll be majoring in Computer Security and minoring in Intelligence and… with any leftover electives… grabbing some Forensics work for the hell of it. I’m excited about going back to college!

4. Other Stuff. I still have no idea when I am moving. I mailed some letters last week and I’ll be mailing new postcards this week. I have no intent of slowing down or breaking my stride… this epic montage is well under way. Woot!

1. Fitness Training. I have a tendency to overdo fitness, so I’m taking pains (get it?) to go slowly this time. My mantra is “I have a year”, and my goal is to use the gradual increases to build the elements that I’ve never been able to build while fast-tracking. I’ve never been able to get fast, so I’m working on that… and I want to eventually break my 8 mile maximum distance record. Additionally, I’m working on getting stronger, slowly… and I’ve finally incorporated some stretching into the routine. I get up at 4 in the morning, work out, and go to work… thus shifting my bedtime back in the evenings to kill what I consider ‘dead time.’

2. Computer Training. My original goal for the year was going to be 12 certification tests in 12 months. While I don’t think that I’ll be able to make that goal, I do think that I can get close. Before December, I want to have both Windows 7 Desktop MCITP certifications, the Server Admin and the Enterprise Admin certifications, and maybe another easy certification or two to round it all out. I may be pressed for time, though because…

3. Traditional Education. I may go to the University of Maryland to pursue my Cybersecurity Bachelor’s degree, with a likely minor in Forensics. Why? Fuck it, why not? I have money to spend from my company and I don’t want it to go to waste, pretty much. I doubt I’ll finish the degree in one year, but I can make some solid progress. And hell, should it work out, I might even pursue my Master’s degree in the same subject.

Not everything I am doing is productive, though. I’m watching a couple of episodes of The Boondocks every night, I listen to music pretty regularly, and I do a bit of reading… though reading material is scarce, here. I’ve also been observing the culture here; I do like to play amateur sociologist when the mood strikes. Some time, I’ll detail my observations on the closed-community economy that war-zone bases seem to have, but I’m not particularly in the mood for it right now.

In other news… my postcards have started to arrive! If you’re on the list, you should receive a South Carolina postcard in the mail, but it’ll be coming from Qatar. Enjoy! I’ve yet to receive anything myself, though I do know I have at least two things on the way. I’ve also given up on the 365, as it is boring and I have very little that I can take pictures of.

Repeat after me: UGH.

So this week, I started (and will hopefully continue) to make a half-assed effort to counteract some of that. I’m not lifting weights as I don’t really FEEL like lifting weights, but I -am- busting out an extra helping of cardio. I’m also kind of playing it informal; a structured plan would be rather pointless as I am leaving (and would thus have to retool) in a mere month.

….a mere month. Wow. In a month, I’ll be gone for the better part of a year.

On that note… just about everything that I need to do to go is done. I need some shots, I need a Visa (travel, not credit) , and I need a couple of blood work tests… but other than that, I am good to go. Now I just get to play the waiting game… I wish I had something other than NOTHING to fill the time, but freelance is hard to find and working a structured 9-5 in the interim isn’t something I care to do. I may actually seek some freelance work just to have something to do, though… I -am- getting rather bored with the whole “nothing to do” thing already.

More updates as I have them… but really, the whole process is just about complete. We’ll be entering Phase 5 (deployment) shortly.

Montage of the Mind

I’m going to finish up as many credits toward a Bachelor’s degree as I can handle. Depending on my workload, I hope to get through at least the first year. I know, I know… a full credit load is a lot to shoot for. I won’t be disappointed if I can’t get to that point, but if I -can- get to that point, well… rock on. At this point, I have no idea what I’d want to study, though. Information Technology is the obvious (and thus boring) choice and Business Administration is general purpose and generally not interesting. I’d love to do something medical, but access to medical courses in Iraq may be somewhat limited. Failing all else, I will knock out the non-specific courses and work on the actual study focus ones later.

What? Yes, I said medical. I’m a “Player Character.” I could always use some basic medical skills. My adventuring party would approve.;-)

I am going to knock out some IT certs. Whether or not I go back for a year, having the extra certifications is going to improve my base pay and thus, my total income. While in Iraq, every extra $1 an hour nets me around $6300 a year… so you can see why getting a few certs and a $2-$3 an hour raise stateside would be beneficial. I’m looking at finishing up MCITP and perhaps a CCNA… but getting the CCNP would be even sexier. We shall see… again, it depends on work schedule and how easy it is to take the tests overseas.

And finally, I think I’ll learn that language I’ve been meaning to learn. Spanish was the original plan, but it seems that Arabic may actually be a wiser choice, considering the environment. Indeed, learning the basics of Arabic would actually improve my future prospects of profitable adventure in the region, so I think that Spanish shall have to take a back seat to Arabic.

Montage of the Body

Okay, don’t bitch me out… but I want to hit and bypass my 165 pound goal. Currently, I am… erm…. not 165, so I’d be happy with that… but if I can do 160, I will be happier. I figure the sun plus the lack of junk food will help with that. Which leads me to…

I intend to take my physical fitness past the “fit” level and into the “kinda badass” level. Being isolated and such should make that easy… I can come back strong and as fit as I’ve ever been. I’m thinking I’ll max out my running distance at 10K trainingwise, but I’ll work on getting faster in that range. If I get bored with that? Well heck… I’ll just bump it up to 12-15K and leave it at that. I want to break the 10 pull-ups barrier, finish the 100 push-ups / 200 sit-ups goal. and lose all remnants possible of being overweight.

If available (one can hope) I want to learn at least the basics of hand-to-hand combat. This is only a hope, though… who knows what will be available?

Considering my current motivation as far as distance running is concerned, this is probably a good thing. I am always, ALWAYS off peak in the winter. I can push through, but the combination of short-ass days and the cold (and delicious holiday food) make keeping in peak-for-me shape difficult as hell.  It’s a personal issue, and I’m getting better at managing it… but I still have not figured out that magical formula that will push me through the shit winter months without lagging.

So, to summarize: Shamrock Half Marathon <– Cancelled. 12 mile run <– Not cancelled, but delayed. I may shoot for the Rock and Roll Half. We shall see.

So… plan scrapped, moving on, working on training program to fit my current needs.

FIP Exam Tip: Applied FIP Principle in this case is honesty to one’s self and acceptance of personal responsibility. It is a minor personal failure to have to scrap the plan, but a bigger failure would be to continue on and give it a half-assed effort.

FIP Exam Tip 2: Recognizing one’s undesirable traits as undesirable is the first step to fixing them.  The second step is proactive action.

On the bright side, this means I can ditch the current training model and go with what I’ve been planning on doing after March 21st anyway! I’m going to go back to interval / speed training. I’m kinda… really… slow at the moment. I’d like to get back to running sub 8 minute miles, at the very least. I’m no speed demon, but I can be better than I am now.

Enough.

Let’s talk about school and certifications. I am (to reject humility and wallow in pride) fucking AWESOME when it comes to studying. I am about a week and some change ahead of schedule with my “12 in 12″ plan, with two of the planned 12 tests already passed and out of the way. I suspect I might actually be ready for the next one in three weeks, putting me WELL ahead of schedule.  This, of course, leads into my goal of being rich. While tech certs alone will not make me independently wealthy, they work to get me into a place where I have money to risk on further acceleration.

So far, I’ve done the 70-646 course (a harder course in the AD* of life) and Security+ (a test that proved that since I rejected the idea of taking it 3 years ago, I have become many times more awesome) with 70-640, 70-642, and 70-647 in my definite future.

Enough.

Work? Work is work. If you’ve talked to me before, you know you will get fuck-all in the way of complaints or compliments out of me about work… at least online.

More? More later. I have a lot to say, but it has to wait until I have less projects in the works.

No, I’m not addicted to booze. I’m just trying to lose weight and, well, the alcohol is interfering with that. See… when I drink, I get hungry. And, alcohol being what it is, my usual stalwart resistance against excessive snacking is shattered, thus causing me delicious, pretzel, hummus, salsa, tortilla chip indulgence. I then get knocked the fuck out in bed, thus processing those extra calories into fat.

So… welcome to weekday prohibition.

Pretty much, I am going to refrain from alcohol consumption on Sunday night through Friday afternoon, leaving me two nights to drink if I so choose. Of course, any drinking done on a Friday is going to be light due to running, so I’m really only leaving myself Saturday for any real indulgence.

After I drop… let’s say 10 pounds. After I drop 10 pounds, I’ll re-evaluate!