Now What ?

So it’s been nearly 30 days since my first CCIE voice lab attempt and I’m soon able to take a re-sit. So where am I and what have I been doing ?

Well contrary to popular wisdom of throwing back into the books and finding where I went wrong, over analysing my mistakes and generally fretting about a re-sit, I had a holiday! And thus we go slightly off-topic. I played golf (well hit a golf ball around most of a golf course) for the first time in 20 years, thanks to my two best friends in the world – nothing better for dismissing a score report, which turned up as I was entering the first tee (as I knew what it said – I wasn’t going to let it spoil my day – although three days later when I had a look it did read better than I had expected!), than creaming a little white ball 200 yards down the middle of the fairway (I like to think that’s what I did – the reality was more 50 yards and very left or right!). I (with family of course) went to Port Douglas in Far North Queensland where I swam with turtles here.

We also got to see some really live and wild crocodiles too! He’s 3 metres in length and eating a mud crab claw!

The rest of the holiday was a celebration for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary and my Dad’s 60th birthday – so much merriment occurred.

I also did do some study – it' just eats at you when you know there were things in the exam that you should have known and didn’t, so I now understand how to configure some of the things I didn’t expect to see (see I broke rule number 1 – expect everything to be there!), and I already feel that I have filled in some of those tiny cracks that will better prepare me for next time.

I have been struggling with flu-like symptoms since I’ve returned so I haven’t touch a router or phone in anger since the exam. I’m now looking at dates in June for Brussels – there seem to be plenty towards the back half of the month. I will have that booked shortly and we’ll go again, after all very few people pass first time do they!