Preparations for the next assault on the MCSE strongholds is progressing nicely. Due to the fact that we're now behind schedule, I'm shuffling resources as needed to speed up the process. With any luck, we'll be ready to launch the next offensive as early as next week.

The Exchange implementation project I've been assigned to at work is progressing nicely as well. Most of the systems have been prepped and readied. . . all of them waiting for the first switchover which will happen this weekend. Once things stablize after that, I'll be able to complete the project (on time!). While I'd like to claim that this was a solo effort, I have to admit the numerous people who've shared their expertise and experience on this project. Without them I would've been venturing into the unknown and risking the entire project with one wrong move. Not that I haven't done that before. . . :P

Participate in a CQB training session this evening with a bunch of the ACM members. I was a bit out of shape during the first round, but was fully functional during the second and third round (and the scores showed). The back-to-back-to-back endurance matches let me know how out of shape I was, but I was feeling damn good afterwards. I've been too physically unmotivated for the past few months. This exercise was a welcomed change in routine.

Yanyan was a super big help this evening, and I can't tell how much she means to me. After weeks of searching, I finally found a Seburo MN-23 (fully functional) for sale on eBay. Unfortunately, the auction end of time coincided with the starting time for the CQB training. I was absolutely torn, both by the price tag and by the time table. Fortunately Yanyan was there with me on the phone, soothing my nerves and volunteering to watch the auction for me while I drove to the training grounds. I was ecstatic when she called me while I was still on the road and announced the results of the auction. The price was steep. . . but for a collector's item like that, I think its a worthy investment. Now we just have to tie up the loose ends, and then I'll be able to begin modifying the stock MN-23 into a custom work of art. . . *evil grin*

It was a hard fought battle. . . I was fairly confident of the situation in the first fifteen minutes. . . but in the next ninety minutes I felt my strategem crumbling all around me as my battlelines fell apart from constant bombardment by well-concealed artillery. . . so in the final twenty minutes, I marshalled what remaining strength I had and launched a suicidal frontal assault against their main battleline. . .

Veni. . . Vidi. . . Vici. . .* as Gaius Julius Caesar had said more than two millenium ago. . . even in my moment of triumph, I still felt that uncertainty that had I erred once or twice more, the war would've been lost. . .

With two strongholds taken, there's only nine more to go. . . although now I'm way behind schedule according to the war plan, so I'm going to have to shuffle some of the next campaigns around to make up for lost time. . .

During the weekend I decided to bolster morale for the troops and invited some friends from the ACM over to watch some anime. We partook in the visual goodness of Appleseed 2004, and revisited the classic that is Akira. Much grokking was done, and some food too. We were all tired and worn by 4AM, but all was well. There is talk of planning for the next one, but I'll have to temper that depending on how well the war is going. . .

Even though I'm still reeling from the euphoria of victory, I'm already gathering the troops together in preparation for the next campaign. . . no rest for the wicked. . . nor the righteous. . .

Yanyan is still her chirpy self, and looking forward to her visit home in less than two weeks. I'm looking forward to it to for my own reasons. ;)

I did spare a couple of hours and headed downtime to visit Designedge during their annual SXSW open house. It was good to see the old familiar faces. . . but also sad because they are now a minority amongst the tons of other new people that I don't know. Times change, I suppose. . .

Managed to get several days of good riding weather last weeks, so I'm happy about that (especially in the face of astronomical fuel prices). . . but starting tomorrow a nasty cold front is coming in, so there goes my riding weather. . .

Went crazy and spent $600 on Amazon over the weekend. . . mainly because the ECM suite for the Bismark is long overdue. I also ordered a couple of other things that should keep things interesting around here. Some of it are for fun, the others are for REALLY fun stuff. And no I'm not going into any details. ;) I did order a Security+ study guide too, since I need to snag that certification as part of my MCSE process.

Basically, my MCSE studying has taken a hit because of a couple of other things that popped up in life, including planning for the upcoming wedding. Where I had hoped that I should be able to start reviewing for the test at this point, I'm actually still several chapters behind in the reading. My family's surprise visit isn't exactly helping my time table either.

Was up bright and early yesterday morning so I could attend this month's Hiring Weekend at work. Not that I was actually interviewing anyone, but one of our field members wanted to revitalize the training lab and needed me to be there to assist in figuring out what we have and what he needs.

Spent the evening dining out at the Salt Lick in Driftwood with long unseen friends, and good time was had by all. It was promptly followed by a intense game of laser tag (which was a bad idea, both because of what was had for dinner and also because I'm getting too old for this. . .). I was plagued by a malfunctioning pack during the first game, and being misled by a mischevious team member in the second game, so I did not do all that great overall. Grrr. . . waiting for Paul to schedule the next game so I can redeem myself. . .

On one hand, I'm excited. On the other hand, I'm always afraid that I'll overlook something and screw something up. Fortunately there'll be a whole division of talented people in the company I can fall back on if I stumble on something.

Either way, this presents a unique first-person hands-on experience that should be prove VERY beneficial to my current MCSE undertaking.