Re: What a long strange trips its been

Actually the reason I pointed that out was I heard someone say they were
concerned about taking your class becausey the had a hard time with some of
the audio on demand you recorded. I don't want anyone missing out on your
class because of that, your accent was much improved and I had no issues
understanding you.

On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 2:09 PM, Marko Milivojevic <markom_at_ipexpert.com>wrote:

> Congratulations again and thank you for your kind words [said with
> thick Serbian/Icelandic accent] ;-)
>
> --
> Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427 (SP R&S)
> Senior CCIE Instructor - IPexpert
>
> On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 10:17 AM, marc abel <marcabel_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> > As you know I passed my lab in RTP yesterday. Thank you all for the
> > congratulations and well wishes. There are a few people I wish to thank
> > personally for their support in this process.
> >
> > After I obtained my CCNP in 2009 I decided I wanted to pursue my CCIE. I
> > figured it would take me about a year and a half. 6 months for the
> written
> > and year to prep for the lab. I managed to hit pretty close on the
> written
> > I read the following books pretty much cover to cover in about 6 months:
> >
> > BCMSN study guide
> > Routing TCP/IP VOL 1 + 2
> > Fundamentals of MPLS
> >
> > So in January 2010 I started preparing for lab. I purchased the IPExperts
> > blended learning solution which at the time featured the videos of a
> > scruffy Scott Morris. I worked my way through all the Vol 1 and somewhere
> > about then IPX came out with new videos featuring Joe Astorino. I watched
> > all these videos numerous times as well. I finally felt prepared to go
> sit
> > a boot camp and went to the 5 day R+S taught by Joe. I learned a ton
> during
> > these 5 days but could still see I had a ways to go. I kept labbing from
> > the IPX vol 2 + 3 books.
> >
> > Next I attended the OWLE or one week lab experience, this time taught by
> > Marko Millojovec. I found the class very hard, I jokingly started calling
> > it the One Week Layer Two Experience because it would seemingly take me
> all
> > day to get out of the layer 2 section of each lab. This showed me that I
> > still had a ways to go and I became discouraged for a while.
> >
> > Finally I snapped to and decided I had come too far to give up. I had
> about
> > 6 months to go before my written was to expire so I decided I would hit
> it
> > hard and make an attempt before that date. It was about this time I met
> > Steve Di Bias through this list and we began exchanging emails on topics
> we
> > were unsure. 3 weeks before my lab I took advantage of IPX's generous
> > retake policy and sat both the R+S and OWLE experience. Going in I was
> > beginning to feel confident, but a couple weeks with Marko let me know
> that
> > I still had big gaps. Marko is an awesome instructor, and I was amazed at
> > how much his english and accent had improved in such a short time. I
> highly
> > recommend anyone take a course with him if you can. You won't get a slide
> > show, you will get good explanations reinforced with the proof from the
> > command line. During this class I also made friends with Thomas Raabo and
> > Christophe Lemaire who I have continued to correspond and appreciate
> their
> > support.
> >
> > So I went into my first attempt knowing it was likely going to be
> > for practice, but determined to give it my best shot. I sat in San Jose
> in
> > July 2011. I was only able to solve 6 of the troubleshooting tickets in 2
> > hours so I knew by 10:00am that this was not my time. I still gave the
> > config section my all but only managed about 50%. I had now seen the
> beast
> > and extended the clock on my written exam. I finally knew at just a high
> > level you really have to be operating to pass this test. Before this I
> > think I underestimated what I was up against.
> >
> > The common thought I read on here is that you must have a one track mind,
> > you must say good bye to your friends and family, eat drink and breathe
> > CCIE. I really bought into this and spent the next few months with a one
> > track mind. It was during this time that we started the study groups with
> > Steve Di Bias, Jay McMickle, and Chris Moore. These group sessions were
> > pretty cool, we would take turns driving the keyboard while the others
> gave
> > input on strategies to try. It was really helpful to have insight into
> how
> > others approached the tasks and requirments.
> >
> > I would like to say a word of warning here though. This one track mind
> > everyone recommends is a dangerous thing. Even when I wasn't labbing I
> > couldn't unplug. I was becoming more distant from my wife, and even when
> we
> > had a few times out with friends I had a hard time. I felt like I had
> > nothing to talk about, none of them wanted to know about MPLS :). I felt
> > like the CCIE was eating my personality. Finally my wife had enough, and
> > nearly left me. I had to beg her to stay. I had to relearn balance in my
> > life. I had a second lab date fast approaching but my family had to come
> > first. So be careful out there, without your family the certification is
> > pointless.
> >
> > So in December 2011 the four of us; Steve, Jay, Chris, and myself headed
> to
> > San Jose. I could tell Steve was really dialed in and I had high hopes
> for
> > him. Well I went 6 for 10 on the troubleshooting again, and once again
> knew
> > by 10:00am that I was have a $1500 lunch. Again I decided to do my best
> on
> > the config section. This time at least I was able to make it through the
> > whole thing. There were a couple really big things I wasn't able to solve
> > though. I think I ended up about 67 percent on the config this time. My
> man
> > Steve knocked it out of the park that day though and became the first of
> > our group to slay the dragon. On his first time!
> >
> > At this time something awesome happened, and for this I can't thank him
> > enough. Jay McMickle offered to let me use a rack of equipment that Steve
> > had been using. This was a game changer for me. Previous to this I was
> > using IPX rack rentals, which are awesome but have one gigantic flaw. As
> > with any rack rental you have to know when you can study, and you need a
> > large block of time to do it. For a guy who is trying to find balance and
> > juggle a full time job, a family, consulting work, and the CCIE this can
> be
> > pretty tough. Now because of Jay's generosity I was able to lab any time
> I
> > had a spare hour. During lunch breaks, while my son was napping, and into
> > the wee hours. This allowed me to finally have family time, but to still
> > get in all the hours you need to prepare. To be prepared it is not enough
> > to know the commands, you need to have muscle memory of the commands.
> Your
> > fingers need to know the solutions even before your brain.
> >
> > So Jay recently passed and I was so happy for him. I could tell by
> > our preparation that I was going to be close behind. Labs that previously
> > took me 10 hours I was now doing in 3. One thing I did different this
> time
> > was not scheduling far in advance. If you look you see that you only need
> > to book a week or two in advance these days. So instead of picking a date
> > and trying to be ready, I waited until I was ready and then picked a
> date.
> >
> > So again, thank you to everyone that supported me along the way, and I
> hope
> > I don't forget anyone but a heartfelt thank you to: God, my wife, Jay
> > McMickle, Steve Di Bias, Chris Moore, Marko Millojovec, Joe Astorino,
> > Thomas Raabo, Christophe Lemaire, IP Experts and my employer.
> >
> > --
> > Marc Abel
> > CCIE #35470
> > (Routing and Switching)
> >
> >
> > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
> > Subscription information may be found at:
> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

-- 
Marc Abel
CCIE #35470
(Routing and Switching)
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net