I passed my CISSP examination!  I am sooooo happy 🙂  You have no idea.  I actually felt like I had passed the exam right after passing.  And by the weekend, I knew I had passed it, and was just waiting for confirmation.

And then there was the pleading for them to give me my score already so that I could finish the certification activities.

I have people to thank.  Obviously the instructors of the different courses that I took got me to focus.  And a huge thanks goes to sjneedham, who when I was thinking of going to Berlin and partying the weekend before my exam, grounded me in reality and forced me to realise just how important studying was to get my certification in terms of the opportunities it can hold (e.g. an addition US$10,000 if I decide to leave IBM for another company).

And the weather is beautiful in Copenhagen this week!

Topday I opened my french windows to let some air into the apartment. Badly needed air into the apartment. I have been isolating myself most weekends and I am not too sure why. Well actually I have a pretty good idea why, but I don’t want to share it just now.

So anyway, 2 bees came in during the course of the day. They seemed to be fighting with each other, and then they decided to gang up on me. But then, the song I am listening to now came on (see my ‘Current Music’ section) and it managed to send them flying out the window.

Now I think that was a little bit excessive of the bees, don’t you? It’s not that bad of a song.

Listening to the Rent soundtrack makes me happy and sad.

It sapped my energy to go out. But I am too fat to go out for the next few weeks anyway, so it’s just as well.

I feel so blah today!

That is all…

I think I have a good chance of passing. We’ll see.

But for right now, the 4 weeks of focused studying means I get to reward myself with some gin & tonics and some good dance music and some much needed relaxation!

Studying for my CISSP is going well. I still have a lot to study for during the week.

Friday and Saturday was about reading all about telecommunications and networking. I took 2 practice exams on the subject and my skills are getting better. I know enough about the base to be able to deduce the right answers most of the time. In every area except data and cabling transmission methods. Grrr…I just have to improve upon that subject area. ANd maybe some more on the TCP/IP suite…

Where I am still really weak on is Enterprise Security Architecture. That bothers me because I am supposed to be better in that area than I am scoring. But I think me scores will improve the more that I drill. I just hate lattice-based access models!

Since I don’t want to study on all 10 domains/topics, I have choosen to focus this week on where I scored the lowest when I took the exam cold last time. I am going to need every night this week to cram. I will study tonight for about 3 hours. And then M;onday for about 4 hours. And then Tuesday for about 3 hours. Wednesday night I will take a full practice exam, and make some final study notes to cram for on Thursday. Friday night will be a rather relaxed night — I don’t want to stress. Just will review quick guides and study tips for 2 hours. Early to bed. My exam will be on Saturday. 250 questions. 6 hours. I am not nervous as much as I am just anxious to get the test over and get my passing grade 😉

For the next 45 minutes anyway, I’ll be listening to dance music (a podcast by DJ Racim) and relaxing. And figuring out what to do with this caviar I bought…

In the final installment of the Lost Pictures, we look at Helsinki.  About 2-3 weeks ago (around 29 March).  What a difference those weeks make!  There is a distinct possibility in Helsinki that they will miss out on Spring and jump directly to summer, weather-wise.  I was in the taxi as we were driving to work.

Baby, it’s cold outside!

My most recent trip to Berlin (1-3 April) was rather uneventful.  And that was actually just how I wanted it to be.  At this point I am pretty comfortable with certain sections of the city, and I feel confident enough on my own to take the public transportation, with my sporty bad and iPod video to keep my company.

In a change, I actually arrived to Berlin on a Saturday.  I was supposed to take a flight from Copenhagen to Berlin because I was supposed to be working there for a week; however, business plans changed and I was forced to be in other parts of Scandinavia, so I had to book an additional flight from Stockholm to Copenhagen to make my original flight.  So it was basically SAS from Stockholm to Copenhagen and then EasyJet from Copenhagen to Berlin.

On the flight, sat next to a really cool guy.  He moved to Berlin with his girlfriend and he was just in Copenhagen to visit family for the weekend.  I meant to ask for his number to keep in touch, but I forgot.  I didn’t forget…I was in a rush.  On the way into the city, I managed to get lost.  Robin called and offered to help me out, but I declined.  I was going to have to make it on my own — even if that meant it took me longer than planned.  Part of the problem was that normally there is a direct train from Berlin’s smaller Schönefeld airport into the city.  However, on the weekends there is construction so that you have to make 1 or 2 connections.  Of course I could have taken a taxi, but that would have been €30 compared to the €2.10 to take public transport.  But I eventually went with instinct and only managed to delay myself about 15 minutes longer than planned.

So this weekend was more low key.  Saturday I met up with people and went out.  On Sunday morning I came back to my hotel and was tired, but there was the Berlin marathon happening right outside the hotel.  No sleep for the weary.  Instead of getting angry, I took some pictures.

Free Government Cheese Downtown! Run!

One of the things that makes the Radisson SAS Berlin so cool — besides the fact that it is really close to transportation to the airport and around the city — is that there is a huge really cool fish tank in the center of the lobby.  The fish tank is meters upon meters high — as tall as the hotel itself.  I took some pics when I was there in March.

I have been forgetting my regular camera a lot lately, so again, all taken with my digital camera.

Something Fishy

I’ve been rather inspired lately by all of the photo blogs.  So as I was cleaning out my phone, I came across a bunch of pictures I have taken, but have never done anything with.  So I will be posting some of them over the next few days.

First up, Copenhagen…

I took this from the 11th floor of the hotel.  It was 07.30 in the morning in the middle of February.  But no more of that no-sun nonsense!  The sun is starting to make its way up around 06.00 or 06.30 now.  In a couple of months it will never really set and come up by 03.00.  Those lights in the sky aren’t flying saucers — they are the lights in the lobby area.