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BlueWolf's Howl

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June 24, 2004

TechMentor

MCP Magazine's TechMentor brochure arrived some time ago. I don't usually look at them. Brochures for conferences are like porn magazines. It's something I can look at and never have...so why torture yourself? Plus it reminds me that I don't currently work for the type of company that would bother to send me. Nor do I make the money to afford it on my own dime.

Still the cover drew me in... Just peek. See what you're missing. Dream about it.... Aaaaargh!!!! I buckled for a glance.

Mark Minasi is on the cover.

I know Mark Minasi through his books. I loooooove his writing. It's so easy to read...and he always sprinkles some humor between the pages. This is essential when you have to plow your way through a 1700 page book on the inner workings of a server... We all know Minasi. He is the Yoda of MCSEs everywhere. We've all learned from him. I would love to hear what he would have to say at a conference. If I ever got the opportunity to actually speak to him, the most I could probably stammer out is... "Thank you for teaching me." Once you digest one of his "Mastering" books, you are able to perform Kung Fu on any server. And I know I can directly attribute many of my correct answers on several tests (stretching back all the way to NT days) from the things I read in his books. He's thorough. [That's why his books are so thick - and why they're worth fighting your way through to the end.]

I flipped past the next few pages (afraid to look) until something caught my eye: "Subnet in Your Head in 90 Minutes." I thought...Todd Lammle could teach that better... I looked. Todd Lammle IS teaching that conference course! *faint*

I had to flip back to the Instructors page. Roberta Bragg is also going to be there! Now I HAD to look through the course offerings...

And now I have opened Pandora's box. Sure, I would have skipped Todd's subnetting class. I already learned that (wrote about it too -- good stuff). But, IPSec, EFS, Software Restriction Policy and Bulletproof Your Networks by Roberta Bragg? The Art of Network Troubleshooting by Mark Minasi? My heart absolutely ACHES that I can't get to this. Quite a few other courses caught my eye too...from Don Jones and Bill Boswell. I remember running across a few articles from Don Jones on a web site (probably CertCities.com). Bill Boswell I know from MCP Magazine. I normally skip over his column, but after looking at the classes he's teaching at the conference...perhaps I should look closer next time...

Aaargh! I rue my present station! There's no way I can afford the $1400 conference, hotel and travel costs (it's in San Jose). And since my employer doesn't particularly value my present level of knowledge, it would be insane to think that what I could LEARN from this conference would be of any recognizable value to them. Fools. I could come back as Trinity.

There's only one thing left to do -- employ future mode. Perhaps the next one will be in Boston. Perhaps next year I'll have the financial resources. Rationalize what you can -- I'm not ready yet for Don's scripting information. When I am (in the nebulous future), I will have the funds to attend. I don't need Bill's classes because by the time he teaches it, we'll already be using Exchange 2003.

Try as I might, though...I can't rationalize not attending Roberta's security classes or Mark's troubleshooting class.

Maybe next year. It works for the Red Sox fans...

Posted by BlueWolf on June 24, 2004 04:05 PM