BlueWolf's Howl

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January 15, 2006

NOC, NOC. Who's There?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Olive.
Olive who?
I love (olive) you.

That's my favorite knock, knock joke. My nephew loves it and I say it with him every time we have a salad at family get togethers. He never tires of it and always laughs. Maybe that's why it's my favorite... he's so cute.

NOC, NOC.
Who's there?
Me.
[That's no joke. ]

Yes, I'm 'filling in' at the NOC (Network Operations Center) for a little while. I'm definitely not looking forward to the loooooong drive to Framingham every day. And this is going to seriously cut into my ~~screw off~~ ahem study time. Oh, pooh.

In spite of all that, I'm actually looking forward to it. Everything happens for a reason and perhaps this assignment has some purpose in it - other than the obvious --> assisting them when they're short-handed. Since I'm studying for the Troubleshooting exam, I guess there's no better experience to help prepare for it. I'll be handling calls from customers and field engineers that will vary in scope and difficulty. And if I don't know how to fix it, I can ask the CCIE sitting next to me for assistance. Snicker. Yes, I will have a CCIE available to talk with at this assignment. He's very friendly and helpful too. Last time I worked at the NOC, he was the one who pointed me to the Cisco training that was available to us through the Cisco Partnership Program. And these are the folks that let me borrow a few routers to practice for the BCRAN. I really owe them one for that.

I'm hoping that this brings about a few changes. Sometimes when I have less time, I use it more efficiently. Since I'll have less study time, I'm probably more likely to make an effort to squeeze in the time for a few chapters here and there. And I'm also looking forward to being around people. It's nice to 'work from home,' but sometimes it gets a bit lonely during the day. I wouldn't want to be around people all the time (living a cubicle life), but every now and then it can be a nice change of pace. And I have to adapt to the constant 'business casual' attire. But, all-in-all, I'm sure it will be a good learning experience.

Posted by BlueWolf on January 15, 2006 11:57 PM