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USA Again

For the second time in as many months, I’m leaving Anna, and heading to the United States. Only for a week, although Anna tells me it will be like an ETERNITY. We’ve been through this before, and she survived that time, so I’m sure she’ll manage. Possibly with plenty of wine. Definitely requiring the help of her friends.

This time I’m paying my own way, and doing something a little more challenging. No more hard-hitting investigations into drinking culture, no this time I’m doing real work. I’m attending a CCIE bootcamp in Los Angeles, run by Micronics Training. A ‘bootcamp’ is an intensive training experience, running from 9am to 9pm every day, except on Thursday when it goes to 3am. Not going to be a lot of time for exploring Hollywood I’m afraid.

Because the course is full-on, I’ve decided to spend a little extra, and pay for a Premium Economy seat. It might surprise you to know that in all the flights I’ve done, I have NEVER been upgraded. Not once. I’ve always sat at the back of the plane. Usually RIGHT at the back of the plane – recently I boarded a plane with a printed boarding pass saying I was in row 29, when the plane only had 25 rows of seats. Yes, that far back, that’s where I normally belong. I don’t ever turn left.

The closest I’ve come is flying Works Deluxe. For those unfamiliar, Works Deluxe is perhaps best described as an approximation of how flying used to be. Or at least how we think we remember it. So nothing over the top, but a nicer experience than modern economy class. Premium Economy should be a step up from that, which should mean I get a little more sleep. That’s the main advice from the instructor on this course – get as much sleep as you can beforehand. Should be lots of fun.

The good thing about going away for a week like this is that I can entirely focus on CCIE studies. No more trying to fit it in after work, or at the weekends. No interruptions (Yes, I do love you Anna, I just may not be in the mood right now to discuss what colour curtains we should get…). The plan is that this will push me along with my studies, and help get momentum going for another lab attempt in the next couple of months. I’ll report back next week on progress!