It's still hard to believe how quickly time flies. October. Where the hell did September go?

I've now been an unemployed bum for about 3 1/2 months. That's the official number. I took the first 2 months off, more or less. First real job application went in the 3rd week of August so I feel like I've been a bum for a month and half. Started out of the gate pretty strong. 2 interviews for 8 applications. Sadly I haven't maintained that rate. When I looked over my notes I discovered I hadn't really applied for as many jobs as I'd thought, either. Oh, I knew how many jobs I'd applied for, but somehow it didn't seem like so much time had gone by so it's the jobs/week ratio that's a little low. Memory is a funny thing, sometimes. Then there was the whole terrorist thing that caused a bit of a slow down.

Really kicked ass with the applications last week. It paid off and I have an interview on Thursday. It's even with an interesting company. Yeah.

My security study group is now half way through the material. 5 weeks down, 5 to go. It sounds so weird saying "my" study group. I did organize it, but thought of it as more of a co-op. Most of the members refer to it as "Dale's group" or the "group Dale leads", so I'm just going with the flow. Anyway, some of the stuff is beginning to stick. I can spout even more bullshit words than I could before! Don't get me wrong, the material is interesting. It's just a little removed from the trenches. It's all well and good to know that Unix or Windows NT systems can meet the requirements for a C2 rating under the DOD Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria or that Kerberos is based on symetric encryption but it still doesn't mean you know how to make a system secure. Still, if I pass the exam I'll have initials that only 5000 or so other people in North America can stick behind their name.

Books (Started):
Belgarath the Sorcerer - David & Leigh Eddings