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| Author : GEORDIEandVIRGINIA | Diary name : Gullibles_Travels | ||
| 23 Jun 2004 : Copenhagen - Denmark | |||
| Viking Expedition | |||
| Ok the mission was simple. Study hard, fly to Copenhagen, sit the CISSP exam and pass. Right. I was very nervous before the exam. Had I concentrated on the right chapters? I was paranoid that I would sleep through the alarm or something. They are very strict about late entrances and I didn’t want to have to explain to Virginia how I had flown to Copenhagen only to be late and miss out. I arrived at the venue for the exam nearly 2 hours early and the taxi driver was a hoot. He looked just like Mr. Magoo complete with bottle lenses and I thought it was funny till he actually tried to pull off with the hand brake on. His driving style can best be described as atheist. He didn’t believe in cyclists or pedestrian crossings and we had half a dozen close calls. How do you say “slow down you crazy git” in Danish anyway. The thing about Copenhagen is that the sun comes up at about 4.50 in the morning and doesn’t set until about midnight. If you are familiar with the film “Insomnia” with Robin Williams that was what it was like. The cissp exam was hard. Each question tested more than one facet of knowledge. For example a question would test not only your understanding of a concept in technical terms but also an operational conclusion to be drawn from that technical understanding. Most of the questions had more than one correct answer and you had to weight the issues involved in order to select the “best” correct answer. Hmfff The other people sitting the exam were an interesting bunch. I say people but they were all male. Not in a particularly hunky way either. Hmmm what sort of club am I joining here? Since I had to wait 7-15 days or possibly longer to find out the results of the exam I came up with my own scoring method. (1) Glasses 5 points Unix beard 10 points Linux goatee 15 points Mac stubble 7 points Each pen in shirt pocket 1 each (double points for a pocket protector) Youngest in class -12 points Been to the Matrix web site 3 points Still living at home with mum 5 points Unusually large ears 10 points Shirt under severe horizontal pressure 10 points The average score in the room would have been about 40. My score was -12 points if you don’t count the ears. Got back to the hotel after the exam and found that they had cleared my room. “We have no record of your booking” sniffed the girl at front desk. The only thing that stopped my laptop going walkabout was the fact I had used a security cable to tie it to the radiator in the room. All the rooms were now full and the only other available accommodation was miles away at triple the price. Grumble grumble. Wait till Virginia sees the credit card bill. I had a terrible nights sleep before and after the exam. My alarm didn’t go off the next morning and I was nearly late for the plane. I went tearing out the front door of the hotel to find a taxi and blow me down it was Mr. Magoo. Well if anyone can get me to the airport in time it’s the bicycle collector. I am waiting now at Gatwick airport in England. The passport control was a nightmare there were about 3 desks to check 1000 people and it took about 45 minutes to get through. Went to get a snack – a large chips from MacDonalds. In the line next to me there was a large lady who was having trouble supporting herself. When she got to the front of her queue she ordered a super size big mac meal with sundae and two boxes of chicken mcnuggets. What drink would you like with that mam? Diet coke. WHAT THE? It was all I could do not to turn and ask if she was kidding. Sadly not. (2) The guy I was sitting next to on the plane from Copenhagen sat there smiling all the way and announced to me that he was flying to Denver to work on a farm. He was just a “simple” guy all eager at the thought of working on a farm. His smile was infectious and before I knew it I was daydreaming of a farm too. Miss you guys Geordie (1) Oh yeah, got the news and I passed (2) Just in case some of you were thinking she might have been ordering for a whole family I saw her eat the lot and then lick the cardboard boxes. | |||