Routing-Bits

Today is the 40th day before my CCIE R&S lab attempt.

40 days? Why does that have such a familiar ring to it? Where from? Hmm, how about :

• “Forty days and forty nights” describes the period for which rain fell during Noah’s flood
• “Forty days” was the length of the period that the twelve spies explored the Promised Land
• According to the Midrash, Moses spent three consecutive periods of “forty days and forty nights” on Mount Sinai
• Jesus was presented at the Temple forty days after his birth.
• “Forty days and forty nights” was the period Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, after which he was tempted by Satan.
• Lent which consists of the 40 days preceding Easter,  is a time of prayer and fasting for most Christians and Catholics.
• Forty days was the period from Jesus’ resurrection till his ascension into heaven.
• The dead are usually mourned for forty days in Muslim cultures.
• In Matric, “Forty Days” are celebrates as you come to the end of your school career.

Apart from being mostly religiously related, the significance of the 40th day, was also used by early astronomers,  for calendric purposes, there by measuring the passing of each solar year. Essentially, the annual transit which completes every 365.24219 days can just about EXACTLY be cross-referenced to a tally of those days that make up a 40-day cycle!

But alas, my 40th day has come and gone without much excitement. The only thing it brought about is more panic and stress, as thee day comes closer.

The time has come, and Ill be honest, planning to doing something and deciding to do so, is a whole different thing, to actually pulling the trigger. I just booked my very 1st and final CCIE R&S LAB attempt.

Yes, the ring around 17th April 2009, sounded a whole lot better before I clicked on the “confirm” button. But now it seems that nice confident feeling, changed to feeling like a clock ticking down to doomsday, thee day.  Shock has kicked in, the shakes are not pleasant.

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