Riddle: What has two thumbs and five digits?

You can probably guess that I got "that email" from Cisco this morning. So it's the moment of truth.

Did I pass or fail?

I woke up this morning feeling tired. One of my boys climbed into bed with me, wriggled around for a bit then made me get up to make him breakfast. The other one is still asleep, unusual for him, but we did stay out really late last night. Part of me wanted to stay in bed, after all in a Schrodinger's cat kind of way, if I don't know that I have failed, that means I have passed, right? I think that's how it works.

Nevertheless, I am still nervous about the result.

I was not sure whether I'd get an email from Cisco by now, mainly because it is the weekend, so I would have allowed until Monday to hear back.

They sent the email at just after 5am this morning.

The email itself just directs you to the CCIE webpage.
This is what greets me:

Clicking on the "Pass" link takes us to another page:

So there we go. What's got two thumbs and five digits?

This guy.

I am CCIE.

I did it. I would like to know that actual scores, but now they are irrelevant.

I have the digits. Mission accomplished.

It's time to celebrate today. I can rest, I can enjoy time with my family again. I can spend my holiday (at the end of the month) relaxing and enjoying. This will be nice as I am sure my family would prefer me not to be studying for the fourth year in a row when we are on holiday.

I feel so relieved now. I have got some friends coming over later for a BBQ, so it's time to kick back and relax.

Once again I'd like to thank all of you who have encouraged me along this journey. It's not over yet, but I have reached a massive milestone.

So thank you guys for the support. I have the digits, and don't feel like I have let you guys down, as well as myself.

Time to go outside and smell the roses!

Author : Unknown

CCIE #49337, author of CCNA and Beyond, BGP for Cisco Networks, MPLS for Cisco Networks, VPNs and NAT for Cisco Networks.

13 comments

comments

giuseppe amendolara

11 July 2015 at 00:31 delete

hello stuart !
congratulations from your italian friend !!!!
i bend over ! you are the ccie !

Unknown

11 July 2015 at 00:34 delete

Thanks man! :D

Giuseppe Amendolara

11 July 2015 at 00:39 delete

Now it is time you party with people you love !
for me it is time to buy your third book ^_^

ciao giuseppe

Anonymous

11 July 2015 at 01:28 delete

Hello, Good job Stuart, Congratulation.

11 July 2015 at 01:52 delete

lovely stuff, congrats Stuart! Keep the blog up, love it

Bernd

11 July 2015 at 06:04 delete

Congratulations! Very cool! Now it's time for vacation :-)

11 July 2015 at 11:48 delete

Congrats!

11 July 2015 at 12:12 delete

Hi Stuart. I'd like to ask for your personal opinion about the CCIE exam. Do you think that speed is **AS** important as knowledge to pass?

11 July 2015 at 12:45 delete

This is actually a tougher question than it would appear, I started to write a long answerm but really could not stand on either side of the fence.

I'll have to come back to you on this one.

11 July 2015 at 14:19 delete

No problem. I believe that time constrains are a huge factor in passing. On the other hand, I don't see the actual technical level as high as one would expect from a CCIE exam. Lots of CCNP/CCNA level tasks if you ask me. This is what I find frustrating. Or maybe I think I know enough to pass but I'm completely wrong :-)