Hello ^^

Welcome to my blog.

Pretty much what you will find here are things that I take an interest in such as Religion, Tech, Japanese and other stuff :D

Enjoy your stay. :)

Monday, December 19, 2016

Nearly my Birthday :)

So what has happened since my last post: it seems the posts I do now are just an update from the last ones I have done haha. (Not that it's a bad thing, but I always found that funny). What I also find funny is that I only put bullet points, either because I am lazy, or because I can't remember everything when I go to write. 

  1. We had a campaign at church that ended last week - it was very inspiring and challenging as 2017 looms, it was more like a rededication which I felt was appropriate and it helped me get through some issues I was facing over this year, 
  2. Work is going well - a bit quiet at times, but nothing to complain about for sure - I am still getting used to things in a way, but now I feel part of the team and I do love the varied work that I do :) 
  3. We have booked our tickets to Japan for next May - we can't wait and already planning somewhat we are going to do when we get there.
  4. Went to a gospel gala concert earlier this month and that was very nice; although it was something I wouldn't normally do, I found it enjoyable. 
  5. I got an Xbox (as in the first generation) from a good friend of mine, but I still haven't worked out what i wanted for my birthday (I say that because this and the game sent to me was my birthday and Xmas present)
  6. In the next coming days and weeks, I am going to look heavily into investing and come January, I want to start investing and look into "financial freedom" - I have loads of articles on that and bookmarks, and recently, I haven't been bothered, but today, it flashed through my mind and I want to take advantage of that as well as being more conservative with money. 
  7. So I need to work out what investments will work for me as well as how to track them - it is going to take a lot of reading and research, but the Internet is a minefield of good people making sites to help people like me make money. 
  8. Work will be picking up from next year - and in all fairness, I am looking forward to it - I want to contribute all that I can to Kemp and show that I am that good to be hired by them. 
  9. I have learned a lot on what the Bible has to say about economics and business and how things of that nature work - I am always learning something new and it excites me. 
  10. I am now using Snapchat more often - and I love using it haha. I also got some new music on my Iphone because of that funny enough. 

I think that it is for now :) 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

This Week in Life

This week so far was non stop busy! I just came back from training some sales people in Stoke, and that journey was far! 2 and a half hours each way! Good thing I get mileage on that! :)

The training went well - I also got my first set of braces put in today, so it feels weird and I feel a bit self conscious about it, and it hurts a bit as the teeth are moving slowly, but it will be worth it. On Tuesday, I did my first training session ever @ CCS Media- which went down really well :) As they are only 5 minutes away, I thought it would be good if I went there every so often to check up on them and lend a hand where necessary and the Managers are ok with that :)

5 weeks in and I am loving the role :)

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Trip to Ireland and my thoughts

So this weekend gone was a pretty busy one for me - I preached on Sabbath, then went to Ireland on Sunday night. The experience there was amazing, albeit short. But more on that in a moment. I also rediscovered Snapchat and I used that while I was there. (that was fun to do now that I have gotten the hang of it)

So getting to Heathrow was easy - security and all of that was nice as well - had a burger (literally, that was it) and then hopped on the flight - that was very short - the shortest I have been on (about an hour or less). Once I got to Ireland and to the hotel, I sat down with Leigh (the Sales Director), Carl and Thomas (who is the equivalent of Ed in that he is regional manager for DACH). We had a small chat and then I went upstairs and slept.

The room was amazing - the food was good but they only did pork sausages, so that is the downside - I had eggs toast beans, so I felt good either way - I also discovered they had a pancake maker the day I checked out.

The office in Limerick was nice - standard looking - I met a lot of people and it was good to put faces to names on emails that I have seen. Although I didn't see much of Ireland, I did get to see some live Irish folk dancing and music, which was amazing to me.

I am enjoying my time here - today is a day off as it was a special day with Me and Naomi, so I got that cleared before I started, which is good for me. I would like to take Naomi to Ireland as it is quite nice there.


Friday, November 04, 2016

Future Decoded and Work this week

This week was an exciting week for me - the highlight of it was Future Decoded, a Microsoft event in the Excel Center in London whose aim was to show the future and how the digital revolution would impact our lives! Sounds impressive, so how did it unfold for me?

First of all, I had to get there for 8:30 am - now I live in Slough and getting to the Excel Center ain't no joke - it took me a bit of time to get there. But that place is huge for those of you who haven't seen it! So this is what I saw when I got in and then after I ate something.


Just to show the size of the place I was going into - look at that turbine!

The Delorean~ although not in my time - it still looked pretty cool!




Some VR - didn't manage to have a go as the line was long all day

Had about three of these- the guy serving it was amazing and has a small business as bee-keeper! Iain Judge!

Our stand #17 - so I could look professional at least haha

Fastest vehicle on the plane - 1000 mph!

So the pictures below show what I saw during the day - also Matt and Angus (guys I used to work with at CDW UK) showed up and we had lunch together - I also got to meet Dave, another Presales guy for the first time and another Dave, who works in marketing in Limerick. 

Being there was amazing - the keynotes I wasn't interested in, more like the stuff that was going on and the conversations the guys were having with leads we generated - I got to learn how to pitch Kemp in 3 mins; one guy came and asked me about what we do and I froze at first, and then he asked me how can we load balance Office 365, and I told him straight up I was new (haha) and he said he would come back - didn't see him though. I then learned that you don't balance that - you load balance ADFS which is Active Directory Federation Service - which needs to be synced with their Office 365; if that goes down, noone can log in and that is that. Learned something there!

There was a flight simulator and I wanted a go but the lines were long so I never got around to it. Also wanted some waffles, but there was this woman whose stall where doing them, said no exhibitors could have any, on account there wouldn't be enough, which was a load of rubbish. But that is life.

Carl (my manager) did a presentation, and I got to see what I would in the future and took some notes. It was pretty impressive to me. I was soaking everything in really. We left at 5:30 ish and as i was going home, i didn't pay attention to some stops on the Tube and had to go back on myself twice! First time that happened! >.< 

Otherwise, this week was ok - Week 2 of my program and it was a bit poor to be fair; went to the gym twice this week and only did T25 3 times, so tomorrow I am going to the gym and doing T25 today; my weight is the same as before, but the measurements hopefully should be going down; Also teaching an old work friend some Japanese; had two lessons done so far!

If you want to learn Japanese, email me on Facebook or on my personal email address - gabelogan1324@hotmail.com and we can start whenever you want to!

So yea, that was my week - I am also preaching tomorrow and I have to sort that out - aside from that, things have been good - haven't done any pen-testing - that takes time and I need to set time aside for that really to keep it up. For now, it's not a big concern- learning Kemp is. Sunday evening, I fly out to Limerick! Can't wait :) Going to take lots of pictures! 

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

A week in....

Man there is so much to write and talk about! I am so excited in this next stage in my life! :) I have been at Kemp tech for a week now and it is awesome! The travelling, the learning, the car, the benefits, all of it is amazing.

I feel so privileged to be able to have this opportunity and I have to thank God on a daily basis for it. I am also now sticking to this program i have made for myself - gym in the morning and t25 after work and now stretching is going to be involved. But enough of that, what happened so far since I have been here?


  1. Got my laptop today and it is a Dell XPS 13 with 16GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD with Windows 10 on it! Not bad - gotta get used to 10, but i hear its amazing, so we will see.. 
  2. Did some translation finally for IOBit, and waiting for my free codes . 
  3. Spotted an error with Mophie and got a discount code (awesome!)
  4. Went to Bicester for my induction with Carl, my new manager, Guildford to meet Sam, one of the sales guys and going to Cirencester to meet Rob (another sales guy) and meet one of the distributors we used called Zycko; should be fun :) 
  5. Wont get paid til end of Nov, but got my last pay coming from CDW Friday, so it is ok :) 
I can't help but say I am loving this :) Long may it continue :) 

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Goals and a New Job!

So I was going to write this originally the other day, as I was travelling home from work, but the internet connection was a bit choppy, so I didn't do it. Now that I got some time, I wanted to get my thoughts down that has been happening since the last post and also update on what's been happening!

Recently, I have been thinking about a lot about personal finance and investing, as well as what the Bible says about both of those things - quite a bit actually! Which got me to thinking about budgeting, house savings, and maturing in life (I am actually getting maturer - that is funny to even imagine that!) And so when I put some time down for reading up on investing and getting to it, it will be exciting I am sure.

Pen testing has taken a back seat at the moment; well has been for a little while, since I focused on other things like job hunting; now that the job hunt is over, I can take it back up where I left off. As for the job hunt, I accepted Kemp's offer over Bluefort's and it was scary at first - as i said no to one that I already started getting to know, but Kemp is going to be better for me financially (a lot more so than BF) and the opportunities down the line. One thing I have learned is setting expectations of what I think is exciting and what actually needs to be done - so to that end, I have set goals for myself, and will add and modify as time goes on.

I have taken some advice from a good friend of mine at work, who advised on me certain things to do, such as:

  1. Put money away into retirement - something I read about, and now I will do in my next job once I get a budget spreadsheet up and lock down my spending. 
  2. Make sure to keep skilling up - knew this already but good to hear from someone else. 
Since this role will be based from Home, Naomi has already got plans for me to be the house-husband once again, and I am ok with it now - I have to step up and this is a good chance for that to happen - i also have to revitalize going to the gym and setting a routine up as well. So all of that is exciting for me. Working at home isn't for everyone, and I understand that; I like it, so I will see how it goes and keep the people that I built friendships with at CDW going. 

Today, I am going to go and look at some used cars for Kemp - I sort of have a figure in my head of how much i want to spend monthly, seeing as that I know how much it was to spend travelling to London daily. Getting a routine sorted will be the first challenge for me - but I know once I have that, everything will fall into place, as long as I follow the plans I will make for myself. 

I am also looking forward to being a parent - after being at the Snagg's and holding their little baby girl and just watching her, I felt more inclined to be a parent. It feels like the next step and it feels nice. 

So back to my goals - what are they for the next 3 years?
  1. Straight white teeth - this I have already started by going to a free consultation and i will compare it to another one I am going to on Tuesday - i don't care about the cost or how long it will take; I just want it. 
  2. To have a house deposit by end of September next year - this one will change because it was set on us living here based on the figures I have already - it will grow quicker when I put in some new numbers and when we live at the MIL's for a year or so.
  3. To become more godly - this one is a daily one - taking time to study and pray - i will want to do that a lot more with this new role as i reflected on my current one. 
  4. To have a decent net worth - need to find out my current one first - as to grow it; there are many ways, and I just did one of them, which is to change jobs to increase net salary.
  5. to get lean and ripped - follows on from the routine I want to set as said above. 
  6. to become an SME in the role to come- to that end, since I accepted Kemp's offer, i have learned a lot about load balancing as well as business basics. 
  7. to become fluent in Japanese - this means I need to ramp up my learning and speaking now more often - so hellolingo will become more used in time. 

So yea, that is it for now - I am going to also be posting more posts, to make sure my thoughts don't get lost in my mind!

One more thing - we are planning on going back to Japan next year (when the flights are cheapest) and can't wait! ^^. 

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Back Home and started a new hobby!

So I came back to Stevenage for some me time and came last Wednesday night after work - I met up with David and Jordan and also saw Kara for her pre birthday dinner on Saturday after church and met up with Liam Mannion and we chatted and walked home.

I also got in touch with an old uni friend who is going to help me with pen testing and I got a website started up on the 18th dedicated to that from my POV and in the hope it will help others come to understand it, but mostly I am using it for a tool for recruiters and in interviews to show my progress and knowledgebase; a very good idea I got from Alex as he does his new game, a sort of spy game.

Me and Boo went to a golf range last Sunday which was fun and we had sushi afterwards at Sushimania.

I will here at 6 ish and meet Boo at Slough station and just chill out.

Everyday I am thinking of how much more can I learn about my new found love for pen testing - Shane (old uni friend) has given me some tips on where to start as well as a guy at work who is our pen tester, so i am happy to have a foundation point. There is a lot I'll write about in the coming days and continue it as I journey into this new world :)

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Updates from my Life so far

I was going to originally blog earlier today, but work was so manic, I had no time to do it!
I have restarted going to the gym, and I am also going to start learning how to be a pen tester properly; one of the guys at work gave me a site to use - hackthissite.org and also will give me a book tomorrow so i can learn and read!

I have also changed (in the process of I mean) my mindset somewhat - not thinking into things as much and chilling out a lot more.

I got next Thursday and Friday off, so I can't wait to go home and chill out - plus Bank holiday Monday means another day off which is good for me :)

Also got some little things going on the side, which I will wait and see what comes of it. Also looking to buy a used car or a lease car, but not sure on which to get yet, so i need to do some more research.

Japanese is going well - haven't been studying everyday, but I am making sure i at least do something Japanese related.

Work is finally picking up - the last couple of days and weeks have been slow since I got back from Jamaica (which was amazing!); and I am glad for that. I would like to work from home a bit more, and so i need to speak to my boss about that - i want to bring my costs down. Also got a test to study for which is a bit dry for me, but it has to be done.

Also thinking of getting a bike to ride on Sundays and getting a rope to do cardio with - i used the one at the gym this morning and it felt good.

that is about it for now :)

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Passed my Security Exam :)

Although I was so nervous (more than I ever had been going up to it).

Although I had the interview at Osirium; a combination of after the exam, being hot and sluggish I feel didn't help me, but I will wait and pray and see what happens - if I don't get it, I won't be sad. There are always better opportunities out there :)

Had a small date night with Boo last night; we went to Nando's and it was nice :)

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

It has been a long long time since I have blogged and a Lot has happened!

I thought about writing yesterday and just never got around to doing it - I actually was about to start a helpdesk ticketing course when I thought about blogging and i thought i might as well offload and share my thoughts on things i have thought about.

So recently, I have been thinking getting skills that are sort of low level for the role that I am in (things like learning how to use Active Directory, which is what i have always wanted to learn for some time), Windows Server and such. I was on linkedin browsing and saw a post about Jobskillshare and I thought 'why not do it on the side?' So I remade an account (had one before but forgot the credentials) and started. I will see where that takes me.

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary last Wednesday and i can stay hands down that i enjoyed it - we saw the Lion King live at the Lyceum Theater and it was a good day - we sat in a park for lunch then saw the play then ate at a restaurant that Naomi had been to before. The Sunday before was Naomi's 30th which was another amazing event. I did a lot of prep work and it went well :) we had tons to eat afterwards as well!

Work so far has been going good - I am gaining a lot of knowledge in Cisco and very comfortable with what I do - we had a team meeting at Cisco Meraki a couple of weeks back and just remembered that Naomi and I also went to a marriage retreat - which was very good as well in Daventry (it started on the Friday after the team meeting which is why i mentioned it now). One of the members, Os, who was a mentor and an older brother to me, left last week for a smaller competitor and it got me thinking about the issues that the team i am in face and whether these things are going to be solved and IF they can be solved or not.. we will see.. but i am watching and waiting on that front. The fact that 2 guys since i have been there has left for the SAME reasons makes me a bit antsy and the fact that i can't shadow because of the recent departure also makes me wonder about things as well...

Gym has taken a slight back seat but I am trying to stay motivated and started doing HIIT again, but at a lower frequency.

I also made a list of things I wanted to accomplish skill wise to make me more diverse in the workplace - these are:

  1. becoming CCNA Sec & Wireless certified 
  2. becoming CMNA (Cisco Meraki version of Wireless) certified
  3. getting good at pen testing
On the Japanese teaching front, nothing has happened, which is a bit of a shame, but I will keep pushing it out there and trying. I thought about doing a Udemy course on it - I will consider that. 

If I decide to work out of London, I will definitely look into leasing a car as that seems a lot cheaper and easier for me. Certain recruiters come to me seeing as I do pre-sales, so the idea isn't far from me. As much as I love the job, the commute is taking a toll of me little by little. But i will wait and pray and develop while I am at the job I am at now. 

House deposit saving has begun - I want to do all I can to speed it up somehow, but unless I make more money or come into money, i can't, which is a bit frustrating but oh well.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Today was a good day !

Today, I finally got to see Cisco as I went there for a meeting - it was pretty cool! Went for a Collaboration demo on all their latest stuff. Lunch was pretty banging as well!

Also came home actually at 5:30 which was nice!

And got a call about a role with CC - funny that Os has worked there and came here!

Anyway I digress a bit.

So i thought about learning Python again from scratch while also learning EH - and I want to get both under my belt and be proficient by next year - I also want to have manageable goals to keep track on them, so i need to make some...

It is also getting warmer and I am happy about that :)

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Just had my practice meeting

And it was ok - but it didn't go as well as I thought - but it made me realise what I need to focus on and how I do that.

  1. I need to think of bigger picture scenarios instead of thinking of products first off - that is what I did and it didn't go anywhere. 
  2. I need to ask qualifying questions - I didn't do that as much as was needed, which would help me make a solution up. I also need to draw information out from the client.
  3. Use the whiteboard to help create qualifying questions. 
  4. The products themselves come last - services and related are necessary as well as knowing terminology and driving the conversation and giving the sense that I know what I am talking about.
It was hard, but I did learn from it. And I need to learn how to make my own style to ask these questions.

Knowing product knowledge is one thing - getting the client on board is another and that is what I need to know how to do. Today helped me understand the gap that Os and Rich have with me. 

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I am so happy! New Cert study coming up :)

I got the ok from work to study for the CCNA Sec and they have given me resources - plus, I already have some materials and gathered what I feel i will use and need when studying.

Got a folder prepped and everything. I need to find something else out but otherwise, I think it will be good!

:) I am very happy about that - ^^.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Finally past that test!

Woohoo :D After 11 tries, that NV test is over! So happy about that.

Now I am ready to go for the CCNA Sec and they need it here as well, so I can't wait to get the go ahead so I can attend the bootcamp that is happening from the 4th of April.

I got some materials of my own I can start with, but it is good to get on it now. At the moment, I am going over some routing fundamentals for my meeting with Os and Rich next Wednesday; I will do this up to the day itself.

I am so stoked to get going for this certification :)

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Some new ideas I got

So last night, i thought to myself, that i want to see how to make some extra money and just to diversify myself.

So what I thought is this:

- learning front end web dev and make some money on that in time, and on the side.
- start up japanese lesson via skype - got to work out how to do that - skype community can work among other things...

That's it for now - at work at the moment, and I am making sure I use the time well and watch what I do :) Also going to Cisco HQ end of the month - can't wait for that :)

Also missed out on the shadowing as I read the date wrong - oh well it will come up again . Still waiting on my phone, but if it doesn't come by Wednesday, I will be getting a refund, so I have stopped getting anxious about that :)

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Work life and other related stuff :)

SO I havent written in ages! Work is going great - been there nearly 2 months now and every day is pretty good - the commute is a bit of a pain in terms of time, but i make good use of it by studying Japanese everyday :)

Everyone I am working with is very nice and so helpful - the guys I am with want to make sure that I succeed and I am so grateful to them for doing that for me.

So far, I have been in customer meetings, training seminars, and went to other places in London, and honestly, I actually like Central London; definitely a nice place - but I still wouldn't want to live there! haha.

As for career plans, I get tempted now and then to look at other jobs and I am passively looking for the next role really. As Kelway is going to be part of CDW, I am going to see what happens with that and just build my knowledge and what I am doing now - for example, I had a conference call with a client and I was able to advise them on my own :) That was a big moment for me, because I know that my self-confidence isn't that high when It comes to being on my own and owning my own work, so it is getting there slowly.

I am also reading books and getting my hands on more materials when I can to get informed and effectively get a bigger skillset, so that is key for me. When it comes to what I want to do after this, I have a few directions I can take for sure, but I have to wait and see what opportunities become available to me.

Also, I am doing T-25, which is going well; I am getting slimmer and fitter, and still need to make plans on what I am going to do after this is done.

Also, I am going to finally get a new phone - tomorrow I get paid, so I will buy it then and then get some accessories for it :) Woohoo :)

Looking forward to the future and the start of my career. So many directions I can go in, and so I need to pray and just move and see what happens really haha. :)