Current location:	Base
Current mood:	blah
Current music:	Peter White (Jazz)
Entry tags:	diary, thoughts

Plans for the future
There it starts - the time finally flies through as I get closer and closer to my release date - 24.Jan.2008. Perhaps the only issue with this is that once I'm released on that date as a soldier, I might have to re-enter the army. While with [relatively] better conditions than I currently have and less mandatory stuff, I'll still remain at the same place, probably doing the same thing for approximately one more year. Now even I sometimes say "What the hell are you doing, Ice? You've always dreamed to get out of here and never return, nobody can hold you against your will now - what is wrong with you?!" and the answer to this, while simple, is rather complicated - this may be the best move I can make towards my future...

A while back, I was considering what would be the best step to take. I have three choices in front of me - programming, web-development or network administration. All of them I'm not so bad in and I like to do, and it's only recently that I've completely decided to walk towards network administration first and leave the rest for the future. There are several reasons to this and while they may not be true, that's the impression I've got on the subject at least:

1. NetAdministrators are needed more than programmers in the industry - there would be a need in more people that are capable of operating the existing computer systems properly than those that make new ones. This would mean that network administration would give me a higher chance to get a decent job somewhere.


2. Requirements to become a successful programmer are set too high - while I know how computers work and many scripting languages as well as some ASM and C/C++, the programming they teach in universities now would involve a lot more - mathematics, physics, etc. To get into a university like that I would need to prepare myself and pass something called the "psychometric test" with a decent grade - something like IQ that would measure my knowledge on subjects like English, Hebrew (words with very limited sanity), Math and other stuff. Beforehand, however, I would need to complete my maths to a sufficient level and learn enough Physics just to get accepted - that's a lot of money already, not to mention the costs of the studies themselves! In comparison with the expensive MCSE course, I'd be spending a lot more time and money on just meeting the requirements for the studies! When it comes to MCSE, the basic requirements I already have, so all I need is to know how things are done and I'm ready to work!


3. Programming involves a lot more thinking and guarantees some serious headache every now and then. While the payment is obviously higher for this, I sometimes wonder if it's really worth the investment and what not...

So for now, the end conclusion is that I leave the entire programming area for the future and focus on getting NetAdministration courses complete for an MCSE certificate. Why MCSE instead of something more "intelligent" and less Microsoft? Simply because most places value this certification more than stuff like Novell or RedHat. Most businesses unfortunately operate on Windows networks and as such, value MCSE higher than pretty much anything else. This means that I'll have a better chance at getting a decent job and that there are more places that will be able to accept me like that. UNIX I can do at a later phase in order to complete myself and improve my knowledge, but I certainly do consider taking a course on *nix - it would be a sin not to since I operate on that OS nowadays - I always have!

While the deal with jobs seems to have been covered, there is one thing (among the rest) that keeps me somewhat worried and it's the place I will have to work in. No, not the workplace itself, but its geographical location. Considering that I live in Eilat - a very small tourist city in the south of Israel, corporate network administration is something that almost completely doesn't exist in there: most corporate bodies create smaller buildings there, link them to their HQ through the internet/VPN and administrate them from the center of the country somewhere. This means that I have close to no chance at all to work at a decent place in my home town - I'll have to move to a city where HQs of these corporations reside... And to think that my parents already started preparing me an apartment in Eilat, close to the rest of the family - that plan will have to wait, if not drop out completely.

Needless to say, I need to think of a survival plan now - to plan my independent life some, as I'll have to handle everything on my own at one point - I'll need to shop, I'll need to cook, I'll need to handle the bills... do things I have never done before, in other words. Looking at this right now kinda freaks me out, but that's what I get for being so effing spoiled by my parents... At least [I hope] I won't have to worry about this during the course period and that's the prime reason I have to remain in the army meanwhile for the duration of the course. While in the army I will have the following points covered and won't have to spend money on them - something I would otherwise have to:

• Transportation - Buses/Trains from one city to another in order to get to the course, from it and home. I'd get free transportation that would otherwise cost me quite a damn lot if done for the entire year.


• Living Quarters - Being in Eilat places me far from pretty much everything - it would take me around three hours to get to the closest city from home and considering that the classes would be more in the center, I'd have to rent a place to stay in or waste money on transportation to and from eilat twice a week - again, living at base saves quite a lot of money otherwise.


• Food - Yet another expense I won't have to worry about, since the army takes care to feed its residents, too...


• Income - While this course and the peripheral stuff would only cause expenses for me, there would be no real income if I leave the army! I would totally drain my parents as a result. In order to save time, I could also work at the army, doing what I already do, and this time I'll be getting quite a good income as well - this would cover up many things than sitting there doing nothing - I'd already be earning money along with all the benefits while I'm still not "suitable" for netadmin work! Once I'm done with the course and the army, I'll be ready to work in a better place and will have a good sum to start off with.

This is pretty much why I have to remain in the army, provided that they can get me the necessary conditions and not intersect with my studies too much. It seems like a win-win situation here and as much as I hate this place, I'm ready to take it. Of course if they won't be able to provide me with the necessary conditions, I will have to resign afterall and try a different - probably harder and less beneficial - approach.

So this is it - these are the plans for my near future regarding MCSE, work and what's in between. While it's not a plan for the far future, it's as far as I've managed to go for the first time, being someone who lives today and isn't quite sure what tomorrow would bring upon him. I'll walk this road and will see what happens and hope that whatever it is, it will be solely in my favor. By the same coin, I'd rather not lose my watch, for I'm entering a kind of industry where you become more expendable as you get older - it's the kind of industry where people get old very fast and at a very young age, so while it will take a while for me to reach 35 or more, an advice was once made to plan what happens now rather than getting it by surprise when it's too late. One would think that now I have a heavy weight left off my shoulders when it comes to decisions about my future, another one apparently landed right on me - while I consider myself a high-quality worker when it comes to things that I like, I'd assume that at a certain age, people wouldn't care much for quality anymore and I - with all my experience - will become expendable in favor of the less trained young employees... What I will do when that happens is still beyond me, but I sure will think about it every now and then to see how can sticky situations be avoided...

So much for my plans for the near future. I hope that things will turn out alright as they always have for me, for it's a kind of field that I'm about to enter for the first time. Obviously, I'd want this entry to be as smooth as possible...