By Edgar Albert Guest

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must,
But don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And when you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst,
You must not quit.

Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881, Birmingham, England – August 5, 1959, Michigan, USA) (also known as Eddie Guest) was a prolific American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century and became known as the People’s Poet.

Long hair became my identity over the last two years. People used to recognise me as the computer guy with long hair. There were people who thought me as a poet, writer, singer, artist, photographer, and looked up at me with respect, while some gave weird looks and passed strange comments.

Anyhow, the big news is that my long hair is gone — I got a haircut last week.

Now I do not have to tie my hair, keep an extra rubber band on the pocket, worry about drying the hair after a shower, use the straightening iron, or spend money on rebonding at a regular interval. And oh, I can use the same bottle of shampoo for a longer period of time now!

I’ll surely miss my ponytail, but it was a decision worth taken.

I’m an optimistic person and do I believe that what happens happen for good. But lately, I came to a conclusion that my life would been completely different (in a better way) if I didn’t make the following mistakes:

1. Not attending Concord College.

2. Dating Farah.
3. Not being too tactful with Mike.
4. Studying computer engineering.
5. Not going to USA despite of so many chances.

I can’t change the past, but all I can do is to regret. Damn it.

I can now be reached on 0161-RUSSELL. That’s 0161-7877-355.

Thanks to Toby and his wonderful wife for helping me to get the number. Just to note, my GP number will be active as well.

I started smoking at the age of 15. At first it was just to experiment and to impress girls, but later on I got hooked to it. It’s been a long time I’ve been smoking, and I still feel good about it.

Anyway, here are the top 5 reasons why smoking is good:

5 It reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Tourette’s syndrome, as well as estrogen-dependent endometrial cancer
4 It kills appetite, therefor you eat less (thus making you slimmer). You won’t find a supermodel who doesn’t smoke.
3 It helps you to concentrate on complex tasks (such as programming and engineering)
2 It reduces stress and anxiety dramatically

And the numero uno reason is:

1 It makes you feel good! (didn’t you notice everyone smokes after having sex?)

Smoking is not only good for you, it’s good for your country’s economy as well… a lot of people earn their living by making and selling cigarettes, and the government earns a large revenue as well. So smoke as much as you can, forget what the doctors say. No matter what you’re going to die anyway!

Since November 6th is the last day to sit for CCNA exam 640-801, I’ve decided to go for it. They are phasing out this syllabus and introduced 640-802 where they have added more complicated and junk issues.

I’ve started reading the CCNA Study Guide by Todd Lammle which has been lying on my shelf for quite some time. I hope I’ll be able to finish this 700-pages book within the next two weeks.

A friend of mine was nice enough to give me his spare Cisco 2501 router which I’m using to practice for the exam. Using a router is a much better choice than to use the simulators.

I’m hoping to sit for the exam by the end of this month and hopefully I’ll pass! Wish me luck, okay?