Updates

The good:
Those Cisco switches I bought? I checked ebay and they sell for anywhere from $200-$400 for used units, depending on condition. I tested all of the ones I had, as best I could, and kept the best two. One older, discontinued model doesn't have any bids yet but the other 5 are all selling. 1 is currently going for $137.50 and the other 5 are bid up to $149.99. I'm going to be paying off/down a couple of bills very soon and it looks like Trek Expo is paid for.

The Bad... You know, I was going to go for a good/bad/ugly thing but that doesn't fit at all. Let me try again...

Auctions:
(please refer to what I said earlier under the heading of "The good:")

I also ended up with the laptop. I worked out a deal with Kevin and I'm selling one of the Cisco switches for him and giving him a couple of the Linksys switches in trade.

Work:
I was feeling like I was out of the plane just praying that my chute would deploy. Eventually it did and I floated safely down to Earth this morning. The new phone system is up, functioning and stable. We'll be shaking it down and running tweaks for the next few weeks but it's up, running and it sounds GOOD! Carl, my assistant, and I did a 10-minute post-mortem on the project this morning and we acknoledge that there were things we really should have done differently but we also have some constructive feedback for the manufacturer and the reseller. All-in-all, though, nobody died and the system is up and running with no major malfunctions.

I'm really impressed with this... oh, who am I kidding. Anyone reading this who knows me understands that this is really just a big toy that I get to play with and use to impress people with ("Look what my new toy can do!"). Beyone that, I honestly feel that this is a solid product that will grow with us and continue to be stable and solid throughout its life cycle... even if Carl doesn't agree with me and would rather have the flashy, pretty system.

Weight loss:
The stress of this major major project, my focus upon it and the effort I have put into it have caused me to backslide. Seriously, I really put myself out on this one. I knew, deep down, that it would be a successful project but it was all on me. I made the product choice, I presented the whys and hows to the executives, I convinced them to spend the money and I assured them that we could handle the installation. Of course I was stress eating and put a few pounds back on! I'm still better than where I was six months ago and all I have to do is just get back on track. I will get up in the morning, go to my meeting - and stay for the meeting - and renew my resolve.

Of course, some of that weight gain was offset by folicular loss. Seriously, I think my forehead has more skin showing than it did 3 weeks ago.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I think I'm going to head for bed now and get some much needed rest.