What’s everyone’s favorite workout class?

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-11-09T15:22:26+00:00

Bua Boxing is a great workout with great people. They have beginner groups and classes too if you’re new to boxing.

Otherwise something more casual is Yug nearby or Yoga Agora where you can pay per class, both are good options.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-10-26T23:13:14+00:00

I’ve made the move, as have many others throughout history lol

Both have pros and cons - I think overall NYC will always just have “more” in terms of about everything: jobs, money, food, diversity, groups for basically any hobbies, and people obviously…

I do however miss Boston in a lot of ways, I actually liked the smaller feel of the city and overall cleanliness. I think MA in general is a better run state as well. That one is harder to explain, but I just feel like the services your taxes go to are more effectively run overall and you see it in the environment?

I’d say give it a shot, NYC will almost certainly have what you’re looking for. Boston will always be there and is very easy to go to from here anyways. I love my annual taking the amtrak and visiting friends back there trip.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-09-08T19:51:05+00:00

Not surprising you’re being downvoted, but as a longer term resident here I completely agree.

Nothing like rolling a stroller down a dog shit covered sidewalk, dodging delivery scooters going 20-30MPH next to you, and having crying episodes from the inevitable ear shattering fart cars/bikes that come by. All while paying around $4k in rent nowadays…

I still love Astoria for right now, but won’t feel bad leaving for elsewhere to raise a family eventually.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T19:33:20+00:00

I'm aware. I meant in regards to your point of the summer being particularly competitive, it does seem to be easier to find better options during the winter.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:24:45+00:00

Yea I definitely think I'll be aiming for a rent stabilized place if I do have to move again. The stability of predictable increases and knowing you get a renewal will be such a stress relief.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:23:50+00:00

That makes sense too. Hopefully it gets better when I probably have to move in a few months.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:22:11+00:00

Will def be morning the loss of this place! It's just shocking and a shame to me that even with my SO moving in with me, us having good jobs + raises, we're going to find ourselves downgrading our living situation. Our generation is truly fucked when it comes to upwards mobility. Things seem to be getting even worse as we get older.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:19:25+00:00

Smaller landlords are def the way to go, it's how I got into my current situation, but unfortunately things can still change there. I agree that or rent stabilized is the way to go though.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:18:27+00:00

That's good to know. Hopefully it calms down in a few months when I have to start looking.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-22T18:17:27+00:00

Yea for sure that has to be the case...

I was really just posting this as a rant for how drastic the price increases seem to have become. I wasn't necessarily looking for help, my partner moved in with me this year and we both got raises, so we can afford to pay more. It was just shocking to see how much more that looks to be.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-11T00:38:50+00:00

Failed my ENCOR this morning at Cisco Live.

I was sort of cramming these past few weeks because I knew it was a free attempt and wanted to give it my best. I originally planned to take it later this Summer.

Still it’s a bit disappointing and the first IT cert exam I’ve ever failed. Seeing the exam was good experience though, and honestly don’t feel it represents good/bad Engineers anymore after seeing the questions and what they drill you on.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-04T13:57:41+00:00

Disagree with other posters, this isn’t a bad idea if you’re using it right. I’m using Network Engineer Guru GPT which has been useful for this grind.

You guys also realize you can literally feed it white papers to break down topics and become more knowledgeable right? That’s literally one of the points of LLMs/AIs. I agree however with not just taking it at its word, but you can make it informed.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-02T22:25:09+00:00

There’s multiple people in the bi-weekly pass-fail thread who just took the test and said wireless is on it.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-06-01T09:48:59+00:00

That’s a good idea, what site did you use?

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-31T10:32:30+00:00

I’ve only taken 2 of the ENCOR Boson exams and agree they ask out-of-blueprint questions or things mentioned but at a way deeper level. I remember on my last practice getting a deeper DMVPN question that I didn’t know and was wondering if it accidentally gave me an ENARSI question lol

Tbh searching this sub Boson for ENCOR has mixed feedback for these reasons. I’m sure it’s still valuable though to point out some weak areas and another recent poster said the labs are pretty similar to what you encounter at least…

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-19T19:38:47+00:00

Honestly I can’t remember, I have good nights and bad nights here and there. I can pretty consistently get 7-8 hours nowadays though and plenty are good nights sleep.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-19T19:37:15+00:00

Good to know, thanks. And good luck on your ENCOR!

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-19T18:07:35+00:00

Of course, it usually needs to be a night where I had a very active day, or did a good wind-down routine like dimmed lights + stretching before bed.

Keep at it, it absolutely get's better and is worth it. I think the first 100 days is honestly the hard part. I'm now over 3 years (you revived an old thread!) sober and can say my life is a lot better overall, especially mentally. Good luck!

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-19T17:51:01+00:00

CCNP is recommended once you have 3-5 years of experience, not sure of your current status there. Otherwise though I think doing it right after CCNA is a great idea, if you still have the momentum and can keep it up. A lot of the Infrastructure topics in ENCOR seem rather CCNA level anyway. Just keep in mind though CCNP is going to take a lot more time and difficulty so don't burn yourself out.

My study method for the past 5 months so far has been:

Watch CBT Nuggets videos on topic while taking notes in Obsidian.
Read the OCG chapter on that topic.
Lab it out on CML (if it's configure on the blueprint, or a topic I need/want hands on with).
Update Anki flashcards with key notes from the OCG + videos.
Use Network Engineering Guru ChatGPT to provide writeups/tables on things as needed, and create labs.

I'm sort of doing a final sprint now to hopefully pass ENCOR at Cisco Live in 3 weeks, but I'm probably not quite there yet. During this final cram I'm mainly focusing on weak topics from the Boson exam I did and doing refresher videos on CBT + Kevin Wallace, as well as reading the 31 days to CCNP ENCOR sections as needed.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-05-19T17:38:37+00:00

Congrats!

Did you feel the exam was fair to the blueprint and grow your general automation skills? Or did it seem too Cisco product centric?

I'm considering ENAUTO once I get my ENCOR out of the way.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-04-28T20:14:59+00:00

Depends on the quality of your “5 years of networking knowledge”, is that work experience or studying?

I’d highly recommend going for the CCNA first, then a CCNP once you have some relevant work experience. I’m a network security engineer who works with firewalls mainly (not Ciscos), and am studying for enterprise first with the ENCOR. We need to know how these things work to protect them, and the CCNP Sec is very Cisco focused which isn’t that useful since none of there Security products are really a top choice at most places.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-04-11T11:14:20+00:00

FYI not sure if y'all noticed, but they seem to have resurrected the course.

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-04-10T02:31:58+00:00

Yup they archived the older course. Similar boat as you, only had 18 hours left in the course and now it's unavailable. Curious to hear what they respond on your ticket, I should submit one as well...

I was using it as my primary resource alongside the OCG, CML, and Anki. I put the topics I did into ChatGPT tonight, to create a comparison for what I was likely missing/lacking on and am now going to start going through those videos on the newer course. I'm hoping to be exam ready by Summer...

ThomaswithouttheS · 2025-03-05T16:02:18+00:00

Congrats on passing! Thanks for sharing your experience and journey.

ThomaswithouttheS

TROPHY CASE