Home of the Spartans!

عندما نفقد الحق في أن نكون مختلفين، نفقد إمتياز أن نكون أحرارا

Izzo Country

Man, I ended up in lansing due to a job offer I recieved from a company called Jackson National Life Insurance. They hired me to be apart of a Data Center refresh project to upgrade there Data Center from a traditional layer 3 architecture to a modern spine-leaf topology using Cisco's ACI. Honestly this was one of the most complicated networks I had ever worked on especially compared to how small the network was. Their network essentially consisted of two Data Centers with a couple of branch sites and you wouldn't believe the level of complexity that existed inside this tiny network. GTM load balancing, distributed firewalls, and WIFI headaches. Damn, you would have thought that this was a Tier 1 service provider based on the commotion that a slight network hiccup would cause. But outside of work, Lansing was a pleasant midwest town. It reminds you of most midwest small towns filled with honest hardworking people trying to eek out a good life in small town america. It was interesting that most of the people I worked with in the Lansing office actually lived outside Lansing. And this is one of the reasons that Lansing felt like to it was dying in some aspects. Michigan State University seemed to be the only thing keeping life flowing through the city. I actually worked with a good group of guys, but unfortunately due to covid my stint was cut short and I returned home to Denver to work remotely. I still keep in touch with those guys, Keith , Sam, Greg, Bruce and the gang. This was a tight knit group who always kept it light hearted. I especially enjoyed our morning sync up's and the daily recipes from Michael Nagy which kept the covid lookdown appetizing. I also enjoyed long scenic walks on the weekends around the Grand River. My walking route included walking Moores River Drive which circled around the Governors mansion next to the Lansing Country Club. The Planet Fitness gym next to Walmart was another one of my frequent destinations. The biggest thing I would recommend about Lansing is the housing market. On my weekend walks, I would walk through wealthy neighborhoods with lake front property for around $500,000 or less with access to the golf course, next to the lake front, and surrounded by nature. Denver and California housing prices are out of control. So when I see houses less than $200,000 for nice middle class houses it's shocking that these places still exist. So the next time your at a Michigan State football, check out Zillow during the half-time.

Home of the Spartans!

Izzo Country

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