I was sitting in a small tapas cafe in Barcelona with Robb and his wife enjoying a plate of Jamon Iberico. It's amazing ham served with tomato bread and it is the best ham I have ever ate in my life. Oh man, one slice in your mouth and your taste buds sing like David Lee Roth on Ice Cream Man. We cannot get it in the United States like that. It was illegal in the U.S. for a while then they started selling it, but it's not even close to the same, don't waste your money. OK either way, I'm getting off track here, it's awesome, and plenty of yums were heard.

As we were sitting there, I popped my knuckles. I've been doing it since grade school. So now, I just do it without thinking about it kinda like breathing. Robb's wife leaned over to me and in a kind and delicate Texas accent said; "if you pop your knuckles one more time I'm gonna jab this fork right in your skull...bless your heart..." Understand too, she had been eating dinners with us for about a week now listening to me blabber on about OSPF timers, ASIC floor planning and how much power the Death Star would need to actually blow up a planet. Robb is used to it. He's had seven years of Jimmy Ray practicum training, but his poor wife...man, respect to someone that has that much control to last a whole week.

We all have pet peeves that we either hate or do that other folks hate. Of course not you dear reader, your perfect, keep reading. Like any engineer, my pet peeves are indexed, cross referenced and compartmentalized. I have them for fishing, scuba diving, racing and of course...networking. Here are five things that really make me say; "Oh Dude...come on man!"

Peeve 00