Experience counts more.
I have to agree with what's been said above. While I don't work with Cisco stuff, I have worked in IT for 10+ years, from Tier 1 Help Desk up to (now) Tier 3 SysAdmin -- in that time I have probably spent 10x more time TALKING about getting my MCSE than actually studying and taking exams. Personally I get stronger of the opinion, every day, that certification exams are not worth the agada, money, and time -- UNLESS you have all three to spare. I don't, especially with two kids under 6, and attempting to get my life back on track after having had to change jobs 3 times, and being unemployed myself for a couple months, over the past two years. Honestly it's more satisfying to me to figure out some esoteric problem via the excellent combinations of resources of experience, co-workers, and the internet, than pass some exam that does not reflect 15% of your real-life work.
To CCIE Guy -- my suggestion would simply be to RELAX. You know what you know, and do some hard thinking about what you're trying to accomplish here. Honestly maybe you have been so laser-focused on this, you need to take a break and concentrate on what matters, i.e. your family, friends, and life outside of CCIE exams. Maybe doing that, will REALLY be what gets you back over the hump.
