Certification slash cats-we-hope-are-ok

Of certification: Do you have a good story about how certification helped your organization become more efficient/make better stuff/find a great team/keep a great team, etc? We'd like to hear it, per George's post: https://blogs.msdn.com/mcp/archive/2008/01/15/become-famous-with-microsoft-certifications.aspx

Of cats-we-hope-are-ok: Put your paws in the air for two brave little cats: Otto and Iris. They were caught in a house fire today, and have smoke in their little lungs. We hope they will be OK.