i've had my head in the sand for a while. i haven't blogged, or read any blogs. i took out time to study for my redhat certified system administrator exam. i traveled down to tampa and took a four day course back in december of 2011. i studied my ass off for that test. i went to class, went to the hotel, ate at the hotel, studied. then slept.
i never turned on my tv once.
i never went out of the balcony door to my room to see the water or to mingle with the parties going on right outside my window (those steel drums playing outside were so hard to resist!)
hell, i didn't even notice the balcony door in my bedroom until my third night at the hotel!
i didn't surf the web, unless it was to better understand a test objective.
well . . . on that friday, i took the exam. i learned that the most valuable lesson was to not get rattled during the exam. that was the best tip i received from another co-worker who took the exam, but unfortunately failed it (though he got really close. he'll get it next time, i'm sure).
i finished all objectives with only three minutes left on the clock (exam was timed).
i felt good about it-- but you don't get the results immediately.
i flew home and waited all evening.
i waited all day saturday.
i finally gave up late saturday night.
sunday morning, i got an e-mail.
passed!
i got a pdf of my certificate to print out at my leisure along with a certification number that can be authenticated by the official redhat website.
maybe i do know what i'm doing-- a little.
now, i can breath a little.
at least, until the next certification exam comes my way . . .