OT/Blog: learning stuff

I finally got round to doing a Prince 2 foundation/practitioner course
this week, and what surprised me was just how utterly exhausted I've
ended up.

OK, it's unusual to go on a course that's got a couple of exams in it,
but I don't remember ever getting quite so knackered sat on my arse for
5 days.

Is learning harder than I remember or am I just getting old?

On the plus side, even though I don't get the practitioner result for a
few weeks, I've rewarded my hard work by buying myself a new helmet

 

I don't know the answer, but welcome to my world. Much of my time's
spent doing stuff that other people have given up on because they
couldn't figure it out. Some of it I know how to do (because I rock),
but there's still a lot that requires hours of reading through
documentation & forums, trying to learn new stuff. And yes, it is
incredibly tiring.

I think the main problem (for me) is it's hard to just switch off at
the end of the working day. There's always a string of problems that
will need figuring out over the next few days/weeks/months, & I find it
very hard to stop trying to work them out long after I've knocked off
for the day.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

I've been PMing on and off for a number of years as an enthusiastic
amateur (well, without any training at least), so a lot of this week was
trying to unlearn the stuff I've been doing differently.

I did enjoy all the "you mean someone else should be doing that, not
me?" moments, though I know when I get back to work it'll still be me
doing them.

Have you considered alcohol?

 

It sucks, dinnit?

D.
--
des | 'what does it matter what he posts?'
http://www.jr.co.il/terror/israel/index.html
end the 'occupation': http://minilien.fr/a0k8xe
ukrm: 'where it's "cool" to be stupid!'
myths of islam: http://minilien.fr/a0j5qo

 

puff.

I did that course/exam a year or so back - piece of piss.

 

Did you pass?

 

And did you get my e-mail?

 

yes, I'm a Prince2(tm) Qualified Practitioner.

yes, haven't replied yet. To summarize: i have a Shuttle box with a
motherboard, currently fully loaded (including a silent fan) but with
a suspected blown processor.

it'll be next weekend at the earliest before I will even consider
looking for it/striping it down, so if you're in a rush, look
elsewhere...

 

I've had chance to read your email. If you'd got a stripped case that
was sat waiting for a trip to the tip then it might have been worth a
try, but as it is it's a bit of a non-starter.

The more I read about it, the less convinced I am that a mini-itx would
fit without serious buggeration anyway.

I think I'll go back to plan a - get it working in an old/big case to
confirm that it will do what I want it to and move it to the ideal
enclosure when I know it works

 

I'm in a similar position and it's one thing that's pissing me off
about IT, is the continual education. At some point I like to just
use what I know.

 

I managed to get at least 6 years out of my knowledge without
reskilling or learning anything new. However that's partly down to my
employer being so change averse.

I quie fancy learning something new now actually, but in the stangant
market I'm not quite sure what the next big thing is likely to be.

 

polish up your hunting & gathering skills

 

One of the joys of being a team of one, is having to pick up the bare
bones of some application or system to wing it well enough to solve a
business problem for the manager who signs my time sheets.

I now have a working knowledge of Mandoforms (corporate web forms
server) querying an Oracle database and driving Postgres, KML/Google
Maps API (annotated map points and polygons generated automatically
from text files exported from a database) and Groupwise Object API.

The GW stuff will soon be u/s as we migrate to Outlook. They haven't yet
asked our outsourced contractors how they propose to provide the same
functionality as we have now. I guess the answer will come with a big
bill.

None of them exactly the next big thing TBF. Though I reckon mapping,
particularly on mobile platforms to be a growth area.

To quote our corporate GIS manager, "everything happens somewhere".

Still, after they have made me redundant it will be more a case of the
Joni Mitchell mantra - "Don't it always seem to go..."

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Shame that doesn't extend to their business partners. We have to
learn every new hair brained thing your lot come up with.

Maybe I just need to get out of an active development role.

Maybe I just need to get out of IT altogether.

 

They're fine. When we're all sent back to the dark ages I'm a decent
enough shot with an air rifle to keep myself fed on blackbird pie,
like a king.

If zombies come I'll need better weapons though.

 

I suppose getting the SO up the duff has knocked your retail aspirations
into touch, then?

 

You're wierd.

 

It's his only chance of getting a black belt.

 

One of the reasons I got out. Certification this, training that. Pain
in the arse.

D.

 

I did an ITIL course a few years ago, and I was fighting to keep my eyes
open a couple of times during the training. I did reasonably well in the
exam, so obviously I was learning something.