I Passed!!

So, all studying avoidance aside, I was able to focus and pass my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification exam last Thursday. The most amazing thing is, that while I was sitting there waiting for the computer to give me my results, I had no idea whether or not I passed. The test is very "open ended." That is, there are many right answers, you have to choose the "most correct" of all of them. Sometimes a single word in the question will change which one is most correct.

The test takes 4 hours and has 200 questions in it. I finished in 3 1/2 hours and scored 79%. This is significant because, on the old test, you had to score 75%. This one only required 61%. So, no matter what, I would have passed.

I haven't studied this hard since learning Japanese. It was about as difficult it seems. That's probably because I am getting older now and things enter the brain a bit slower.......

It points up the fact to me that you must keep learning and active if you want to enjoy life, though. This was very satisfying and makes me want to learn more, but without so much pressure. Maybe I will learn to write PHP after all.....

Grandpa Dreams

Fishing Memories

I haven't been fishing in well over a year. I am sad for that because it is one of my favorite activities. Part of the problem is that it takes so much time to get there and back and I really want to spend time with Mom on Saturdays. It seems that our weekends are more booked than our weekdays, with family and church commitments taking a lot of time. Well, maybe next year if my Butterfly comes to visit, I will take her fishing. Ever since I was small, I have said, "When I am a Grandpa, I will take my grandchildren fishing!" Fishing with my grandparents was one of the highlights of my childhood. I loved my Grandma Ions' salty talk, my Grandpa Parker's patient way of helping me tie knots and bait hooks. He always had little jokes he would tell me and private conversations, while my Grandma Parker was commenting on everything from the number of rocks to the attitude of the other people fishing around us. All of these things created a flavor in my mind that I relish to this day. I want Butterfly to have the same experiences. It's my dream she and all my grandchildren will look forward to fishing with Grandpa.

Mud and Motorcyles

Fishing is one of my zen activities. Driving and reading scifi or fantasy is the other. Fishing is a safe haven unless you mange to hook yourself or there are annoying people on loud ATVs roaring around. Speaking of which, I was up at the Lake once and there were two kids on motorcycles roaring around. One had a pretty weak motor and he could just barely keep up. The other more powerful bike went off an old log in a little jump, landed in some mud, lost control a little, and then turned around to watch the other do his jump. Well, the little putt-putt came off the log and did an endo into the mudhole covering it's rider with mud from head to toe. It was obviously satisfying to his riding partner, who laughed hysterically over the fall. It was more satisfying to me because they got what they deserved. I raised my Diet Coke to them and toasted the maneuver, "Here's mud in your eye!"

That's my dream. Every annoying person who disturbs my zen time should get face planted in the mud.

Studying and it's Avoidance

The mere fact that I am writing this says that I am avoiding my study time for the certification exam a week from Thursday. I have already postponed it once and really don't want to do so again, so I had better get on the stick.

I have been updating the Hull website of late and I think I may have the process down. I managed to wipe some of the content others had posted, but we will get that restored and hopefully that will never happen again.

Both websites have received major facelifts over the past 2 months which is part of the reason I never post here. If I have time, I work over on those sites. I have even considered moving my blog over there, but I don't think I will just yet. Blogger (nee Google) allows for easy customizations and it's not as simple with RapidWeaver, though I can do more with that. Photo Galleries and such are easier with RW and I can even do them in Flash (that's the fancy moving menu stuff you see on some pages). Flash requires Dreamweaver, which I refuse to buy, so RapidWeaver does the trick. I just let others write the Flash code and then I use it.

We had a nice Stake Conference yesterday and I sang in the choir after Mom guilted me into it. She stayed home sick for both the Saturday night and Sunday sessions. I was glad she did, it was quite good, even though I did nod off on Sunday morning. Not an unusual occurance for me anyway............

So, now it's back to Project Management Professional certification study. Ah, well.....

More Pictures from the Porch

I realize that many of you will not be that interested in the pictures I take. Mostly, l leave the people pictures to Mom's camera and Kodak Gallery. You get those on a regular basis and most folks are happy with that. Of course, with my new camera, we will be taking people pics as well, it's just that this is more than just portraits. Photography has always been a passion of mine. One that I sold over 20 years ago. Well, as you have seen, it is back.




I like the first picture, Guess where I took it! That is, what is the setting, background, etc.



Why is photo number 2 significant? Bet you can't guess....! The one next to it is my favorite, It's a happy combination of factors, really. Unlike this blog page which will not layout the way I want it. Tough to caption pictures. Maybe some of you more expert bloggers out there can help...




For those of you who want a people picture, here is one. I found it strangely poignant. Mom, hated it of course.

Video Posting

We are testing video in the blog. Let's see if it works.....


Video Sharing at DropShots.com

It does!!!!

Guilted into Action

Since Andrew finally posted, I suppose I should. Or rather, we should, though Mom never does post. Talks a lot though. The telephone is really her medium, she is much more analog, I am digital.

Part of the reason I/we never post is because we don't have that much to say. At least I don't. Life is what it is and we don't go to parties, other than the occasionaly family get together, we don't go to the movies much anymore and never go to plays or music concerts unless Andrew or Angela are in them. Horribly boring lifestyle! One highlight of my week is to play Guildwars with Jeff and that hasn't happened because of the Great Internet Outage. I am not one to play alone that much. The other is when Andrew and Angela come to dinner. We do have some interesting discussions around the dinner table.

I have however, just acquired a new toy. An 8.2 megapixel Canon ESO 20D. This has gotten my creative juices flowing so I thought I would publish some "arty" pictures I have taken. For those not in the mountains, this will remind you of the beauty we see here, almost every day. I hope to capture that beauty more regularly and post some of the better images and their stories here. This is not as fascinating as Vanessa (what could be?), but may bring some variety to our lives. Jeff Unruh, my old boss, and I are thinking about a little safari this spring. So more images on the way.

Here are some more views from the porch.......