Andy Kitkowski, NACE MCSE RHCT

Last week kicked my ass: I spent a week of training at the Red Hat corporate office in Raleigh studying server-level Linux concepts. The training was excellent, but fast paced and high-level. The other problem is that when something new happens (new job, vacation, etc) I have a hard time sleeping due to the excitement. The first day of training I went in on 90 minutes of sleep. By the end of the first day, I was having audial hallucinations and other crazy stuff.  But I got through a week of intense training to find out that the exam I scheduled for myself on the fifth day was pretty much unpassable based on the training alone: It was more expected that everyone takes the 4 days of training, goes off and uses it for 6-12 months, then comes back and takes the test. And yet, the test is always on Friday, after the four day block of training??

Anyway, it just so happened that most of the others in the training class signed up for the exam as well. I spent the week studying in class, then coming home and running everything again and setting up demo environments on VMWare hosts. I took the test, and it kicked my ass. Unlike other technical tests, Red Hat actually uses live machines and active hands-on testing. No questions, no multiple choice, just “do all these things to this server or you fail”.

Despite totally missing a section, and a total mess where I missed a simple fix and instead reconfigured my system at the kernel level (”You see a small rock in the road”. Instead of going around or stepping over the rock, I basically dug a hole, put the rock in the hole, covered up the hole, and then built a bridge and a pond over the dirt where the hole was, and a put up a sign that says “Do not dig here”), I went home with no idea whether I passed or not (you’re supposed to find out in three days). I found out later that night that I passed!  Yay!

So that’s why I was totally out of it last week, and basically retreated from the world.  Another cert, another step up, more skillz, and a headache that took a weekend to shake.

-Andy