Started school last night
Apr. 6th, 2005 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sugarplumkittyI'm taking the classes to prepare myself for passing the CompTIA A+ certification test. Eventually I'll also want to get the higher level certificates in Security and Networking, but this is a start. Last night's lecture was Booooring. I was trying not to crack up at the level of information that was being taught. We got all the way up to how information is stored in binary! Next week we'll learn about how to do math in binary and hexidecimal! oooooh, scary! LOL
The test isn't cheap to take and I want to pass it first try, so I'm going to stick the class out. There will be things I didn't pick up by working with PCs over the years. If I didn't have to deal with it, I didn't learn it. It may take a while to get to that point, but I'm sure we'll get there. The networking section in particular is something I need to learn.
The teacher is good with a sense of humor. He's a high school tech teacher and has run computer labs for many years. When I chatted with him for a few minutes as he packed up, he said he's had trouble with people in classes in years past by nodding or scowling at him while he lectures. I laughed and told him I'd try to keep it to a minimum, besides, there's always something new to learn. Later in the lab, he repeated that and I told him, "You're the teacher, I'm not. It's your job to teach, not mine." Then he promised we'd get to more challenging stuff soon. I repeated to him that there's always something new to learn and that I'd heard something new in the initial lecture. I don't think I've noticed people using the term kilobits before. I probably thought they were confusing terms if I did. Now I'll be on the lookout for KB (kilobytes) vs Kb (kilobits).
I'd signed up for the 150A class not knowing I could take the 150B class at the same time. Usually classes like that are linear. It turns out that 150A is hardware, 150B is software. The 150B class only had 9 people signed up in it so far. Two of us from last night's class are hoping to add it unless it's canceled. They require 20 students to keep a class open. Still, the material for the 150B class will be available to us because he has them intermingled on Cisco's education system. I'll be able to learn both.
Anyway, these classes are going to be so easy at first that I'll be able to finish my advanced Java class at the same time. Yay!
begin gripe
I'm starting to wonder if the software language inventors are purposely trying to push the non-brilliant people out of software development. Languages used to do a lot of the crap work for you. Now it seems as if they've gone down to the Assembler level with it. That's the only language I got B's in back in the 70's and 80's. I got A's in every other language I took. Even Assembler wasn't as weird and difficult as modern languages. I'm of the opinion that the Mensa folks are just being mean to those of us who are merely gifted. Ah well, Karma will get you guys if it's true. YOUR jobs are moving overseas, TOO!
/gripe
There's another lady in my class who has a very similar career path to mine. We both remember the old crowded computer lab at de Anza and we were both chatting with Joanne, who used to run that old lab. She used to be able to help any student with any language. Now, she can't. The new languages left her in the dust, too. She's semi-retired. She still traps, spays/neuters and feeds the campus cats. Good ol' Joanne. So nice to have a familiar face in the lab! She says it's scary to see the huge new lab so empty all the time. The old lab would have been plenty big enough to handle the current student load. Back when I was using the old lab, it was bursting at the seams all the time. You had to wait in line for computer access, or cardpunch machine access. I took COBOL when you had to program with decks of cards! Those decks got heavy in Advanced Cobol.
But now, the lab is empty. With software being done in cheaper countries, people just aren't taking the classes anymore. Like me, they're looking for other career paths.
Thank you for selling us out US Government! I really feel betrayed by the way they approve out-sourcing American jobs. Grrrr. At the same time, I've got mixed feelings about it. I'm glad our businesses are helping people in poorer countries improve their standard of living. I just hope they're doing it responsibly and not exploiting the workers because of less stringent labor laws. The clothing industry sure acts irresponsibly until we hear about it and boycott their clothes.
I guess we can't share the wealth with the rest of the world and maintain our own standard of living. Am I spoiled? Yeah. I am. Having grown up in a golden era of rising incomes and standards of living, my expecations were not sustainable. It's hard not to resent the fact that what I was taught to expect is not my reality but I'm doing my best. It's lucky I'm not into material wealth. It must be much, much harder for those who are.
Ok, off the the ob/gyn appointment to see what's what with my TMI problem.
The test isn't cheap to take and I want to pass it first try, so I'm going to stick the class out. There will be things I didn't pick up by working with PCs over the years. If I didn't have to deal with it, I didn't learn it. It may take a while to get to that point, but I'm sure we'll get there. The networking section in particular is something I need to learn.
The teacher is good with a sense of humor. He's a high school tech teacher and has run computer labs for many years. When I chatted with him for a few minutes as he packed up, he said he's had trouble with people in classes in years past by nodding or scowling at him while he lectures. I laughed and told him I'd try to keep it to a minimum, besides, there's always something new to learn. Later in the lab, he repeated that and I told him, "You're the teacher, I'm not. It's your job to teach, not mine." Then he promised we'd get to more challenging stuff soon. I repeated to him that there's always something new to learn and that I'd heard something new in the initial lecture. I don't think I've noticed people using the term kilobits before. I probably thought they were confusing terms if I did. Now I'll be on the lookout for KB (kilobytes) vs Kb (kilobits).
I'd signed up for the 150A class not knowing I could take the 150B class at the same time. Usually classes like that are linear. It turns out that 150A is hardware, 150B is software. The 150B class only had 9 people signed up in it so far. Two of us from last night's class are hoping to add it unless it's canceled. They require 20 students to keep a class open. Still, the material for the 150B class will be available to us because he has them intermingled on Cisco's education system. I'll be able to learn both.
Anyway, these classes are going to be so easy at first that I'll be able to finish my advanced Java class at the same time. Yay!
begin gripe
I'm starting to wonder if the software language inventors are purposely trying to push the non-brilliant people out of software development. Languages used to do a lot of the crap work for you. Now it seems as if they've gone down to the Assembler level with it. That's the only language I got B's in back in the 70's and 80's. I got A's in every other language I took. Even Assembler wasn't as weird and difficult as modern languages. I'm of the opinion that the Mensa folks are just being mean to those of us who are merely gifted. Ah well, Karma will get you guys if it's true. YOUR jobs are moving overseas, TOO!
/gripe
There's another lady in my class who has a very similar career path to mine. We both remember the old crowded computer lab at de Anza and we were both chatting with Joanne, who used to run that old lab. She used to be able to help any student with any language. Now, she can't. The new languages left her in the dust, too. She's semi-retired. She still traps, spays/neuters and feeds the campus cats. Good ol' Joanne. So nice to have a familiar face in the lab! She says it's scary to see the huge new lab so empty all the time. The old lab would have been plenty big enough to handle the current student load. Back when I was using the old lab, it was bursting at the seams all the time. You had to wait in line for computer access, or cardpunch machine access. I took COBOL when you had to program with decks of cards! Those decks got heavy in Advanced Cobol.
But now, the lab is empty. With software being done in cheaper countries, people just aren't taking the classes anymore. Like me, they're looking for other career paths.
Thank you for selling us out US Government! I really feel betrayed by the way they approve out-sourcing American jobs. Grrrr. At the same time, I've got mixed feelings about it. I'm glad our businesses are helping people in poorer countries improve their standard of living. I just hope they're doing it responsibly and not exploiting the workers because of less stringent labor laws. The clothing industry sure acts irresponsibly until we hear about it and boycott their clothes.
I guess we can't share the wealth with the rest of the world and maintain our own standard of living. Am I spoiled? Yeah. I am. Having grown up in a golden era of rising incomes and standards of living, my expecations were not sustainable. It's hard not to resent the fact that what I was taught to expect is not my reality but I'm doing my best. It's lucky I'm not into material wealth. It must be much, much harder for those who are.
Ok, off the the ob/gyn appointment to see what's what with my TMI problem.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-06 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 12:31 am (UTC)*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 04:05 am (UTC)I think networking is the way to go now. That's what I'm starting to concentrate on. I'm in the Cisco CCNA program at the community college I'm going to right now, and I think it will be a good direction to go in. I don't think they'll be able to offshore network people cause you've got to be where the hardware is. So I think you're taking the smart road. (I sure hope so I'm on a similar one!)
I know how you feel about off-shoring, but I've made my peace with it. It's easier for me because I haven't lost a job to it. I'm grateful that I had time to see the writing on the wall and prepare, because I'm sure it was inevitable with the area my skills are strongest in. But like you, I find it hard to resent something that raises the standard of living somewhere else, and I do believe IT jobs do that. I think we can share the wealth and keep our own standard of living, it's just that we have to be adaptable and may have some lean times when we're in transition. I'm sure that when you're all done you'll have positioned yourself really well for the future, with all the work you're doing right now.
Hey, if we learned to love COBOL we can learn to love TCP/IP!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 05:59 am (UTC)I do know that he thinks MACs are risky on the internet from a personal security standpoint.
?? Whatever. I use a PC, spell well (more in medical terminology lately -- they told me in school that the better I got at medical term the WORSE I'd get in general spelling and THEY WERE RIGHT! ACK!) Plus, I make a lot of typos on LJ but then, I don't check my work. I just blurt and post.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 06:10 am (UTC)binary works like this:
0 = 0
1 = 1
2 = 10
3 = 11
4 = 100
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 07:29 pm (UTC)There is no 9 in binary or octal. My worst problem wasn't there!
Counting in octal:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 20
From there hexidecimal (base 16) wasn't a difficult concept for me.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E 10
All right. The Felicity music is drowning me out! LOL