Life updates
Mar. 12th, 2012 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kodalaiIn the last couple weeks I have knocked out two fairly big items on my to-do list! The first was that, midway through February, I finally womanned up and registered for the CompTIA A+ Hardware Certification Exam. For the next week and a half I basically shut myself in my room (the sudden onset of a cold helped with that too) to study, using some very good study materials provided by one of my temp agency employes.
I took the first half of the exam on 2/28 and the second half on 3/1 in Garden Grove. Much to my surprise, I passed both halves on the first try! This was a HUGE relief because 1) both halves of the exam require a substantial fee, which has to be paid each attempt, and 2) the second half was much harder than the first and I wasn't at all sure I could pass it. But I have!
This doesn't make any immediate changes in my status, but it's a nice ornament I can hang on my resume next time I go looking for a job. It basically moves me from the pool of 'unskilled' IT workers to the lowest rung of 'skilled' IT workers. Sure, there are lots of people out there more certified than me, but would they be willing to work for peanuts?
The second half was that I finally went out and bought a bicycle! I'm so excited -- this is the first time I've had a bike since I returned to the USA from Japan three (and a half -- sheesh!) years ago. It ended up costing way more than I originally intended to spend (sigh) but that's what tax refunds are for, yes?
I quickly discovered that I am SO OUT OF SHAPE it's not even funny. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given that it HAS been three years in an essentially sedentary lifetime. And I'd been generally unhappy with my overall gaining weight/losing condition, which getting the bike was in part intended to fix... But even taking the bike out for a quick spin on the afternoon that I got it, I couldn't go more than 5 minutes riding around my apartment complex without exhausting myself! Gah! I pushed myself back to the garage and my legs felt like jelly for the rest of the day.
Obviously the plan of riding this bike the seven miles to work in back is going to need to be a plan-in-progress. Here's hoping I can maintain the discipline (and opportunities) to ride this bike enough to gradually strengthen the leg muscles.
I'll try to get a picture of the bike at some point.
In other general debilitation news, even though the cold from a few weeks ago ought to have passed, I still find myself with occasional baffling symptoms as if I were sick. I have been experiencing a chest-ache that also corresponds with a chin/lower jaw/front lower teeth pain that I used to associate with swimming in chlorinated water. I've also been experiencing sudden odd moments of dizziness/glassiness/zoning out that I hadn't had in years. My roommate suggests that both of these could actually be allergy symptoms, since it's tree-sex season in San Pedro. We've had to keep our apartment shut up fairly tight despite the generally beautiful weather.
I took the first half of the exam on 2/28 and the second half on 3/1 in Garden Grove. Much to my surprise, I passed both halves on the first try! This was a HUGE relief because 1) both halves of the exam require a substantial fee, which has to be paid each attempt, and 2) the second half was much harder than the first and I wasn't at all sure I could pass it. But I have!
This doesn't make any immediate changes in my status, but it's a nice ornament I can hang on my resume next time I go looking for a job. It basically moves me from the pool of 'unskilled' IT workers to the lowest rung of 'skilled' IT workers. Sure, there are lots of people out there more certified than me, but would they be willing to work for peanuts?
The second half was that I finally went out and bought a bicycle! I'm so excited -- this is the first time I've had a bike since I returned to the USA from Japan three (and a half -- sheesh!) years ago. It ended up costing way more than I originally intended to spend (sigh) but that's what tax refunds are for, yes?
I quickly discovered that I am SO OUT OF SHAPE it's not even funny. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given that it HAS been three years in an essentially sedentary lifetime. And I'd been generally unhappy with my overall gaining weight/losing condition, which getting the bike was in part intended to fix... But even taking the bike out for a quick spin on the afternoon that I got it, I couldn't go more than 5 minutes riding around my apartment complex without exhausting myself! Gah! I pushed myself back to the garage and my legs felt like jelly for the rest of the day.
Obviously the plan of riding this bike the seven miles to work in back is going to need to be a plan-in-progress. Here's hoping I can maintain the discipline (and opportunities) to ride this bike enough to gradually strengthen the leg muscles.
I'll try to get a picture of the bike at some point.
In other general debilitation news, even though the cold from a few weeks ago ought to have passed, I still find myself with occasional baffling symptoms as if I were sick. I have been experiencing a chest-ache that also corresponds with a chin/lower jaw/front lower teeth pain that I used to associate with swimming in chlorinated water. I've also been experiencing sudden odd moments of dizziness/glassiness/zoning out that I hadn't had in years. My roommate suggests that both of these could actually be allergy symptoms, since it's tree-sex season in San Pedro. We've had to keep our apartment shut up fairly tight despite the generally beautiful weather.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-03-12 06:45 pm (UTC)I understand how you feel about going from BEING sedentary to trying to ride a bike. I had the same problem when I started walking a lot around my neighborhood. I'm sure you'll get back in shape in no time!
no subject
Date: 2012-03-12 09:24 pm (UTC)Allergists are expensive, but my visit to an allergist really paid off. I really never though I had seasonal allergies, but he was convinced I had rhinitis from allergies and prescribed me flonase, and everything's been better since then. Including my ability to do mild exercise. Oxygen!!