My year of learning continues!

Today (Friday 13th November 2009) I passed my driving test!

After working loads of hours this week (74 hours over 5 days) and having two driving lessons, I was feeling really tired.
So, when it came to test day I was really tired, and the 1 hour lesson before the test did not go well, not well at all!

My test was at Kings Heath in Birmingham. I arrived and found that there were 4 other people having a test at the same time, of which I found later that I was apparently the only one to pass!

My examiner was a guy called Jeff, and he was a hobby IT'ist. So we got chatting as I drove.

The test started off as a couple of Show Me/tell Me questions. Both of which I easily answered.
We set off, and all the time I was concentrating so much and trying to drive in a safe and consistent manner. We headed out and around the Kings Heath roundabout and onto the road to Evesham, which is a national speed limit road. Whilst hitting 55Mph the heavy rain started, so I had to put on the wipers, and at that speed as a (at the time) un-qualified driver is a little scary.

We then moved onto the manoeuvres. I eventually had to do three. They were the 3-point turn, reversing around a corner and the emergency brake. The first manoeuvre went really well, which was the reverse around a corner. I absolutely nailed it!

The 3-point-turn was going well, and I was about to complete the manoeuvre when I let the clutch slip too much and I stalled *arg*. This did get to me a little and I was so annoyed with myself.

We then went on to some more driving and the examiner made me pull over to the side of the road, where explained that he wanted me to perform an emergency stop. With it raining heavy, I was a little apprehensive, but he made it happen whilst we were under and under-pass, which was dry. No problem!

We then headed back to the testing centre. I did fail to make sufficient progress at one roundabout, so I knew that would be a minor. However, I thought it to be better to keep 10,000% safe and not risk it, just for the sake of a minor.

We pulled back-up to where we started and I was delighted to be told that I had passed! Yay!. Turns out that I received 4 minors (one for the stall, one for not making progress, and two apparent failed to observe - disagree with those, but what the hay!) out of an allowed 15 minors. Obviously with no serious or dangerous.

Can't believe it, I'm a qualified driver

I have never really had the opportunity or need to learn to drive.  However, this year it is all about to change.  Not only have I undertook this year so far my MCPD and MCTS for SharePoint, but I have also booked driving lessons!  My first lesson should hopefully start on Thursday Afternoon (30/07/2009).  Wish me luck!

Microsoft Certification Status

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully

I recently completed a MCPD certification, but I had also wanted to get come training and certification in SharePoint Application Development.  After I got back from India and my MCPD I decided to look for a course that would provide me with the training I was looking for.  I did a lot of research and evaluation on-line for a suitable training company.  I eventually came across Firebrand Training, and after some more research as to their coverage and reviews I decided to go ahead and book with them.  I booked the SharePoint Developer (Dual MCTS) Certification, which was the "Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 Application Development" and the  "Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Application Development" courses rolled up into one.

I received the usual email literature and was given a login to their Pre-Reading site.  This however did not prove to be assuring, as the site was poorly designed and often came across areas that were confusing, or simply did not work.  The site was based on SharePoint, and as I wanted to go on a developer course for this very subject it did not bode well.

I arrived in St Neots train station on the Sunday afternoon and was picked up by their free shuttle to the training facility at Wyboston Lakes.  From there we checked in to the hotel and had to make our way over to the training centre for the 18:00 induction.  The hotel rooms were very basic but pleasant enough.  After the induction we were ushered off to our relevant training rooms.  This is where I met the other 7 students (they were Daniel, Peter, Aquila, Xavier, Andy, Simon and Carl) and our lecturer Joel Jeffery (See the company JFDI Phoenix Ltd).  It was here that I got a little bit of a shock, as we had now plowed straight into our training!

The training was extremely intense and as Joel stated, there was more material to cover that we could possibly get done in the time, so it was up to ourselves to  learn what we could this week and then the rest after the course.  The training started at 09:00 and continued on until on average 23:00 each night.  This however did not include any time to study, so I was often up until 02:00 reading the supplied books and material, before going to bed.  As such I was quite tired every day, and at the end of the week it was quite tough to concentrate.  The course lasted from Sunday night to Friday afternoon.  This however was where our trainer came to the good.  Joel was very good at his delivery and was very good at keeping us motivated and attentive.  I have no idea however how he managed to keep going for so long and so focused.  No wait, yes I do!  The amount of coffee he drunk   I don't think that there was a point at which during the week that there was an area of the subject where I felt weak, as a result of the lectures.  I personally felt much more confident with the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 part of the course rather than the SharePoint 2007 part, as I was more experienced with WSS3.0.  As a result I did indeed pass the WSS course with a higher percentage than the MOSS exam.

Overall I really enjoyed the course and everything I got out of it.  All of the people on the course and the instructor were all really pleasant and I enjoyed their company.  I think that this really helps when you are in such close proximity, all trying to learn the same thing and it aids learning when you can feel comfortable bouncing questions off each other.

At the end of the intense week, I came away with the following additional Microsoft Certification Status (See my previous post for the other certifications I have achieved):

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully:

I have been wanting to get qualified for a very long time.  I have been in the "Software Development" industry for a very long time, and specialised in Web Development.  I have however been too busy "doing the job", and not getting the qualifications that say to employers that I am qualified to also do the job.  In todays economic climate I thought that it was about time, and as I had the drive and determination I thought that I would go for it.

My original reasons for going to Koenig were twofold.  Firstly they were recommended to me by former colleagues (Colleagues from Xansa and Capgemini) and secondly it was at a very attractive price!  Originally I planned to go to their training facility in Goa, India in early March but this proved unachievable.  I was not able to attend the training course until June.  As such I thought that going to somewhere like Goa would be simply too hot for me and therefore make it challenging for study.  After some further advice I decided to attend their Shimla facility.  The travel there would be longer, but I think I made the right decision.

Upon arriving in Delhi, India I was hit straight away with the sheer heat and was thankful that I had indeed decided to go to Shimla, India which is much further north and in the Himalayas.  The instant that I arrived in India all of the Koenig staff were polite, courteous, friendly and very informative.  This was to be continued thought my entire time in India with Koenig.

I took the night bus from Delhi to Shimla, which was perfectly fine and gave me my first experience of India, even if from an air conditioned bus and through a window.  Upon arriving in Shimla I was greeted again by helpful and friendly Koenig staff and taken to my hotel, which was the Hotel Willowbanks.  The hotel has big rooms and is right on a main street called “The Mall”.  This made it convenient for entertainment, food, shopping and general sightseeing.  The only problem I had was that on the top floor, during a heat wave/drought, the hotel room became very hot during the night as it did not have air-conditioning but simple fans.  However, when the heat wave broke (and the monsoons came) it was pleasant enough.

Every day you had the option of being driven to the training centre or walking.  The walk from the hotel does require a fair amount of up-hill walking but is pleasant enough and takes about 40 minutes at a leisurely pace.  This is well worth it as it affords some great views and experiences.  The walk back from the training centre is much easier as it is mostly down-hill and takes you through the main market areas.  The cab ride however, for someone from Europe, is quite an experience.  Our driver (Negi?) was an excellent driver and very safety conscious.  He took care of us at all times and made sure that our cab experience was appropriate and pleasant, even if the roads and the other road users were not.  Trust me, if you do not like agressive driving, then this is probably not for you.

The training centre it’s self has a large number of private laboratories that provides for a number of different students to study a number of different subjects.  Each laboratory had its own computer systems and air conditioning facilities.  The examination facilities were also very well organised and very conducive to taking exams and feeling comfortable.  There was also a large dining area where all of the students could eat their lunch.  The food provided by Koenig, especially the “Koenig Special” which was prepared by the chef who provides the meals at the serviced apartments, was excellent.  It was always a disappointment when the chef had a day off and you then had to choose from a different menu!  There was also an available area at the top of the building that you could use to take a break, get some fresh air, watch people in their daily life and take in the stunning and expansive scenery.

I had booked a “Fast Track” course and when I arrived I was expecting to be placed in a group with other students and therefore be subject to learning at the pace of the slowest/least experienced person.  I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find that I was not within a group but on my own and provided with a dedicated lecturer.  As a direct result of this I found it much more conducive to learning.  My lecturer was Ashish Bhardwaj and I found him to be a really nice, extremely friendly, he has excellent English, is very engaging when delivering his material, and most importantly, he really knew his subjects.  At every occasion that I had a question on the subject he was able to directly answer these questions and was able to provide further explanations and where appropriate examples.

As I was the only one receiving tutelage from Ashish we were able to go at a pace that suited me perfectly.  We concentrated on areas where I was weak or had no previous knowledge, whilst going faster over areas where I was stronger and had relevant experience.  Where the official course literature was incomplete or lacking, Ashish provided me with invaluable additional material that really helped me understand the subject.  It was only with the expert help from Ashish that I was able to pass all of my exams and thoroughly enjoy my learning experiences at Koenig in Shimla.  As such I was able to really learn the subjects and not just about the subject and how to pass the exams!

I thoroughly enjoyed my learning experience at Koenig and in Shimla.  Without fail I was provided appropriate support at every stage of my trip and learning experience.  When you look forward to going to training and examinations every day and still have a smile on your face at the end of the day, this says an awful lot about the experience.

At the end of the training I came away with the following Microsoft Certification Status:

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully:

Today was going to be my last day on the mountain.  I got a text from Ed to say that he was on 7th Heaven, Blackcomb.  So I headed up there and we met for lunch.  After lunch we headed on to 7th Heaven.  Ed wanted to borrow my GPS logger to see how fast he can go down the piste.  The conditions were not great but he did manage 98km/h.  As for me, I wasn't too far behind.  It was however the first time in two seasons that I have ever ridden the actual piste on 7th Heaven!  But of a shocker that, as normally I only ride it when there is powder and then you avoid the piste!

We headed on back up again and did the same run.  This time, I knew where to go and rode it a lot better.  We headed on up for a third time, however by now Ed was feeling the cold and had decided to call it a day.  So we took the run back to the top of the Jersey Cream chair and whilst Ed headed off, I headed for the Peak2Peak, as I had a call from Chris to say that he was heading up Whistler mountain, and he wanted to ride it before they close it after Sunday 26th!

Myself and Chris headed up the Peak chair and at the top stopped to take a couple pictures of the Black Tusk mountain.  We then headed on down the Saddle.  At the top of the Saddle it was extremely icy and there was very little grip.  After that however it livened and loosened up, but got quite choppy.  It was then a case of pointing the board straight down the mountain.  We charged straight past the bottom of the Peak chair and headed for Big Red.  On the way we hit every single jib and jump that we could find, and trust me there are absolutely loads on the way down to Big Red.

After getting back to the Roundhouse we stopped for a quick beer.  After all, it was my last day on the mountain!  We then headed on down Orange Peel and down to Fort Knox.  We were going to see if there were people there that we knew, but Chris met a couple girls that he knew just leaving and they said there was no beer left.  So we rode down with them back to the village.  We took Crabapple down and out, and again there were loads of jib's and jumps to be had on the way.  Near the bottom however the snow had melted away and there was a huge patch of dirt that I had to ride over.  I was so glad that I lent back a bit as when I hit the dirt it was really sticky and it really pushed me forward.  No damage done though and I was able to ride on through it.  The rest of the run was just pure slush.

Well, it has been an interesting season, and so very much different than my last season here.  Mostly the mountain and my riding was very different.  I also met a lot of really good people.  It was just a very poor year for snow and as such a lot of the extreme slopes just didn't appeal to me.  This year was all about speed and getting my self confidence back after damaging my shoulder.

I'm already looking forward to my next time on the snow!

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming very slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +17 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

One of my last days on the mountain.  Boo!  But all good things have to come to an end!

I headed up with Village gondola onto the Whistler mountain, and straight up the Peak chair.  I decided to head on over to see what the Symphony amphitheater would be like.  Today I wasn't disappointed, as it was fast and smooth.   I got up some good speed and enjoyed it.  As the Symphony chair has been closed for the season for a while now, I had to take Burnt Stew out and back to the Harmony chair.  Whilst heading up the chair I could see that the Harmony Piste looked really good so I decided to hit that next.  It too was fast and smooth, until you got near the bottom of the run, where there were loads of big and hard cookies.  This made it really difficult and caused huge vibrations when trying to ride at speed.

I headed back up the Harmony chair and it was then that I decided to do the Symphony again and then the Harmony again, then repeat.  I did this run a total of three times before heading down past Emerald and onto Olympic and headed for the mid station.  This too was fast and fun.  It's surprising what late season can bring.

I had decided on the way up that I was going to head on over to Blackcomb, as they were having the Snowboard Half-pipe competition, and wanted to see if it was any good.  Boy was it good.  It was an open competition with loads of things going off all at the same time.  Much more interesting than the Ski Half-pipe, where it was minutes between one rider and another.

It was at the Half-pipe I caught up with Sam, who was taking pictures of the competition.  After the competition we decided to put in a few runs.  I offered to take a few photos of Sam, so we headed into the blue park.  I got a few good photos of him.  So we did it again, and some more good photos were the result.  It was late so we headed on down to the village and watched the band that was on (at the Tellus Ski and Snowboard Festival).

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming more very slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +12 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Myself, Edd, Alex and Sally all headed out and took the Village Gondola up Whistler.  The very low temperature for this time of year meant that the piste was really icy.  We headed up the Peak and took the saddle.  The piste condition was so icy and bumpy that it made the riding challenging.  So much so that when we got to Big Red we all went in for lunch.

After lunch we took a line down through the old Whistler park (been taken down for a few weeks now) and onto Olympic.  I have to say that I really enjoyed the Olympic piste.  Whist not challenging in terms of steepness, it was riding really well and fast.  Speed is your friend!  We then took a hard left and headed down Crabapple and into the village.  It was here that we left Sally, as she had to go to work.  Edd and Alex had also decided that the conditions were not fun for them, so I headed back up the Village Gondola on my own.

I headed on back to the Peak chair and took the saddle down again.  This time however the snow had softened up just a little, even though there was loads of ice just there.  I rode back down to Big Red, and decided to try over in Harmony.  I took the easy route over to the Harmony chair and rode the piste.  This is my favorite run on the mountain, and today did not disappoint too much.  The lower part of the run was full of cookies and made it really difficult to keep any continual lines or speed.  I did the run a couple times before the lift closed.  I rode all the way to the Village gondola mid station, via Olympic.  Again Olympic didn't disappoint today.  There were a load of people across the slope and I had to put the brakes on, which was disappointing as I was getting a good head of steam on.

Heading back up the gondola I took my favourite run out back to the village.  That is Orange Peel, Tokum, and then Crabapple.  On the way down Crabapple I forgot that the snow had melted and there were patches of earth, so for about 5m I was riding (pretty fast) over the dirt.  Thankfully it was grassy.

Whilst the early part of the day didn't bode very well, I enjoyed everything from lunch onwards.

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: 3cm
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming more slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +5 at the base to -13 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Really late start today.  So much so that when I got to the top of Blackcomb, I just headed into the Rendevous restaurant for lunch.  So after lunch I headed down springboard so as to get some speed under my legs.  After that I headed on into the Terrain Garden.  It was running quite well and I was hitting my front side and back side 180's.  So I kept running around the Terrain Garden for a few runs.  The lift line at Solarcoaster was always busy and was starting to annoy me with people cutting the line and not going up in groups of 4.  So I decided to head on over to Whistler reasonably early, that way if it was bad I could get back on over to Blackcomb.

After getting over onto Whistler mountain, I headed up the Peak chair, with the intention of heading down the Saddle.  However, I wasn't paying attention and ended up going on over into the Symphony Ampitheater.  That was a mistake, a big mistake.  The snow was so sticky that I had to unstrap a couple times just to get on over the humps.  Not fun at all.  I then headed up the Harmony chair and took a run down the Harmony piste.  Again this wasn't that much fun.  I headed back up again and took the Saddle down this time.  This was a bit more like it, but only because it was steeper and therefore the board didn't stick so much.  I passed the Peak chair and rode on down to Big Red.  I headed back up Big red and took the peak chair again, and onto the saddle once more.  Back around, this time at the top of Big Red I decided to take the run out to the village.  It wasn't possible to get on over onto Orange Peel as the snow was just too sticky.  I did however take Crabapple down and out to the village.  The snow here is running very bare and there are only a few lines with snow on to take through.  So you have to be a bit careful when charging down the hill.

Visibility: Bright sunshine, becoming cloudy late
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Wet, slushy and sticky
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +12 at the base to +4 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely light, except on the Solarcoaster chair

Ah!  That's better.  I headed up with snowboard in hand, and instantly felt so much better in myself.  As I headed up Whistler however it was clear that the conditions were terrible (really slushy and sticky), there were only 3 lifts open (Village Gondola, Emerald and Big Red), but there were hardly any people on the mountain.

As there were only a few lifts open this meant that there were little options for riding.  However I had a good time, especially as on every run there was virtually no one else on the piste.  I rode around on Whistler until it was near lunch time.  I was sick and tired of the food at the Round House, so decided to head on over the Peak2Peak, grab lunch ad the Rendevous and then ride Blackcomb.

I started off riding "Springboard" and a few other runs.  I headed up the Glacier Express and took the T-bar up and over into 7th Heaven.  The visibility was awful so I decided to head on back towards Jersey cream and into the Terrain Garden.  I wasn't really in the mood for park riding, but I had a good ride through.  I put in a couple front side 180's and some back-side 180's.  Made me feel good.  So I rode around the Terrain garden for quite a few times before the end of the day.

I headed down to the village, but took it easy.  It was extremely slushy so quite dangerous for catching some big edges.  A girl in front of me caught a nose edge and flipped quite a few times and landed quite badly.  I made sure she was OK, before heading off, making sure that I wasn't going to take a nose edge and flip it out.

Visibility: Cloudy, with light rain
Snow: Trace to 1cm
Piste Condition: Wet, slushy and sticky
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +4 at the base to +1 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Day two of the dark side...skiing!  I headed up the Whistler Village gondola and straight back to the family zone.  Initially the skiing was not that great.  My right knee was giving me real trouble and I was struggling with the left turn.  However as the day progressed things really improved.  I rode around the mountain a lot more today and generally tried to increase the steepness of the terrain and ramp up the difficulty.

I mainly stayed around the Emerald and Garbonzo chair for the morning.  I did however head on over into the Symphony amphitheater.  I mainly stuck to the Burnt Stew trail and really got some speed up on the way down.

After lunch however I headed up the Peak chair and tried out the saddle.  The top was really icy and fully of moguls.  As my technique was not great this did mean that I struggled.  Not far down from the top I managed to do a face plant and hurt my busted shoulder a little.  I struggled a little to get one of the ski's back on, but after that it all went really well.  As the day wore on towards a close the average speed and linking of turns had increased in speed and were really smothe.

The run back down to the village was not great fun, because it was just so slushy.

All in all a good experiment to see how the 'other half' of the mountain ride.  I'm not a convert, as I prefer the snowboarding experience better.  It should help with any back country however.

I had contemplated it for a while, and decided to try the Dark Side.  That is I thought that I would try Skiing for the first time ever.  I thought that I would see what the other side were 'moaning' about.  So I headed into the Village and headed to Summit to hire some ski's. After a short time I was all kitted out and headed up the Whistler Village gondola.

Clicking in for the first time, it felt as though I was standing on top of a couple blocks.  It felt like I was on stilts!  The weather was awful in the morning and the first run was so tiring, because I was trying so hard.  By the time I got to Pig alley I had relaxed a little and it started to get a little easier.  I did start out with the old snow-plow, and making sure that I could stop, but as I passed the Chick Pea restaurant for the first time I had moved on to parallel turns.  These just seamed easier to do, along with the hockey stop.  I headed up the Emerald chair for my first experience of getting onto and off a chair with Ski's.  It was very much easier getting on and off with ski's rather than with a snowboard.  You just have to made sure you get up and keep the poles out of the way.

The second run down was very much faster and easier.  I likened the experience of parallel turns to using the stair climber at the gym.  I did still however find my balance to be a little off still.  After the third or fourth run down it was getting much better.  I took a few different routes down the mountain and even took Orange Peel down to Big red, and also ended up in a small mogul field.  I could tell that my technique was not good enough to ride mogul's as I didn't have a very good time getting through these.

By now I had taken a couple tumbles (splits to face, and wayward ski to falling over to my side, etc.) and the weather had closed in to be a white out, so I headed on in for a quick lunch.

After lunch things went even better with the skiing.  My timing was very much better and the speed was getting better and more controlled.  I still didn't feel that I was getting my weight forward enough but the turns were much easier and flowed.  I managed to get a good few runs down to Emerald chair and a couple down to Garbonzo.  All too soon however it was lift closing time, so I headed on down from the roundhouse down pig alley, and past Emerald, onto Olympic and then Crabapple.  The snow conditions were really wet and sticky down here and I was struggling with my left turn as my left knee was giving me some pain and trouble.  I pushed through it and skied all the way down to the bottom of the village.

Visibility: Overcast, with periods of snow & white out's, clearing late to sunshine
Snow: 5cm
Piste Condition: Everything from fresh powder, hard pack, soft, lumpy, bumpy, slushy and very wet
Wind: Moderate and gusty
Temperature: +8 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Slow start to the day.  Headed up Whistler and over into Symphony.  The riding in here today was actually really good and fast. I did a few runs in here before going over to Harmony to see if that was good too.  I was left disapointed.  The Harmony piste was not groomed and was not in good condition.  I gave it a couple runs but it wasn't very enjoyable.  I headed for a little lunch.

Afted lunch I headed on up the Peak chair and onto the Saddle.  The Saddle was running good too, if a little lumpy.  I charged on straight down to Big Red and waited for Chris, Mark, John and DJ , at the Roundhouse.  The plan was again this Tuesday to have a BBQ at the fourt.  We headed on down to find that there was again a lot of people this week.

After a couple hours in the sun there were only a few of us left.  Myself, Chris, John, Mark and DR.  At about 19:00 we had drunk all the beer and eat all the food and decided to head on down.  There were a number of freshly groomed lines down the hill.  On the way down toward Big Red we came up to a pister who was drifting into the right.  DR and Chris got through on the right before the gap closed, and I had to emergency break andpass on the left.  Thankfully the others followed me.  We charged as fast as the conditions would allow down Crabapple and into the village.

Visibility: Mostly sunny with occasional cloudy periods
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Choppy but soft on top of hard pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +4 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light