365 Day Geek

Study bug...

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:04:00 +0000

Ok... I'm way late on the whole studying thing. It's hard to go to school full time and add more studying on top of it... Yuck! Andrea is supposed to start being my new study buddy to help keep me motivated... Maybe that will help me get in the game!

Studying... Ugh!

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Ok... I've been slacking on the studying. My favorite teacher (names are witheld to protect the not so innocent) was giving me crap last night and asked how many certs I've got so far... uhhh... a big fat 0! So, I've been studying all morning! I know way more than I want to know about motherboards and SATA! I'm gonna get this A+ certification if it kills me!
Thanks a lot "Teach"! Maybe we need to make a deal... if I get my A+ cert = extra credit?

***UPDATE***
I just took the A+ hardware portion practice test and got a 75%... Not too shabby! Back to studying!
I'm scheduling this beast for mid-February!

I did it!

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:14:00 +0000

I did it... I completed my first full marathon! I'm not at all happy with my time though. I finished in 4:20... That's 35 minutes later than I wanted to. I totally tanked at the 20 mile mark! Now I have to attempt to redeem myself. I'm going to start training to run the Nashville race April 24th... That gives me 13 weeks of training! Not extremely exciting... Especially since my body is still recovering from Sunday... :-/ I'll put my big girl panties on and deal with it though... I'm getting a lot better at the suffering!

http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=72662669&rsID=88864&pubID=3

http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/RRUS/2010/P.F.%20Chang%27s%20Rock%20%27n%27%20Roll%20Arizona%20Marathon%20and%20Half%20Marathon;match=3596

Studying has been pretty tough. Especially the last week. I thought I'd get a lot done on planes and all, but it didn't happen. I have way too much trouble concentrating... and way too much other homework! All things in time...

Good News!

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:43:00 +0000

I found out in my classes last night, that if I take Forensics 3 class in the Spring (May), this will qualify me to take the ACE Certification from Access Data. And... The NITA 212 class I'm taking is a Linux class... so if I take NITA 412 in the Spring (also May) I would have both Linux classes, that should give me the knowledge I need to take the Linux+ exam! Is that not cool or what?

I'm not getting much studying done today. I leave for AZ tomorrow morning, so I've been trying to get my laundry done, get packed, and all that good stuff... Plus my Brickbreaker addiction got in the way for a little while... I actually beat the game today! I'm rockin'! It's my lucky day! Instead of taking the kids bowling after school, maybe I should head to the Casino! Ka-Ching!

or not... Too much to do...

I have been working on homework for my Research and Writing: Tech Careers Perspective class... I'm trying to get ahead since I'm gonna be hurting so bad next week that I won't be able to move or sit still... I'll probably be curled up in a little ball!

Feeling a little Army motivation today... Fine day... Fine day indeed... US Army is all right! Can you dig it? Can you dig it?
I've had a cadence stuck in my head all morning too...

Down by the river...

Took a little walk...

Ran into first platoon...

Had a little talk... (Beat down)

Didn't like their attitude...

Didn't like the way they moved...

So we kicked 'em, pushed 'em, threw 'em in the river...

Laughed as the drowned... (Ha ha)

We don't need no first platoon...

Hanging, hanging, hanging around...

Hey, don't be a fool, somebody said we were number 2, but we're number 1!

Predators!!!

Have a great day!!! Be strong! Army strong! Hooah!

Busy schedule... ugh!

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:59:00 +0000

I had drill this weekend. I didn't get a whole lot of studying done. I sat in my hotel room all night Saturday night and studied though... I found a Barnes and Noble and bought myself a new book. I got the ExamCram Comptia A+ book for 2009... Looking at the practice tests, I'm not doing so hot! I also started my first day of campus classes today. Forensics 2 and NITA 212 (I haven't been to this class yet today, but I think it's an open source class...) My two online classes are going to be extremely time consuming! This obviously isn't good for me... Like I don't have enough on my plate already.
I leave for Phoenix, AZ in 2 days to run my marathon. I am sooo nervous, and getting more and more nervous by the day.
If you wanna follow my race and see how I do, you can use this site... https://www.competitorwireless.com/ and put in the PF Chang Rock n' Roll Arizona... and my first and last name (Michelle Rowton). It does cost $2 to do it though... They will send you a text with my race stats and stuff... Pretty cool!
Well... Back to studying, I have an hour before my next class!

Studying...

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:19:00 +0000

Here I am... sitting at the kitchen table, studying my little brain... The A+ seems like it's going to be easy, but that's what I thought back when I failed the Network+ and Security+ both times I took them... ugh! So far I'm learning troubleshooting... I already know it all... Well, at least I think I do... I really need to talk to someone who has already taken this test!

I've been trying to talk Kelsea(My daughter) into studying with me. The stubborn little brat refuses. I guess being a computer geek is not her idea of a good time... :)

Today I'm using books24x7... there are a ton of A+ books on there. Of course the one I started with is the A+ for Dummies book... I couldn't resist!

Happy New Year everyone! I wish all "1" of my readers the best... :) I'm sure you exist out there somewhere!

New Years Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:23:00 +0000

It's New Years Eve. Tomorrow marks the day.

I sent out a letter to all of my members on attackprevention this morning. (Well, 3,602 of them anyways.) There's no better place to get advice about being a computer geek than to get it from computer geeks themselves... Right? We'll see...

A+ studying starts tomorrow! I'm stocked up on coffee, Mountain Dew, and margaritas!

6 Days til school starts...

17 Days til my first full marathon...

365 days of geekdom left...

One More Day Closer

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Well... I'm one more day closer to the day I have to start working my little brain into a frenzy... Not that my gears aren't already turning. I started working on a sponsor letter today to see if I can get some friendly folks to lend a hand and I've been searching for the study aids I need to start working on the A+. There's so many things going through my head! I really have this need to plan plan plan, but don't know what the heck I should be planning... Kind of an awkward feeling! I'm pretty excited about my new adventure!
I'm also a day closer to race day. My first marathon is coming up January 17th in Phoenix, AZ. I'm doing a PF Chang race to attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon. It's possible, but not probable. If you wanna see how I do, you can track me. My race number will be 3596. I'm slightly a nervous wreck since this is my first full marathon. I got my race number by email yesterday and had butterflies in my belly for hours! But I really think I'm ready. I've been running like crazy, my body feels like it's finally starting to adjust. I'm having a whole lot less pain right about now... It was horrible for a little while there. Now the problem isn't that it hurts to run, it's that I really have very little desire to go outside and hang out in the cold running while I could be home working on my new plan!
My next semester of school will be starting up soon too, so January is going to be a smokin' busy month for me!

The 365 Day Geek

noreply@blogger.com (Papergrl) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:49:00 +0000

Here it is. My first post... Starting January 1st, I'm going to start trying to get as many computer certifications as I can in 365 days. I've started the plan... Looks like I'll be starting with the A+ certification. It doesn't get much more basic than that.

Here's the plan... One certification a month for the next 12 months... (with the exception of studying for the CISSP...)

January - A+
February - Network+
March - Security+
April - VCP3
May - Server+
June - ACE
July - Linux+
August - CCE
September - MCDST
October -SSCP
November - CISSP
December - CISSP

Any hints, tips, study aids, or links to help me get through this next year would be great! Wish me luck!