Applying My Studying

No posts this week, but I have still been plugging away. As I have said a billion times, my A+ certification probably will not help me a ton at my job. I have been successful there for years with just winging it and learning as I go. Sometimes, knowing too much is a detriment at my job because you try to do more work than required. I am not saying that working too hard at my job is bad, it's just that when you go "out of scope" it lessens your efficiency for doing the actual job that is requested of you.

I am also finding out that I feel like a lot of the stuff I am learning is more of a vocabulary test instead of a learning how to do things. I understand, that I am still in the beginning of my training and we may be setting the table for deeper learning later. I also understand that A+ certification is just an introduction, so this might be all that is required. I will follow up on that in a few weeks as I keep studying.

Wireless & Cisco Champions

Today's studying was mostly based on wireless. This is something I am strong at already. I know about all the encryption types, wireless standards, and most importantly, major wireless issues. It was kind of a confidence play because I know I can ace all this stuff on my A+ already.

On a lighter note, I became aware of the term, Cisco Champion via my twitter profile @Troytruperior. I googled it and came up with a website: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/facts_info/champions.html. I decided to write back even though I knew full well that I have zero qualifications so far. They were nice enough to write back and invited me to participate on the website for more data. Even though this is months/years away, I like the idea of being recognized as an expert in that field as I really do like Cisco a lot as a company and they are one of the top companies for what I am trying to accomplish.

Spotting the Fake IT Guy

It's kind of been a running joke at my job. A guy calls for tech support. He says he's an IT professional, and he doesn't know where to find the Ethernet cord on his modem. More and more of my studying has made me question some of the people I deal with on a day to day basis.

I am accepting of a certain amount of ignorance. No one knows everything. Many know nothing. I think arrogance and ignorance is a worse combination however. Besides the person that calls about certain things that they should know. This same person may call about certain things that they should know that I do not know.

I was learning about subnetting today. One of my coworkers who indirectly helped push me to certification was tried explaining to it me. I was confused. I still am very confused. I know what it does, but maybe the numbers make my brain turn off. Once you get past the introductory stuff, you have a chance of hitting a wall where you think that you do not have the ability to do this. You might think that this whole process it out of your league once you get to advanced learning. I will not fall into that trap.

I will master subnetting. Not today, not tomorrow, but one day.

Wiring

After a fun weekend, I am back to studying. The theme of today was wiring. I learned about fiber, coax and Ethernet. I knew about all of this stuff before but I found out how it worked. I learned why fiber is so expensive, how Ethernet is a bunch of wires inside a giant wire (like a sausage) and different types of coaxial. I can actually kind of use this when talking to our clients at work.

 As I noted, I know what I need to know for my job, but I want to be the master at my job. Another thing is that I would like to avoid clients talking about stuff that I do not have any expertise on even though it is not required.

As a last note, there was more information on different devices such as a mouse, keyboard, MIDI, and printers. Here's a helpful tip, most devices connect w USB. It's better that way. It's so much less confusing.

Short Studying

Today's session is a little shorter than most due to having to install a HDMI to DVI wire for my wife's computer. Why? Because I am using her old one for my computer. It takes 5 seconds, but you know how you get sidetracked and all. Today was all about more familiar stuff (I hope that becomes a trend.). I was reading about different wires. I am kind of a master of Rj45s and RJ11 due to working at an MSO that does phone and Internet. My weekend starts after tomorrow, and I spend all day with my 7 month old daughter on Friday's so I hope to stay dedicated on the weekends.

Familiar Is Good

Got another night of studying done. As I have stated before, I know more than the guy that knows nothing. During this session a lot of the stuff I studied was already. It was refreshing to know that I am either retaining knowledge or I am not as clueless as I think.

 As of now, my pending date for wanting to take my test is September 1st, 2014 or whatever day I can get after that. I could probably cram and take the test sooner, but I think it is important that I master this stuff instead of being able to pass a test. So far so good.

Unexpected Studying

I usually take off from studying for Mondays to watch wrestling after work. Due to DVR issues, Daniel Bryan being off television for a few months, and motivation, I hopped on the computer and did a little studying. I stuck to Professor Messer for today. Today was a lot better since I was learning about things that I had half a clue about. I am able to do tech support for a major ISP, but that is because I only need to know about the networking world as relates to my job. When it comes to things outside of that realm, it might get a little foggier. It is okay, that's why I am studying for my A+. I learned about computer sockets, ways to keep the processor cool (fans), and interfaces. The interfaces were the best because I know a lot more about wireless, blu tooth, etc. Hopefully I can get good sleep tonight, go to the gym in the morning, and hop back on this at night.

Let's see how this goes

Okay, if you ever read the website, then thanks a bunch. I am shifting focus from this site to be less about technology, and more about my goal to become an IT Professional. It may take me years, but I really enjoy fixing stuff with computers and the Internet. I am using Professor Messor's website as a starting point. I currently work for an ISP, but I feel that by working hard enough I open a lot more doors for myself. Btw, if I don't write back after this post, that will look really lame, so I hope to update this frequently. Today, I was learning about different storage types such as SCSI, RAID, PATA & SATA. It was all kind of uninteresting. I think I will enjoy the software side much more.