1/3rd an Architect Sounds Much More Impressive than 2/9th!

I slayed the beast! I passed ME! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!

Go figure... and another nod to my husband, who was right for the third time. Now it's costing me money - even if I pass - due to a bet we made. You see, we kinda have a ritual going and my husband has to open the dreaded envelope when it arrives. This last time, it sat and burned a hole in the coffee table for hours before he got home. So we added a bet to this last test because he was sick of hearing me say, "I know I failed this one." As I explained to another comrade in hell (womanonamission), it goes something like this: if I pass like he always says I will, I have to give him $50. If I'm right and I fail like I know I will, I have to give him $25. Somehow, I got screwed in this deal! He says it's to punish me for not having any faith in myself. Only an attorney can find the logic in this wager. Only an architect (or blonde...) would agree to it!

Now on to BT... groan...

Studying for Mechanical and Electrical

In the process of studying for ME, I've found that the information contained in the links provided below are very useful.

• This is an incredible document. Someone had the time (and patience) to create a spreadsheet of terms, definitions, formulae, etc. Worth downloading.
• http://www.areforum.org/guest/Mechanical%20and%20Electrical/MEP%20terms.doc

• MEEB (Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings) is a brick of a bible for this exam. The link below is to the companion site. The site provides on-line quizzes, chapter outlines, chapter summaries, and other goodies. A lot of folks recommend reading this monster cover-to-cover...
  
• http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0471465917&bcsId=2879

2/9th an Architect

Woo hoo! Thought I tanked, but I PASSED!!! Got that lovely letter today. Two down, 7 to go. Oh, and once again my husband was right.

BD/MM Done for Now... Next: ME

I survived MM. What a loooooong 2 hours it was! I can only hope that since I took it on St. Patrick's Day, the luck o' the Irish was with me and I passed.

I really thought they had loaded the wrong exam. The first half hour had nothing that resembled any of the materials I studied (Kaplan/ALS, ArchiFlash, Allen book, Ballast). There was so much cross-pollination from all the other MC sections. I can see the logic in taking them all at once. Study everything, then do a marathon. At least all the material would be covered, and nothing would be that far out of left field.

So now I wait for that envelope. It took 13 days for the last one. Hopefully, I will be put out of my misery just as swiftly this time... In the meantime I've started studying for ME. Trying to wade through that monster MEEB will certainly keep me occupied for a while.

WTF Wednesday

Someone forgot to add a note to use the existing rough openings...

Waaaah! Buncha cry babies - quit yer whining already!

Okay, so I am really getting tired of hearing (mostly on the ARE Forum) about how much the ARE sucks, NCARB sucks, Archiflash sucks, Kaplan sucks, Prometrics sucks, EVERYTHING sucks! Hey, kids - guess what? For now, it is what it is and it is what we have to go through to get where we want to be. Right? Is this process perfect? No. Is NCARB the model for efficiency and fairness? No. I could keep going, but we all know what the issues are. What is really interesting to me is that the majority of these complaints come from the under-30 crowd, but I'll save that discussion for another time.

Quite frankly, the best we can do ("we" being those of us going through this masochistic process called taking/passing the ARE) is this: PASS THE DAMN TESTS, BECOME RESPONSIBLE PROFESSIONALS, AND CHANGE THE PARTS OF THE SYSTEM THAT NEED TO BE. Sometimes the best way to implement change is from within.

So, as my sister says, put on your big girl (or boy) panties and get on with it already!

Back in the Saddle

After 6 months of trying to adapt to self-employment, sell a condo, sell a house, find a new house, keep work coming in, move into the new house, and other miscellaneous mishegas I am back on track. Or at least as much as I'll ever be. ARE Round No. 2 is on the schedule. Building Design/Materials & Methods. This week I start studying again. So far, I've just been hitting the Archiflash and Kaplan cards whilst soaking in a hot tub. If the soak doesn't put me to sleep the cards will, so at least I'm catching up on lost zeds!

Given the impending doom, er, change in exam format next spring I plan on blowing through the next 8 exams between now and November. This will give me plenty of time to re-test if (notice, dear husband, that I am now saying IF instead of WHEN) I happen to tank on any given exam. Stupid 6 month rule. One possibility regarding Lateral Forces/General Structures was suggested by a friend of mine who is also going through the ARE. Since these two exams will be combined into one in the new version, it might be worth it to leave these till last. At least if I have to take them in 4.0 I will only have to re-take one. Who knows? These two are the ones I dread and part of me would like to just get them over with.

Oh fiddle dee dee, I'll think about LF/GS tomorrow! Today I must deal with a load of work. And study, of course...