I lived out the classic test nightmare this morning. You know, the one where you sit down to take the French test that you spent all night studying for and it is en español. And that’s when you look down and realize that you aren’t wearing any clothes…
I was fully clothed, but I wasn’t taking the right test. Some of you might remember the fun that I had last week while trying to take an exam for the Apple Certification that I am going for. Well, I was supposed to take the software exam today. But my boss signed me up for the hardware exam.
To my credit, it only took me two questions to figure out that I was in the process of taking the wrong test. I went out and told the guy who runs the testing center, “ummm… help? wrong test!” He practically laughed in my face and told me “Use it or lose it. You paid for the hardware test, so you can keep taking it or you can kiss your $150 goodbye and giveup.” I chose to take the test that I hadn’t studied for.
This would be a great story if I could tell you that I was able to go back to the office and say to my boss, “You signed me up for the wrong test, but I passed it anyways.” Unfortunately, I don’t get to script my own life. I just do the revisions later.
I won’t say much about the test because I signed an oath of secrecy before I went in to take it. If you told you about it, Steve Jobs would send his army of black-turtle-neck-wearing-winged-monkeys. And I hear that they bite. And that they’re not so up on their shots.
I actually ended up with a passing score, but you have to get each and every CRT monitor related question correct or they automatically fail you. Why, you ask? Mostly because standard hardware repairs if done incorrectly, will only damage the computer and/or components that you are working on. The CRTs in monitors can kill you if you fuck around with them and you don’t know what you’re doing. I got six of those questions wrong. Oops. What can I say? There was never an option d) None of the above: I won’t touch a CRT Monitor with a ten-foot pole.
So, I have to take the test again. I am taking the software test again on Wednesday and if I don’t pass I will probably beat myself to death with my study guide. And the good news is… I just need to learn about not killing myself with CRTs and I can probably take that hardware test again and pass it. So, hooray for me, I almost passed a test that I had never studied for!
