9:22a

Second week of training is now underway. This time it’s MS-2349: Programming with the Microsoft .NET Framework (Microsoft C# .NET). It’s actually more of the introductory “here’s how to write programs” sort of class, and you might ask yourself why I didn’t start out by taking this class.

I’m asking myself that same question.

Actually, it wasn’t offered until now, so it wasn’t possible. It would have been nice, but now that I’m in it, I’m hoping it fills in gaps in the knowledge I already have. That’s what it’s looking like to me so far.

11:16a

The time’s flying by, but mostly because this is total review so far and I’m working on other things, like typing up the outcome of my ten-year class reunion.

In fact, a lot of this class, I feel, is going to be review, but the stuff that isn’t is going to be very valuable indeed. I’m hoping that I’ll solidify my knowledge of the C# language - finally get a good understanding of the stuff that’s a little foggy. We’ll see, right?

12:41p

We have an hour and a half (starting at noon) to do lunch and a lab, but I decided I was going to do the lab first and then just eat until everyone else finished up.

Of course, then I got talking to the instructor and now it’s 41 minutes into the time and I’m not even close to done with the lab. Maybe I should go get something to eat, eh?

2:25p

I’m still doing review stuff in my class, but I’ve found yet another pet peeve as I’m sitting here. Actually, two.

First, I can’t stand people who talk to you when you’re trying to read your book. Look, buddy, not only is it obvious that I’m reading (and, hence, busy), but my reading implicitly indicates I have nothing to say to you. Shut up and turn around.

Second, I can’t stand people who pretentiously sit back in a class and act like they know everything about anything already and refuse to listen to you. For example, I work extensively with SharePoint Portal Server. I’d like to think I’m pretty up to speed on it. If you ask me a question and I actually have an answer for you, don’t instantly assume that I’m wrong, especially if you’ve never used the motherfucker. You don’t know, so you shut up. Besides, if you’re so smart, why are you asking me?

Anyway, that’s where I’m at here.

3:29p

I should check out Broken Saints when I’ve got a computer with sound enabled and a decent connection. It’s supposed to be some pretty cool animation.

I noticed my first review is up on YouBored.com. Yay, me! It had two votes on it, with an average rating of 2.5 out of 5 (which means someone voted it as “2” and someone gave it a “3”), so I chipped in a five-vote to raise my score. Hey, man - I like my review. The thing is, I actually meant it to be a two-part review: the first half explains the way I review and the rating scale, the second half is the movie proper. It got posted as a single item, though, so it looks like I’m not really paying attention to the movie and just running off at the mouth. If I ever get access to post/edit the site directly, I’ll be fixing that.

I actually got a note for another review job from them, but unfortunately (as you are all aware) I’m in Bellevue through the rest of the week and the movie’s tomorrow night… so I’m not going to be able to do it. I’d like to, though. Sort of sucks that it’s this week and not next week. Bah. Oh well. Hopefully there will be a “next time.”

4:01p

We’re going on, like, 40 minutes for a 30 minute lab. Not so great. Admittedly, it’s a lab involving web clients (ASP.NET) which no one else here seems to be familiar with, but this is pretty ridiculous.

4:17p

The class seems to thrive on bad geek humor. Which means uncalled for, ridiculous puns; utterly unrelated sidetracks and tangents; and jokes with long buildups and no punchline.

I am ready to kill someone.

4:38p

Aw, shit. Sidetrack. Well, not really sidetrack so much as the know-it-all guy just not getting it. What’s he not getting? IT. Does it matter? The simple fact is that this guy’s all hot shit and now he’s holding up the class.

5:02p

Well, that’s the end of the day. Tomorrow morning we start with lab. Let’s see how this goes tomorrow. Time to get back to the hotel, maybe do some of the lab work there.