Smile!

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Airfare Sale

With Congress failing to pass a re-authorization or extension for the FAA, they are no longer authorized to collect the ticket tax on airfares, leaving a defacto fare sale on every airfare in the country.

For example, airfare from Huntsville to Los Angeles before the authorization expired at midnight:


And the post-midnight change:



$38 is not a huge deal, but at over 10% it's worth looking again if you were interested in a trip somewhere anyway. Of course if they don't get the FAA authorized soon, I might get plenty of time off work to enjoy the reduced airfares. Congress is leaving over $200 million in tax revenue per week uncollected as long as there is no authorization. Brilliant.

- Ryan

Location:Everywhere

Iraq

No matter where you fall politically, this is good news: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/18/seven-years-final-combat-brigade-leaves-iraq/

Summer

Is it just me, or has this summer been really warm, and rather long?

Death and Taxes

I'm not even going to get into what I think of government spending in the U.S. right now.  If you haven't looked at where your tax dollars are going in a while, Death and Taxes has a great graphical representation, updated annually.

PE Exam Advice

My advice is probably worth what you paid for it - unless you're accessing this via an aircard or other cellular data network, in which case you probably overpaid. I got the good news last week that I passed the Professional Engineering exam that I took back in April, and it was quite a relief. While the topic was still somewhat fresh in my mind, though, I thought I'd share some thoughts down on some different things I think helped me get there, and a few things that didn't. For the record, I took the Electrical - Power exam.

1. A review course. If your company offers to pay for a review course, take them up on it! Having been out of the college class thing for half a decade, it wasn't easy to buckle down and study. To me, it was worth it to pay the $ (and I had to pay, not my employer) to have a curriculum with study goals divided up into managable chunks -- any acutal learning that occurred was a bonus. For folks taking the power exam, I took the Georgia Tech online course, and would do it again. If you're doing the civil exam there are a lot more options for live classroom courses, which must be nice.

2. The NCEES sample/practice exam. If you buy nothing else, buy, borrow, or beg yourself a copy of the sample exam. It's not a photocopy of what you'll see exam day, but if you can't figure out the quesions on the sample exam, it's time to sign up for a review course. At some point before exam day, it's probably a good idea to sit for at least 4 hour sessions and force your way through the morning and afternoon sections of the sample exam.

3. The latest edition of the NEC. Yes, you need it. Yes, you should have the latest version. Borrow it if you have to, but please borrow it earlier than the day before the test, because you can't get used to using the NEC book in 24 hours. If you don't use it at work, expect to spend some time on it.

4. The EERM. I would strongly recommend you don't study from the EERM. The CERM seems to be great for civil folks, but that just doesn't translate well. The current edition EERM is far too broad (and vague), although it may be useful to brush up in weak areas if you're avoiding a review course. It doesn't hurt to have it as a reference, but it didn't help me on exam day more than as a security blanket, of sorts. I definitely would not worry about having the 'updated for the new exam format' edition (8th, I believe). There was talk of a more focussed edition to come in 2010/11. I remain skeptical until that point.

5. The exam specifications from NCEES. They're free. And while those percentages aren't exactly what you'll see on exam day, they make a great study guide.

6. engineerboards.com. A good way to share ideas and help with fellow examinees, and past examinees. Plus some people to share your frustration while waiting the months it takes to grade a scantron.

7. You will pass. If you can graduate from an ABET engineering program, you can pass this exam. Notice I didn't say "on your first attempt".

8. The little things. Small candy, earplugs, water, and your flavor of Caf-Pow. Just bring them. You may not need it, but apply the boy scout motto liberally here.

Good luck!


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I need my FTP!

Tragic. They're taking away my FTP access to my blog through blogger. I'm not sure if I want to make the domain changes they're demanding, so this could be "all she wrote" for Ryan Patton's Thoughts.

On the plus side, I won't have to think as often...

Keep smiling!

-Ryan

I Was Promised Donuts!

This sign was used as part of some San Franciscan's protest to a "protest rally" by people belonging to Westboro "Baptist Church" (which is truly a misnomer).  When the people protesting the protesters were finished, a local cop wanted the "I was promised donuts" sign for her Sergent's car.  Nice touch, I must say.

For the full album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubin110/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Security Theater, Anyone?

So who else has been tempted to say something when the TSA goon takes the water bottle from the 90 year old woman?

Xkcd.com:


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Term Limits for Congresspeople

Clearly, the time has come to impose term limits on all the folks in D.C. When did serving the people become a career move?


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