PMI Renewal

I rejoined PMI and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. Seems a clumsy bit of marketing to me. Although, they did get me to post about it.

PMP

When I lost my job, I wanted to fill my time with something of value, so I thought about working on some certifications. I earned my ITIL Foundation cert a while back. I got a lot of good advice here and in the real world about what to do next. For many reasons, but primarily because I think it will help me get a job I am very interested in, I am working on my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI.

I've been part of more projects than I care to think about - as an individual contributor or project manager and everything in between. I hope learning the PMP material will make me a better project manager, but at a minimum it should differentiate me from other candidates - and that is very important to me right now. You have to document your project experience and have at least 4,500 hours and a bachelor's degree (or 7,500 without the degree) to be eligible for the certification. In addition, you need 35 project management education hours. I'm happy to say that I completed my application and it has been accepted. Now I just need to study and pass the 200 question exam.

I am using the PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam book for the core of my study. YouTube is a great resource as well - see a couple of good examples at the end of this post.

Back to the studying, so my projects don't end up like this.

Learn PMP Critical Path In 17 Minutes Flat



Learn PMP Earned Value in 10 Minutes Flat

Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS)

Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) - a silver bullet for military communications and "a certified radio that it will never deploy."

Via KF5CZO and AmateurRadio.com

Projects

A classic cartoon to explain the different points of view in a project. As a bonus, you can create your own.

How the consultant described it:

Shotgun: Practical Home Makeover - Mossberg 500 Edition

Since I may never win the lottery and pick up a Silver Pigeon, something like this project gun seems a lot more practical. And I am definitely still in the mode of buying guns for practical purposes.

Bonus: Some hints on selecting a shotgun

Solar Charger with USB

I like the Lady Ada/Adafruit kits. I've built the Minty Boost. I could try the USB, DC & Solar Lipoly charger and since it will do up to 1A, it would work with my fancy UV-3R USB cable.