Falling Stresses & Time to Get back on Track

Hello friends and Hivers. I figured I would hit up the WorkLife community to tell of somethings I have completed this week which has lifted some stresses off of me. It's a good thing to get some of the weight off of my shoulders.

Wednesday I had to take my Hazardous Materials Inspector Certification test. I've been involved with shipping and accepting hazardous materials into the transportation system for a very long time. Every two years I'm required to get re-certified to remain profient at it.

It's a lot of information to review and take in. They provide us with study materials to aid in the help of preparing for the test. This was the first year all the material and pre-tests were online. Once enrolled we have 6 months to finish and take the test. I opted to complete it within 5 months. I really didn't want it to be hanging in my mind close to the holidays. So have I been studying like crazy and refreshing my mind with all this material the last few months?

To be honest, not at all. I did maybe a week's worth over the last 5 months. I just didn't have the motivation. The material is really dry and I feel pretty confident I already know all this stuff. Heck I've dealt with it for so more years. I did spend a few hours forcing myself this week starting on Monday to once it over. Did testing go smooth that morning?

It didn't start out smooth but it wasn't my fault. I showed up to the testing center at 7:45 a.m. for a 8:00 start time. The individual that was suppose to be administering the test didn't show up to almost 8:30. Of course I made a few calls and knocked on some doors. I did most of this prior to 8:00 so none of that improved matters. There were two others that were there to test but there start times weren't until 8:30.

Once the test administrator showed up there was more obstacles. I couldn't login into the first two computers I tried. It was almost another 30 minutes before I got a started. Unfortunately the frustration was not over yet. The test I took is used with a publication. The test consisted of 20 questions and had a time limit of 2 hours. The publication was available online and the service was so slow that it kept freezing up. I raised my hand because I was only on question 2 as 20 minutes have already passed.

The administrator came over and I showed him what I was up against. He told me it may take a few minutes to download it as a PDF to the desktop. Also he mentioned that test time can't be adjusted. I simply told him that there was no way I was going to finish if it wasn't downloaded to view offline. The download took less than a minute.

At the hour mark I was on question 9, just a little behind a two hour pace. The good thing is everything is working like it should now. I fished about 30 minutes early and didn't feel like going through to double check all my answers. I was a bit stressed and frustrated throughout the whole ordeal. Plus it was close to lunch time plus I had to go to the bathroom. Your not allowed to leave the testing area once you start the exam.

Well I've done this certification over a dozen times. This was the hardiest exam of all of them. I felt confident still, I missed one question getting a 95%. Passing is 75% so I'm happy with the results even though I thought I completely aced it. A huge stress lifted and I'm good to go for two more years.

This wasn't it for the week as far as it comes to testing. I had to do another which deals with the inspection of all airlift shipments. This one is done at my workplace not at a testing site. I did this one on Friday as it's required every two years as well. The exam had 37 question and doesn't have a time limit that I know of. This test deals a lot with aircraft configurations and characteristics. There's more on hazardous materials along with cargo movement procedures. Also had some formula calculations to figure out center of balance for individual equipment, aircraft center of balance and figuring out shoring requirements for heavy/tracked equipment.

No problems with this one as it's a standard test with a booklet and bubble sheet. It took me about 40 minutes to complete and I aced it. Quite of few of the questions are processes I do often while performing my job. Actually a lot of it is engrained in my head. Do any of you have to do certifications at your job?

Knocking out both of these certification allows me to have less on my mind while working. I feel a a good size weight has been lifted from me. I haven't done much of my other job (Delivery Driving) because I felt drained some days after working my full-time job. I will get back on the road more but will have to work around my son's basketball schedule. Super excited for him as it's his senior year in high school. Below are some highlights from his Junior year created by his coach.

This is all I have for you this post. A good accomplished work week where there will be less on my mind for months to come. Next week I will go out of town a few days to visit family. Really looking forward to that.

Take care, be safe and enjoy the weekend 😁