It's Official!

I passed the FE!!! On the afternoon 22nd I got an email that said that I could log on to the NCEES site and check my results.  So I tried but their site wasn't working. Probably because everyone was getting on to see if they passed.  So I ended up finally getting on around 10pm that night and found out that I passed and that was one of the best Christmas presents that I received this year.  It feels so great to know that I don't have to take that test again.

The FE Exam

The Fundamentals of Engineering Exam was this last weekend and I had lots of support for which I am grateful for.  I decided I would let everyone know how the test went.

So Saturday morning I got up at 6:00am and got ready for the day and then left my hotel around 6:40am and walked the few blocks to the Salt Palace where the test was held.  When I got there the test was held in the Grand Ballroom so it was easy to find, last time i took the test it was hidden away in a back corner.  So check in started at 7:15am and this is were the really fun begins.  You are not allowed to have your cell phone, writing tools, or anything that is not in a clear container.  So around 7:45am the instructions are started and at 8:00am the test begins.  Once the test is started you have 120 questions to answer in 4 hours.  The subjects covered range between Mathematics, Probability and Statistics, Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Electronics, Material Science, Chemistry, Engineering Economics, and Engineering Ethics.  I finished this part of the test about 15 minutes before it ended.  I felt like the test was way easier than it was last time I took it and that I didn't guess on nearly as many as I had before.  I hope that this was because I had done so much studying.

I then had an hour break and had to be back at 1:00pm for check-in for the second half of the test.  Instructions started at 1:15pm and the test started at 1:30pm.  This part of the test was 60 questions in 4 hours.  This part of the test actually has a few different tests that you can choose from.  You can choose between, Civil based, Electrical based, Mechanical based, Chemistry based, Environmental based, Industrial based, or the general test.  With the degree that I am getting from SUU I took the general test.  This test covers basically the same areas that the first part does but it is more advanced subjects.  So it covers Mathematics, Probability and Statistics, Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Electronics, Material Science, Biology.  I felt really good about this part of the test just like in the first part.  I did struggle with some of the partial integrations and derivatives, and didn't really have a clue on the biology questions.  Yet I still felt like I guessed on only a small amount of the questions.  I did finish this section about an hour early which was around 4:40pm but I don't think that I rushed at all.

So you can see that I had a long Saturday.  I did get a few surprises after the test which were nice.  My parents got me a new book. They got me R. A. Salvatore's new book Gauntlgrym and Karen got me the movie "How To Train Your Dragon."  So that was my test day!

Thinking of Greatness

I often wonder about some of the great structures of the past and how they were built.  I wonder about stone castles, the Great Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and many other wondrous structures.  Some of these structures would be a great undertaking in our day and age so how great was it to those builders who didn't have the capabilities that we have.  I sometimes think that with our modern abilities of mass production and the uniform ease that concrete, along with other things, has provided us we have forgotten some of the basics of creating structures that was used on some of these wonders of the world.

Now I don't think that we will ever get back to creating structures that way because it would be to slow, cost way too much money, and we create much stronger and safer structures now.  I just think that we do not create buildings like the Colosseum any more.  Now we do create amazing structures like the Millau Bridge in France which almost seems to be flying. 

As I am getting close to graduating I have been thinking about what I am going to do with my life and where I want to work and what I would like to do.  I have always grown up thinking that I would just work for Interstate Rock designing roads, but lately I have come to realize that I want to do something great. Now some may say that I am being prideful in a way to want to design/build something wondrous but I don't think that I am because I don't want to do it so that I can say look what I did.  I want to do it because I have read a lot of books that have inspired my mind and have caused me to wonder if I could do something great and I believe that I could and would like to try.

I have decided that I want to go to grad school and have picked 4 schools to apply to and I am thinking of going to structural engineering.  The schools that I have picked are: Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Utah State University, and University of Washington.  My top choice is Mines and the UW with CSU followed by USU.  Right now I am trying to finish all of my applications and get my letters of recommendation. I also am studying for the FE exam that I have to take on Saturday. I am really nervous for this test because I have to pass to graduate.  I also will be taking the GRE next month which will cause some stress as well.

Maybe someday I will design something great like: 

O&M Manuals

So for the last few weeks at work I have been working on creating the Operation and Maintenance Manuals for one of our jobs.  It has been quite the experience for me.  I will have to create manuals for 11 sections. I have been working one Section I which ended up being two 2" binders.  After I finished the manual I had to make 4 copies.  It was one of the most tedious jobs that I have had to do.  I really wish that there was a better way to make copies than just using a copy machine.  I have spent a few days just making copies and putting them into binders.

Bid Day

So earlier this week we had a really big bid day.  We had two bids due and I was helping with the one for the high school.  It was lots of work and I worked 'til 9:30pm the night before and then went back to work at 6:00am so that I could get everything done that I needed to do.  Also all morning I was doing whatever I need to help with to finish everything up.  In the office everyone was running around like we were an anthill that had be kicked.  It was probably the first time that I had really been involved in the bidding process on a big job.  It was an eye opener to a different type of engineering that I knew existed but had never really seen.  It was a lot of work but kind of exciting.

New Direction

So I have decided to write about my daily experiences with school and work.  I am in my last semester of college and only have three classes that I am taking.  I am taking Manufacturing and Nutrition at SUU three days a week and then I am taking Programming at Dixie State on Thursday night.  I am working really hard to pass all of these classes.

I am also working full-time for Interstate Rock in there engineering department.  This week we are really busy with bids.  We have four jobs bid on Tuesday so it is really crazy at work.  I am helping with take-offs and anything else that needs to be done right now.  Normally I am doing AsBuild drawing and keeping track of extra items on our SR-9 roadway job.

All of this is really keeping me busy and I do not have lots of free time.  But I hopefully will be able to write and share my life challenges and victories.

Fablehaven completed... Finally

I finally finished the last two books in the Fablehaven series.  It took me so long to finally finish them because I didn't have access to them and I couldn't buy them on strict orders from my wife.  But I have finally finished them and here is my thought about these two books.

First, for Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary I must talk about how surprised I was with how the book panned out.  I was not expecting the twists and turns that Mull put into this part of his series.  For those of you who know me know that I am obsessed with dragons and so with the picture of a hydra on the front cover I was skeptical about how he was going to describe his dragons.  I was very pleased with his new take on dragons and not just sticking with the main view of dragons.  I like that his dragons at Wyrmroost coming in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and abilities.  I enjoyed the plot and the storyline of this book.  I give the plot 4 out of 5.  The book is very easy to read and I found that I flew right through it with no trouble with the vocabulary or the writing style so I give it a 3.5 out of 5 on readability because there were a few spots that just seemed like the way it was written distracted from the overall story. For enjoyment it gets a 3.5 out of 5 because it was really fun to read but it just didn't suck me into it the story. So overall this book gets a 3.67 out of 5.

Now for the final installment of the Fablehaven series I read Keys to the Demon Prison which continued with the great plot line started in book 4 and just continued to excite and thrill me.  Throughout the book I kept waiting for two things to happen. 1) when Seth would use his tower and leviathan figures and 2) when Kendra would restore the astrids.  Seth never used his figurines which was a let down for me but the restored astrids more than made up for it.  I was trying to figure out who was on the front cover and what was the importance and I didn't realize it until I finished the book and looked at the cover again which made things all fall into place for me.  I didn't really like the way that this book ended.  With this being the final book I wanted a good conclusion to the story.  I felt like things didn't get wrapped up and Mull left it open for another book. So for plot I will give it a 3.5 out of 5.  For readability it gets 4 out of 5 since it was a great read and I had no problems reading and understanding what was going on.  For entertainment it gets 4.5 out of 5.  I was sucked into the story as I read this book.  I just couldn't stop reading it.  I tried to find time all the time and I stayed up late, it truly had me intrigued. So overall this book gets 4 out of 5.