Passed CSM Today

Today was the big day, I was able to have the house to myself, sit on the couch with a big cup of coffee and take my test for the ScrumMaster certification. After 2 days of what I would call brain melting classes, due to the overwhelming amount of content, then a class for my management and one for my HR certification (both of which I am still not done with until fall "if" I am lucky) turned the week into a painful one mentally.

I am happy to announce that as of early this afternoon I am officially a certified ScrumMaster and can now be a part of the bigger picture at the studio at work. We are going down this path, and have started to already in some areas of the company. So once we begin to initiate it I will can now be part of it and put some of what I learned into practice.

I know there will be a lot of mistakes and roadblocks along the way but I think if we, we being "the company as a whole", stick to it we will be just fine. Everyone just needs to realize that it is not like we all take the class and certification and then the next day the light switch turns on and we are running Lean and Agile.

Everything I have read pretty much sums it up that if your company dives right in and hits very few roadblocks it takes a decent amount of time and resources (capital and energy of employees) to make it work. With a corporation as big as mine it can take 1 to 3 years to be what they might consider 100% on track and Agile.

We are told that there are going to be training sessions all the way up the ladder for the executive team as well as others that generally cause the biggest roadblocks and problems for us by flying in and mandating additions, changes or whatever by the seat of our and their pants. Thia is and never has been a good thing for the company.

In years past, 10+ years or so back, it was not as big of a deal because we could sort-of cover up those inefficiencies because we were the biggest on the block as far as our product and market-share.

Anymore that is not the case and there are so many new developers out there and start-ups that we need every advantage that we can. So my hope is that the executive team will recognize the importance of it and support us along the way here forward and not become the roadblocks they can be known for being.

MTB

Stopped by REI today and looked at all the different Camelbak hydration backpacks. I ended up getting the VOLT model because it has a decent amount of space and also has the water bladder lower on the pack so it's sitting around the waist and lumbar instead of higher up on your back where it can put excessive pressure on your shoulders and in turn make your back hurt as well. The setup of the VOLT is not supposed to do that and is supposed to be better for those of us, like myself, that have lower backs that get pissed off easy from doing too many extreme sports their entire life.

I may try to go on a ride in the morning and if so it will be the first day that I have a chance to try the pack out. I don't think it will be a day that I need all the water it can hold, it holds 100 ounces compared to many that only hold around 70. I think that 70 would have been more than enough but the pack does not have as many pockets and related so I went with the 100 ounce.

Should be a great pack based on everything I have heard from everyone that has them. I almost bought it last weekend when we went out to Cicely's parents house for BBQ but the color that they had at the bike shop I did not care much for. I mean it was this really cool orange and greenish-tan color but completely different than anything else I own so I figured I would look for a black and red or black and silver one or something. I was able to find what I wanted and get it local which was really cool. Plus REI had a sale going on today for 25% off hydration packs - score!

Otherwise

I think that is about it for today. There is other stuff going on of course but those are the biggest things that went on today. I am just happy to have my certification over and done with. Now I need to do the same with my 2 UNR programs that I am doing and I will be good-to-go and can put all of this stuff in my back pocket and start using it all more and at the same time putting it behind me.

I should mention that other than the stupid friggin' wind today it was really nice outside and felt as though summer was finally here. It hit the mid 80's I think and is supposed to keep getting warmer over the next couple weeks. There were a lot of people heading out to the lake today with their boats and jet-skis, campers and RVs which is usually a sign that it's summer.

I sure would like to have a jet-ski again but its just not in the budget - maybe it will be again in the coming years so we can start going to the lake with Zoey. Worst case we want to take her up to the lake and hang out to get her use to the water and so Cicely and I can take turns learning how to stand up paddle-board (also known as SUP).

All that is in the "things to come" list of our lives. We have our hands full simply learning how to be parents and take good care of both Oggy and Zoey. I think we are doing a really good job, but have lots to learn still so I wont go hurting myself giving myself pats on the back.

With that, I think I will go ahead and call this post done for the day. It's time to hang out with the family and relax a little bit. Otherwise before I know it the weekend will be over and the work week will be back upon me.

At least I don't have any classes this week - woo-hoo! Only a quick doctors appointment on Friday for a follow-up and then Friday at work the studio is taking us all out to the IMAX theater to watch the new Godzilla movie, cant wait!


Photo: Crazy pile of toys, clothes and related that Cicely got at the big garage sale in our area today. I think she spent less than $25 on all if it and I am not even showing the big car/scooter thing she got for only $2!