A New Semester Begins
I was hoping to drag out a little bit more free time between college classes, but I also wanted to finish up two classes back to back before the end of the year. Unfortunately, time was working against me. If I wanted two 8 week courses done by December 31st, I had to get going now. So, tomorrow it begins.
So, what is the class du jour this semester? Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m taking a class about MySQL databases.
A broad overview of the MySQL database. Includes Structured Query Language (SQL) instruction for data definition, data manipulation, and data retrieval. Develops knowledge and skills required to install MySQL, model and create new databases, manage users, authentication, and stored procedures, and develop backup/restore strategies.
Sounds super thrilling right? Actually, I am interested in this class. I’ve used MySQL before, and I’ve worked with DBs for a long time, but I’ve never spent a whole lot of time digging into the actual workings. Most of the time my use of them has been as a backend for some random application, or something similar. Nothing where I’ve actually been doing any real work with them. We use Oracle at work, but my involvement there is pretty limited. Mostly I’m just doing really basic selects to pull information out of the DB that I need for some kind of issue triage. I’m hoping this class will give me a little bit more insight into the goings on behind the scenes. I realize MySQL and Oracle aren’t going to align completely, but I’m hoping the ideas the class teaches will be abstract enough that they can be applied in both cases.
The other class I’ve got this semester isn’t going to be starting until the 11th of November, and this class should be completed by then. That one is basically exam prep for A+ certification. I have almost zero interest in that class. I used to spend a lot of time hands on with computer hardware, but I just don’t have the time or interest to do it now. This class is kind of forcing me back into doing things I’d rather not. It’s not like it’s horrible or anything, but for a number of years I did desktop support at a university, and I really just burned out on it. Back then I built my own computers and I worked on them for a job. Now I’d just rather buy something off the shelf and let their support deal with it if there’s a hardware problem. Linux can somewhat complicate that if there’s an issue, but honestly I’ve never had a hardware problem that I needed to call support for, so I guess I’ve just been lucky. Regardless of what I want, that class is coming up here in 8 weeks.
Wish me luck!
Day 22 of the #100DaysToOffload Series.
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