70-502, 70-536 and other summer adventures

I have just got back from Warsaw, which wraps up this year's rather drawn-out exam season (stretched by three extra exams).

And it started like this. With 40 points from CodeGuru I bought myself an exam voucher. Zeto had sent me on a WPF training course in March, so I thought it would be worth sitting the exam for it. On 8 June I got an email saying that for taking part in ImagineCup they would give me a voucher too, so I would take one more exam - and it fell to 70-536, the one we had already been preparing for in our .NET group. The best part was that both vouchers had to be used up by 30 June. Naturally, at ABC Data every slot on 29 and 30 June was taken, so I booked 17 June for 70-502 and 26 June for 70-536.

So off I went to Warsaw, to ABC Data. I wandered about a bit before I found the place (Automapa is not much use for guiding you along a pavement :D), but I got there around 9.30. Aleksandra Mizerska showed me straight into a room with six computers set aside for exams. I had to sign in, copy my number into the computer, and I could begin.

Because of the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) I cannot really write about what exactly the questions were. Roughly speaking they were all about the same thing, that is WPF ;). I finished the whole exam at about 11.30, optional survey included. By around noon I was outside, working out where I was and where the station might be.

My plan was to head back from Warsaw on a coach at about 14.50. The invaluable Daniel helped me escape the capital earlier by telling me that a PKS coach to Olsztyn leaves Warszawa Zachodnia at 12.30. Without thinking too hard I bought a day ticket for the city transport (in case I did not make it and had to go back to Centralna). I took line 127 to Zachodnia, queued for a moment only for the lady at the counter to tell me to buy the ticket from the driver (I suspect she had simply had enough - the queue was long :D). So I went out to the stop and bought it from the driver. At 16.30 I arrived in Olsztyn safe and sound, and a Microsoft Certified Professional.

The next day Aleksandra rang me to say that all the slots for 26 June at 10.00 were taken after all, but that the exam could be moved to the 13th, or to the day before, which suited me better. So I had one day less to study. Not that I felt much like studying anyway (if it had not been for breaks with NNNester I think I would have fallen asleep).

Today I set off at 5.30 on the same coach to Warsaw as last time. This time I knew where to go, so there was no wandering. I got to ABC Data at about 8.55, went up to the fourth floor and said I had come for the exam. Aleksandra was a little surprised - she had only just got in herself - but with a smile she told me to wait a moment.

I do not know exactly when I started the exam, I only know that I finished it some ten minutes past 10.00 :D As it happens I knew the .NET fundamentals rather better than WPF, so the exam went much faster and much better. The best part started afterwards.

It is 10.20 and time to get back to Olsztyn. Another question for big brother Placek about the way home. Daniel found a train to Olsztyn at 11.05. I had missed it myself - the PKP timetable site is not built for QVGA screens. I might yet write some sort of parser-and-simplifier for that service... I bought a TLK ticket to Iława with a standing "reservation" :D There were no seats left on the train, so the lady at the counter added "a seat reservation without a specific number" (in case a seat did turn up). What I liked was that the ticket said it had been issued at the passenger's request, when I had said nothing of the sort and did not even know about it. :)

I got on the train and stood in the corridor all the way to Iława. There I decided to drop in at my family home and take my bike back to Olsztyn. I rode from the house down to Iława station; the train was usually waiting well in advance, so I got straight on. I was surprised when it pulled out ten minutes ahead of the scheduled departure, but there you go... Almost at Olsztyn the conductor came round and told me I was on an Interregio fast train (which was running very late - the train, not the conductor). There was a top-up of 1.89 PLN to pay (plus 5.00 PLN for issuing the ticket on board :) ). And that is where the journey of the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, that is me, came to an end.

And what about the third exam from the first sentence of this post? On 20 June, at the diocesan curia, I sat the exam that closed a course for family life counsellors, and of course I passed it. If anyone would like to know something about natural family planning, I am glad to help.

To sum up:

• 17 June: 25 PLN (ticket to Warsaw) + 4.50 PLN (day ticket for the bus) + 24 PLN (PKS ticket to Olsztyn) = 53.50 PLN
• 25 June: 25 PLN (ticket to Warsaw) + 24.57 PLN (TLK ticket to Iława) + 6.93 + 5.00 PLN (ticket to Olsztyn + bike ticket) + 6.89 PLN (fast train top-up + fee for issuing the ticket on board) = 68.39 PLN

The two exams cost me 121.89 PLN altogether, which is a fair bit... But the adventures were worth it :D