Certified SQL Expert

Recently I was looking around for some database programming jobs. Saw a couple good ones at my own company. They wanted a lot of certifications. Now I have one Oracle certification. Got it back when my company was pushing for people to get certified. The jobs I was interested in wanted a bunch of other certifications. Time to get cracking.

I pitched the idea of me taking time off work to prepare to be a certified Oracle SQL Expert. He signed off on it. Got some funds from my company. Bought a couple books specific to the exam I was going to take. Initially I spent a few weeks studying a chapter a night. Then when I took a week off, I started taking practice tests.

You need to get 66% of the questions on the actual exam correct to pass. Sounds easy. It is not. The questions are hard and cover lots of information. During my practice tests I was initially getting just about 66% right. If the actual tests were harder, or I had a bad day, I would not pass. Then I would need to pay extra money out of my pocket to retake the tests.

Today was testing day. Quickly finished up my work in the morning. Had a good lunch where I studied up the highlights of my training. Then I headed to the testing center. I needed to empty my pockets of everything. I was surprised how many people were taking certification tests at the same time as me.

The tests runs for two hours. I finished with about 10 minutes to spare. Went back and answered one question I had only half answered. Then I got out of there. Initially I had trouble getting my test results. But I kept at it, created a new account, entered my credentials and got my scored. I passed. I am a certified Oracle SQL Expert. That does not mean I am an expert. Just that I have the certification.

Bed Shopping

My brother is planning to move in with me. I said we should do a test run. So I figured we could have my bro spend the night a few nights and sleep where his room will be in my basement. My brother said his bed is kaput. Therefore we went shopping for a new one together.

We tried a couple cheap beds. They were no good. They we tried some mid level name brands. Sat on a Serta that my brother liked. Tried a Sealy that was too soft. Ended up going with a brand I heave not heard of before. The salesman said it is comparable to Serta/Sealy, but they do not advertise.

Initially my bro wanted an extra long twin sized bed. But then he thought he might want a full size one. It was too short. Therefore he ended up settling on a queen sized bed. I went to the store today and ordered it to be delivered tomorrow.

The Day of the Viewing

I slept in a bit on the day of my dad's viewing. Turned on the cell phone when I did eventually wake up. My brother called and said there was a problem at the cemetery. I learned how to conference call three people with the iPhone. Called my brother and the cemetery rep. The grave next to where we wanted to bury my father had shifted into his lane. They could not fit the casket in there.

One solution was to shift my mom's burial container out into the row, giving dad the space he needed. The rep emailed me a consent form. My brother came over my house. We signed and scanned the docs. Disaster was averted. We headed over to the funeral home a few hours before the viewing started. Checked out the work the mortician did on dad. Good work it was. Then we decided to head back to my house.

Ate some McDonald's to ensure we would not be too hungry. Hung out inside the funeral home and waited for guests. Had lots of people from my work, my brother's work, and the old neighborhood. Saw my cousin and met his son for the first time. The room was hot and Momoko did not feel well. My best friend came a bit late, but within the viewing hours. He car was having coolant issues. Get a new car already.

The boys at work sent a wreath of white flowers to the funeral home from my company. I told my team lead to take lead and make that happen. Not that me or my family needs flowers from my office. But it looked pretty weak when they did not send any when my mom died. My brother's work decided to send money this time around.

In addition to some of the old neighbors, I saw some of the kids who grew up in my neighborhood. Some I could not even recognize. Instead of the funeral home putting some flowers on top of dad's casket, I brought a Korean War veterans cap to display on there. I was planning to give it to dad for Christmas. I am going to keep it to remember him by. RIP dad. I hope you are with mom now.

The Passing of my Father

I spent the night at my brother's so we could get to the hospital early in the morning. Met with some doctors. The most important was the neurologist. I had him quantify the poor prognosis for my dad's brain problems. The news was not good. My dad was not going to recover.

With the new information, I finally got on board with my brother's decision. We were going to withdraw the life support that was keeping my father's body "alive". It took a while to get the pieces in place. A nurse administered some pain medication. Then the respiratory therapist removed the ventilator that was helping my dad breathe.

Initially my dad had trouble breathing. Made sense since both his lungs had pneumonia. But then his breathing improved. That was the blessing and the curse. Good that dad could breathe on his on. Bad that he might live when all his organs were shutting down.

After 30 minutes of watching his blood pressure being critically low, I decided I needed some lunch. Figured we were in it for a long hall. Maybe we might need to reverse our decision to not resuscitate dad. Took a quite bite at the close by sandwich shop. Returned to find our nurse went to lunch too and was relived by another nurse.

Dad's heartbeat was the main stat we were following. His heartbeat increased a bit. Then went back to the same rate when he was on all the machines. Eventually dad's normal breathing turned into no breathing. But that heart monitor kept showing his heart beating away. I swear that I saw my dad close his mouth and smile twice even after he stopped breathing.

The heart rate monitor eventually started beeping when his rate dropped below a critical 60 beats a minute. His heart finally gave in with the rest of his body. We waited for a doctor to check dad's stats manually. He was pronounced dead 15 minutes after he stopped breathing. And I cried for the first time since dad initially had the stroke.

I don't know why I saw dad smiling twice. Perhaps it was a muscle reflex based on the lack of oxygen. I am hoping that he had crossed over and saw a young version of my mom. And that could only bring a smile to his face, even in the absence of breathing in any oxygen. Or maybe dad was sending me a message that we did the right thing for him.

Now me and my brother pick up the pieces. Our latest plan is for my brother to move in with me. He said he can't bear to go back to my dad's house, when my dad is no longer there to greet him every day when he returns from work. I type this in a basement bedroom that used to be my private study, but will hopefully become my brother's new bedroom. November 13, 2015.

The Demise of Dad

My brother came home from work on Friday. Normally that causes my dad to wake up and greet him. He did not. My brother checked on dad. He found dad on the bed. Dad could not move his right side. His eyes would only open 25 percent. Dad coughed a lot but could not expel anything from his lungs. My brother called 911. They came and took him to the hospital.

I went with Momoko and my brother to the hospital. Only my brother and I could enter the emergency room. Dad opened his eyes when we came. I felt as though he say and recognized us. But he then closed his eyes. Eventually we left. When we returned later that night, his eyes would not open. The nurse tried to wake dad for some tests. He did not gain consciousness.

We spoke with a neurologist by phone. What he told us was of little importance. The head doctor in the ICU later explained that dad's prognosis is not good. He had bleeding in the brain that is getting worse. There are other health problems with his body. For example, he is now on a ventilator since he cannot breath on his own.

That bad prognosis is hospital speaking meaning dad is about to die. The doctor said he is the patient in the worst condition in the whole ICU. I drove my brother home from the hospital. We plan to see him tomorrow evening. They would normally sent him for daily CAT scans to see the trend of the blood in the brain. But his condition may be too unstable to even wheel him out for the scan.

Dad lived a long life. When we were in high school, he had a heart attack that required open heart surgery. That event changed the way he lived. More exercise and better eating allowed him to live another 30+ year from the heart attack.

When mom passed away last year, I spent about a year "working from home". That meant I would work out of dad's basement. It gave us a lot of time to talk while he was not sleeping, exercising, or shopping. I heard dad recount many of his favorite stories from his life. These were not necessarily new ones for me. Just with a bit more detail.

In her last days, my mom wanted me to be happy with Momoko. She wished that my brother get married and maybe have some kids. And she wanted me to get closer to my dad and really talk with him. I think I succeeded in fulfilling two of her wishes. My brother will have to work on the third.

Off My Game

I woke up this morning. Wanted to wear my Dockers pants to work. I could not find them. That was very strange. Maybe I ruined them and threw them out. But I would have remembered that. I guess you could say I was a bit hazy.

At work I decided to use a coupon at lunch. Got a great deal at Burger King. I drove back to the office. Had to remember to bring my drink into the office. I tried to put my car keys in my pants pocket while in the car. Oops. My company badge was in my keys pocket. Oh well.

I wrapped up a lot of odds and ends at work in the afternoon. Planned to drop by my college since I am going to go back for the spring semester next year. As I prepared to leave the building, I could not find my keys. Doh!

Called Little Kat. Gave him my work address. Told him where my spare car keys were at home. Had him stand by as I went out to my car. Yup. The keys were inside a locked car. Called Little Kat back. He recommended I just call AAA. Way to not save the day Little Kat.

Waited for a half hour. The AAA guy came. He had some neat tools to pry my door open at the top. Then he stuck a long took in and manually unlocked my door. It was not that late. I headed to my college.

Whoa. They turned my favorite parking lot into the site for a new building. Got my student ID and parking pass for next semester. I was motivated because I am going to meet a buddy from my last class at the college next week. It will be good to have a parking pass.

Got to remember to not lock my keys in the car. It is a lot easier if you have power locks. That way you need the FOB to lock the doors. My locks are manually. So I manually lock them, allowing the possibility of the keys to still be inside.