Feels like forever since my last post…in fact it has been just under 6 months or roughly 4272 testing learning hours…but who’s counting?!
I want to write a 2 part blog post – I’ve recently taken the Rapid Software Testing (RST) course with Michael Bolton and I would like to give my unique take on this course to do it justice because it was epic, I will be writing this post next week. I need time to think about all the awesome, amazing and weirdly surreal things that happened in those 3 days in Brighton but first I wanted to do a kinda catch up in Part 1.
I started this blog with the intention of documenting my journey as a software tester, I fear I have failed in that sense as it’s been bloody ages since I last wrote anything!! Not completely my fault I might add but granted I must take some of the blame but I have basically been on a non-testing job since my last post and I have had to shift the main bulk of my learning and research time onto this new project I was sent on and that I’m still on as I type this out! I like to be of value to someone where ever I am working, the only way I know how to do this is but fully immersing myself in that role. The current job is a couple of hours from pad, so I commute back and forth from my home to the customer’s site most days….I swear it’s like wacky races most mornings with drivers risking their lives overtaking trackers, lorries, bikes, horses etc. around blind bends on English country roads….personally I have no reason to risk my lovely life to get to the office a few minutes earlier than I normally would but I guess these crazy mental folks get a better parking space or something.
As well as doing my non-testing job I’m using all of my spare time learning to be a tester, It’s my life and my passion and what I aspire to be – so I have been using my traveling time in the car listening to podcasts and my lunchtimes reading the books I have downloaded on my phone just to still keep up the testing journey – Currently I’m flicking between two books, Rob Lambert’s “Remaining Relevant and employable in a changing world” and Jerry Weinberg’s “Perfect Software and other illusions about testing” – Both of these are great reads, Rob’s book is perfect for newbie testers and the tips contained within are helping me heaps and have set me on a right course to achieving my goals!! Of course the Software Testing Club (One of the only sites I can access at work – Bloody defence companies) and Twitter (On my phone) remain staples of my testing diet!! If you’re a tester and you’re not on either of these….Why?! Sort it out!
I’m about to go away for a week on a much needed holiday and of course I’ll be taking some more splendid reading material with me, I have “Explore it!” by Elisabeth Hendrickson – I would take me phone to continue the books I have started but it’s a beachy/poolside break and I just don’t trust myself that close to the water – I had a minor bath related incident…I won’t go in to that one further.
That’s enough for now…I assure you the RST post will be far more interesting than this one but I just had to get back on the horse again after so long. This is a minor speed bump in my journey and normal service will be resumed after my Portuguese break.
See you very soon…
Danny Dainton 