OK. Small update on things here. Got a call on Monday from the potential new employer. As expected I didn't do well on the test. What they want to do is provide me with study materials and for me to take a few weeks with the book and software and come back in and take the assessment again.

Everything else seems to be in right where they want it... they just want to see higher score on the technical assessment.

Apparently they like me enough to give me a second crack at the test. I'd also get a considerable bump in pay (10-15k more then I make now), but commute is about an extra 15-20 minutes (daily commute would be about 40 minutes each way) each way, plus the work is a little more fast paced then I've been used to the last few years.

My current employer likes to do sprints from a cold start. So I could go weeks punching the clock and getting routine things done, then a huge project (that upper mgnt has been stewing on for months) suddenly "has" to get done-- yesterday-- so we go to DEFCON 1 in an instant.

Not the best of environments to work under and totally preventable-- with proper planning and project management from top down.

I just wished technical books weren't so dang dry. WOW. This one is sure to have you cured of insomnia in a New York minute.

Shannon