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Tomorrow I sit for the first CMA exam. I have been studying for the past several days, taking practice tests, reviewing various textbook sections, and memorizing formulas. Yesterday I did a full 4-hour exam simulation without taking a break, and it’s reassuring I can at least sit for that long. I was able to get through everything with a little time to spare, so if I really need a quick bathroom...

I’m continuing to focus on studying for my first CMA exam next Thursday. I’ve skimmed over the textbooks, created flash cards, and reviewed formulas. Today I did a practice test on some of the multiple choice questions and hit the 86% target in my first attempt, in just a little over an hour, which is very encouraging. I still need to practice some essay questions and then do a full...

The weather continues to be moody — throughout the day there are periods of sunshine, rain and even hailstorms. The forecast for the next few nights calls for low temperatures around freezing or slightly below. Even for Ireland, this weather seems late in the season. Yesterday, I took a bus to an An Post collection point in the East Wall neighbourhood to pick up a package; the postal...

It has been a mostly uneventful past few days. I’m continuing to focus on my CMA studies and submit a few job applications here and there. Today I just finished the last lesson in part one of my CMA study programme. That leaves me a full week plus a few days for a final review before the first exam. Memorizing all the formulas is going to be the biggest challenge. The weather has been...

Yesterday was uneventful, other than getting out for a walk in the afternoon to the Blessington Street Basin park while listening to some podcasts. The weather has been chilly, in the 40s F / high single digits C, but been dryer than expected… I still haven’t used an umbrella since my arrival. This morning I have my interview over Zoom with Outhouse, Dublin’s LGBT centre. One...

Today would have been my dad’s 90th birthday. I visited him in Greeley, Colorado in 2011 on his 80th birthday, and then a few weeks later he ended up in the hospital with severe pneumonia. I flew out to Colorado again and was at his bedside when he passed away. Despite living with multiple sclerosis for the last 30 years of his life and having other health issues (including a heart...

It’s been a productive day. I apply to a few more jobs on my to-do list, including one at the University College Dublin (UCD) National Virus Reference Laboratory — this is a different UCD position than the one for which I’ve already been invited to interview on May 4. I also start reviewing the lessons in the final section of my CMA study programme. After staring at my laptop for a few hours, I...

It’s been beautiful weather over the last few days. There hasn’t been much exciting to warrant daily posts, so I’ll catch up from the most recent day and work backwards. Today (Sunday), I meet up with my friend CJ to take a day trip up the coast to the town of Malahide, which I had driven past back in December when I was getting my first COVID test at the Dublin airport. For this...

It’s been an uneventful past couple of days, so I’ve skipped daily posts. I’m continuing to focus more time on studying for my first CMA exam that’s just three weeks away, and today I finished the next-to-last section on the topic of internal controls — I passed the test exam questions on my first try.  Today I also had a brief 30-min interview with Climate2025.org...

I haven’t posted in a few days… I’ve been intentionally focusing on my CMA study program since I only have three weeks before my first exam. As a result, I’ve stayed in and haven’t had much to write about… I assume no one really wants to here about absorption costing, variable manufacturing overhead, or the weighted average value method for valuing work-in-process inventories. In...