SQL: The Sequel

Two years ago, just after I started my current job, I was taking two courses at the local community college. The online course in SQL was pretty decent, but I hadn't gotten around to taking the followup course, PL/SQL, what with skipping a semester, taking the two VB.NET courses, and not wanting more than one course a semester after that first double-header.

So this fall I waffled about taking a course until the very last day to add, and naturally that meant that my first, second, and third choices were all closed. But then there was PL/SQL. It wasn't a strictly online section, rather what they call a hybrid course with some classroom meetings and some online resources. But it was at the VB campus, taught by the same instructor as the SQL course I took, and only met every other week. More important, it was still open. So I clicked my way through registration, ponied up the $300+ in tuition and fees, and the next evening stopped by the bookstore and increased the balance on my long-suffering credit card by another 75 bucks or so before heading to the first class.

It's actually not been too bad with classes only every other week. The instructor is the only one I've had here who seems to actually know what she's doing, and is a real stitch in class, albeit a bit quirky: she tends to refer to the software as "he" (as in, "When you call the procedure, he plugs the parameters into the variables..."), and is apparently convinced that Boolean is pronounced "Bo-leen". But I guess as long as she knows what Boolean means, I don't really care what she calls it.

Got back the first exam last night. Though it was nominally a 100-point exam, it actually added up to 105, so a little bonus was available, plus she threw in a few extra points when someone did a bit more on a problem than she was expecting. I got 3 of those extra points but then managed to blow one problem (brain fart more than anything else) and lost 7 out of 12 on that. Astute readers will deduce that I ended up with 101. Not bad considering that so far I've gotten full points on the first 5 homework assignments, too.

I might even take another course from her in the spring. Unfortunately it will meet every week, but I can probably stand that if it's the only course I'm taking.