My New Title

When I first started my job, my boss asked if I would be willing to study and take a test to certify as a "permit tech." I said sure, but was slightly terrified. My co-worker kept referring to how hard she thought the test was, and how long she studied (an hour or so each night for months). Then the bottom fell out of the housing market and budgets were cut, so there was no money for classes or study guides or the test, so I was off the hook - for a while.

The building codes cycle every three years and the new code would go into effect Jan. 1, 2010, so I was encouraged to study and take the test before the new code went into effect. So I started. It was overwhelming. There were four books to study from including the Building Code book which has all the specific code requirements for everything in building - it's huge. But after help from my co-worker, study groups with other city's employees preparing to take the test and study guides to help me practice, I finally took the test on December 18th. I passed! I am now an ICC Certified Permit Technician (still don't know if I'll get a raise or not).

This certificate is not from passing my test. Each month I submit the monthly building report to several entities, one of which has a monthly newsletter with a trivia quiz (just for fun). Last month when I submitted my report, I also answered "the Big Question." The question was, "If it is dark in a certain place at midnight, what are the chances that it will be sunny in the same place 72 hours later?" A week later I got this certificate and a yo-yo in the mail - I was chosen the winner for the month from the whole country! My boss claimed the yo-yo.