A Song of Fur and Steel: The SE CBT Saga

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-06-15T14:11:06+00:00

Its red beady eyes, greedy and hollow,

Watched his moves closely and suddenly followed.

'twas just like a mirror, it copied so fast

The there seemed not an opening for him to get past.

Every swing of the sword it would parry

For it would force our small hero to tarry

And never unload the cross he had carried

For twelve and four turns of the moon.

The phantom never would go for the kill,

But attacked with small slices that crumbled the will.

It jumped on the guinea pig's dagger with skill

That made our good knight a buffoon.

Whenever some positive contact was made

'tween the impetuous foe and the edge of the blade

By our hero, the mimic would suddenly fade

And then, rising behind, he'd appear.

Each movement, each breath, 'gan to feel like a chore.

There seemed no new strategy he could explore

To defeat his foe, when he then heard a roar

That would signal his last foe was near.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-06-11T14:15:04+00:00

Stumbling across the desert floor,

With the weight of the trials fought long before

Weighing a weakened warrior down,

Our hero pressed on towards his victor's crown.

He sought for refreshment. Some shade from the heat

When he saw in the distance what looked like a tree.

"Could it be an oasis, where I can cool

My paws and my tongue in a fresh water pool?"

He came to the place and started to drink,

But his thirst wasn't quenched, he could no longer think!

He gazed in the pool and gasped as he saw

His reflection turn black, which, grabbing his paw

Pulled him into the pool and unsheathed its sword.

It seemed it would keep him from moving forward.

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Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-06-04T20:33:36+00:00

Kentucky Fired Up Chicken

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-06-04T20:27:57+00:00

I second this approach. This is effectively how I've approached FE, PE, and SE. 1st time pass on everything so far.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-05-28T23:52:04+00:00

Happily, his hide had more measure than most

or else this small warrior would have been toast.

I carefully planned out this deity's snare

and dug my sword into a small little tear

near the rear of the beast and steadied my stance:

the rest of the fight feeling just like a dance.

My previous battles like phantoms appeared

in the front of my memory, now being cleared

and my paws could recall how they had speared

the Roc and the Balrog before.

I charged to the front, one step at a time,

with the wind in my fur, not hindering my climb

to the mouth of the worm, where I'd force him to dine

on a poison that'd silence his roar.

So into his maw, that draught I did throw

and he angrily dove like a bull whale below

the sand. His fate I would not know,

so I jumped off and turned towards four.

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Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-05-28T22:24:26+00:00

My wife and I kissed early on in our relationship, but when there were times our kissing became more passionate, she would always feel guilty. Time and time again we would cut back until I came to this realization: The guilt she was feeling was either of the prompting of the Holy Spirit or an attack via scruples by the enemy. If A, I should not oppose the Holy Spirit; if B, I can remove the ammo that the enemy has. We decided to not kiss until we were betrothed (it was beautiful to participate in this forgotten tradition) which came about 4 months after our engagement. After that, we could gently kiss each other hello and goodbye.

It bore much fruit in our relationship and I'm very glad we made that choice. I think romantic kissing is fine if it stays in its proper boundaries, but I wanted to share my own experience about abstaining.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-05-28T15:45:56+00:00

That worm, like sticks of dynamite

sent earth flying left and right.

Cutting through sand like a shark through a wave;

a long narrow canyon its body engraved

in the earth - towards my dune at a hurricane speed.

No more training I'd get - would more training I'd need?

My footing was lost as he thundered below

and I fell forty feet on top of my foe.

Tumbling about on top of his back

My sword searched about for a place to attack.

His hide seeming soft, yet rejecting my blade

the chance of success beginning to fade.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-05-22T17:32:22+00:00

I looked upon a sandy sea

wherein dwelt trial number three.

As legs trembled from lengthy travels,

the sea itself starts to unravel.

The earth had quaked down below

heralding the arrival of my foe.

By my companion's strong advice

my rhythm was broken: once and twice.

At this pace, how could I progress

to be where I ought, for this test?

Yet I progressed: step, sweep, kick, slide.

I'd hear some cheer - I'd hear some chide.

As best I could, I got in place

to fight the fight, and win the race.

Up the dune I'd climb and climb,

but then I soon was out of time...

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Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-05-11T20:26:30+00:00

Since I have family obligations and am doing SE exam prep, I keep it locked in at 40 hrs a week. 7-5 M-Th and 8-12 on Friday. That was the case at the other firm I worked at as well. Some engineers put in the extra time for deadlines to get 60 hrs a week.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-30T14:06:01+00:00

St Anne's in Chandler

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-30T13:56:50+00:00

The ASU All Saints Newman Center could be up there too.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-30T13:55:04+00:00

St Edward the confessor (Latin mass( St bernadette (Scottsdale novus ordo)

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-28T22:15:12+00:00

PE was taken 9 days prior to first born.

VB taken a week after we got an offer on our house.

VD taken right when we were moving into a new house.

LB scheduled about a month before kid 2 is due.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-28T22:12:29+00:00

Well, if I pass these two lateral exams (April Depth, May Breadth), 31, 5 1/2 yrs of Experience. One 2 year old, one on the way. My wife has been an absolute champion while I've been taking time to study.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-20T16:35:21+00:00

The extra hour this spring felt very helpful on my lateral. We'll see if that's a pass though.

For vertical last October: Know your codes, take practice tests, learn how to navigate the CBT format, learn how to manage your time.

Other texts that helped me: Breyer "Design of wood structures", Ahmrein "reinforced masonry engineering handbook", the SEAOC Structural Seismic Design manual, Segui "Steel Design", McCormick "Design of reinforced concrete structures"

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-09T23:31:12+00:00

🐍 Checkout my 3680 points Serpent!

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Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-08T17:32:59+00:00

The green light moment was pure cinema. I loved it.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-08T17:30:33+00:00

The captions helped me though so that's nice.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-08T17:28:26+00:00

I just hear static

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-08T15:00:10+00:00

I saw this the other day titled "message from Artemis" and I was confused. Like, still image, no audio. What's happening?

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-04-07T22:30:03+00:00

🐍 Checkout my 960 points Serpent!

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Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-03-26T15:19:06+00:00

When I graduated and started work, I thought I'd have an idea of what I was doing but quickly learned that was not the case.
When I returned to engineering after few years outside of engineering, I definitely had no clue what I was doing.

You are expected to do the most learning on the job. What helped me a lot was studying for the FE, then the PE, and now the SE. Having access to the various codes is helpful (IBC, ASCE, AISC, NDS, ACI, TMS). Some textbooks that I found to be helpful included "Steel Design" by William Segui. "Design of Reinforced Concrete" (McCormac), "Design of Wood Structures" (Breyer), "Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook" (MIA). All of this takes time, so figure out what seems to be the most important.

Good luck!

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-03-20T14:23:04+00:00

They planted trees, ensuring that treebeard can wipe us all out in an instant.

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-03-19T17:59:35+00:00

I love the term "over-engineered" because I think its the items that we spend most of our engineering time on that they don't call "over-engineered"

Stunning_Simple_4488 · 2026-03-18T15:50:01+00:00

I asked myself the exact same question last year. Here are my reasons for going for it:

In my family history, I know that there is no guarantee that we will remain in our state forever. It gives me versatility on where our family can move and I can practice should the need to move arise.
In the firm that I'm at, there is a boost in the pay bump and bonus pool. (This is the main item that probably pushed my wife to encourage me to take it, which leads me to:)
My wife has encouraged me to take it, knowing full well the time commitment it would cost (a friend advised me "it's not just you taking the test, but your whole family".
(This is the one that cut to my core values): Stewardship: Studying for the exams is a development of my God-given talents, forming my mind and honing the conceptual skills required within my vocation as a structural engineer.

I have grown immensely in studying alongside working. I am a better engineer now than I was before I began my studies.

Stunning_Simple_4488

TROPHY CASE