I’m not really planning on getting the MCM. Perhaps I’ll change my mind, but it’s not the time for me to do it. I’m not consulting, and not planning on doing it anytime soon. If I studied enough to pass the lab, likely my skills would atrophy without some real work. At this point in my life, I don’t have the time for getting real work.

Actually, I don’t have the time for real studying, either. However MVPs have the chance to take the written exam for free, instead of $500, and I can’t really justify passing up this opportunity. I scheduled it in January, and last week started studying by downloading some of the MCM Readiness videos from SQL Skills.

I’ve been slowly starting to watch them, and I realize how much I don’t know about SQL Server as I go through them. It’s not all bad news as I also realize how much I do know in terms of general concepts and understanding of how the pieces and parts work.

I don’t expect to pass, especially after seeing that someone like Jason Strate didn’t on his first try, but this is a good chance for me to focus on a task and also to get an idea of where I stand.