Top-ups.
Alt: On the Down Low
I've done a few 1-5 day training courses for different organisations that I've worked for, each gaining some form of accreditation/qualification.

What I can't stand is having to go back every 1-3 years to do a (usually) 1 day "refresher" course.
That covers a condensed version of the exact same course that I already have a certificate for.

Now granted some of the courses have new info eg. as an OSH rep. I'm supposed to do 1 every year to "stay up to date with changes in regs. & legislation.", despite the fact that one of my responsibility's as OSH rep. is to ensure that I am aware and up to date with all changes in the regulations. Including the pile of journals and spammy emails I get all the fucking time.
But hey you've done 1 fire-safety course you've done most of them. If you can't remember what class of extinguisher to use then I've got a fire on the electrical board that needs putting out. Here use this metal cylinder containing water. You'll be right. Make sure you get your hands good & wet to protect from the heat and best take your rubber-soled safety boots off first.

But it's the rehashing of courses I've already done and qualified for that shits me. I'm not a little Ritalin-addled, gum-chewing, shell-suit wearing monkey with the attention-span of a Japanese tourist on a coach tour whose memory doesn't go beyond how I tied my shoelaces this morning. My memory retention (despite my best efforts by using excessive amounts of alcohol) is actually fairly good. Thus I really don't need my cache to be flushed and the data to be re-entered in a compressed form thank you very much.

EDIT: I have asked in the past if I can just do the test to "re-qualify" (right there - WTF!! Why should I have to re-qualify for something I've already been accredited to do?), but nooooo that would mean I haven't just wasted 8 hrs. in a stuffy room being told the same shit that I learnt 18 odd months ago. Probably by the same instructor at the same bloody place no less!
Starting to think that Hammy1801 is on the right track (minus the disco-biscuit damage) and I should do a train the trainers course then convince everyone that they need to do top-up courses every 2 mths. at double the cost for half the time...
Ohh, btw you know that PhD you just completed - we'll re-evaluate it in 12 mths.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Mon 19 Mar 2012, 1:01, 4 replies)

Any hope in salvaging the time?
I've tried to use the opportunity to ...
--network,
--update the holiday card and shopping lists,
--edit some S.O.P. Manual or other,
--catch up on reading random regs (or novels, whatever),
--take urgent calls outside the room ("oh, hi Mum!"),
when I've exhausted my efforts to enjoy the rejuvenating effect of a day-away-from-the-office,
I do tend to get myself into trouble.
( kila is reading clocks upside-down as usual, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 7:30, closed)

--usually the same chumps you had to do it with last time.
--unless you're going old skool with a pen & paper - at least that looks like you're taking notes, right? Then most trainers worth their salt ask you to turn your phones/pads/notebooks/whatever off.
--see above.
--see above.
--unless you are on-call (& usually they will know) - no dice.
I missed the reading bit.
--hey if you find reading manuals interesting then we are both in the wrong job.
However - www.b3ta.com/questions/trainingcourses/post1563879
Jesus, I've been trained by some smart bastards!
However. "I'm on call" maybe the new cop-out.
Now I just have to find an "emergency gardening situation"
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Mon 19 Mar 2012, 7:54, closed)

Not everyone is blessed with such an impressive memory
Personally I have the memory of a concussed goldfish at a weed smoking festival run by the French Foreign Legion.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 9:28, closed)

Well the French
Have to have a foreign legion. Because French men have proved in the past how good they are at fighting wars.
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 9:56, closed)