Patrick is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

We are officially off the grid. I unplugged our shore power receptacle a couple of days ago in preparation for our cruise to nowhere in particular, which will last until mid August.

I parked our car at our church, where my folks will pick it up in a couple of days. As I walked back to the harbor, I caught my last glimpses of Olympia.

I was stuck with a certain uneasiness, the kind you've experienced before taking a long road trip in a worn-out car. The forecast is for sun tomorrow, with 0% chance of precipitation….. recipe for disaster?

We would have left by now, were it not for engine trouble yet again. The engine sputtered and died many times over on last week. I decided to remove the carburetor and have it professionally cleaned. It seems to run ok now, but it doesn't start as easy as it once did.

We will leave tomorrow at first light, in order to cross the Tacoma Narrows when the current is to our favor. From there, we will head up the West side of Vashon Island and hopefully reach Kingston by nightfall. Winds will be light tomorrow so we'll probably motor through the Narrows. Our goal is to reach Port Townsend by Sunday, and spend the week there.

I don't have much to say about the exam, which I took last Friday in Phoenix. The trip to Phoenix was far more interesting.

I found a ride through Craigslist to Phoenix on the night of the 30th. The plan was to review on the way there, review some more at the hotel, and do a final review in the morning. However my ride fell through on Thursday, prompting plan B – Greyhound bus.

I was completely out of my element and almost didn't make it on the bus, which was 90 minutes late. The eight hour ride was completely awful and I probably got about three hours of sleep.

Through brief fits of semi-consciousness, I remember passing through a town on the Arizona border with large Casinos lining the North side of a river, perhaps it was the Colorado. I remember one casino in particular was named the Golden Nugget. The name made me sick to my stomach.

I got to Phoenix at about 6:00 am and caught a cab to the closest Denny's to the testing center. Of course, I looked, smelled, and felt my very best. I ordered a Moons Over my Hammy, my favorite, and tried to review.

I did about 30 Wiley MCQs as a warm-up and tried to review notes but by seven, my give-a-shitter was broken and I concluded that in this state, there was little value in doing a review, so I caught a bus to the testing center. They allowed me to test early and so I ate half a banana and popped a Red Bull that I was saving for an emergency.

I'm pretty sure I didn't pass this time. I need to work on not only memorization, but the ability to recall the information when needed. Most of the material was familiar to me, but I felt like I took too many educated guesses.