Nature and the Railways had a different plan.
A few inches of snow paralyzed the system. My train didn't even start from Budapest. After a chaotic day of transfers, missing locomotives, and 5 hours of standing in the cold, I arrived at 3 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. I was on the verge of giving up. I could already see the "Fail" result—not because of my knowledge, but because of the logistics nightmare.
The Turning Point
By 5 p.m., my brain was fried. Instead of forcing the books, I made a "radical" decision: I went to the Bratislava Christmas market. The lights and a glass of mulled wine did what no textbook could—they cleared my head. I spent the evening listening to a Slovak band called Helenine Oči instead of cramming. I put the books aside and went to bed.
The Result
I woke up strangely calm. I had exhausted my "anxiety quota" on the train. During the test, I was in the "Zone." 145 minutes of pure flow.
Result: PASSED.
The Lesson: Don't let "Logistics Stress" consume your "Audit Logic." A tired brain cannot pass an exam that requires sharp logic. Sometimes, mental rest is worth more than 100 extra practice questions.
I forgot this lesson for a long time—until a "timeout" changed everything. Read in the next part …
