Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2022

    This weekend is Christmas, and likely many of you are not working hard today and will enjoy a long weekend until Tuesday. There are many other holidays at this time of year as well, and I hope you are enjoying the season with loved ones. I want to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season.

    As we come to the end of this year, it’s a good time to take stock of life. Work slows down for many of us, and it’s a time we think about family and friends. My wish is that you find yourself in a better position than last year. You are hopefully finding ways to cope and enjoy this world.

    If not, then take stock of what isn’t working well and make a plan to change things. Life is short, sometimes much shorter than we realize, so move towards something that fulfills you, brings you happiness, and lets you enjoy the most of each day.

    Enjoy the weekend and I’ll see you next week.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • A Big Year for Travel

    I do tend to travel a good amount as my kids have gotten older. The pandemic slowed things for a year, but only then. Someone remarked on this year being a lot of trips, and it has been. Not the most ever, but the most fun ever.

    I decided to look at the travel numbers for the last few years, and see how this compares. Here are my trip numbers, for both business and personal, as best as I can tell.

    • 2013- 18
    • 2014 -17
    • 2015 – 17
    • 2016 – 16
    • 2017 – 15
    • 2018 – 20
    • 2019 – 23
    • 2020 – 1 (Las Vegas for my wife’s birthday, as the pandemic was starting)
    • 2021 – 11
    • 2022 – 23

    Looking at this, 2022 ties the biggest year, but it didn’t feel as bad as 2013-2105.I don’t have exact numbers, but I know I was closer to 30 trips those years and felt more burned out.

    I think because we have some fantastic vacations (Bruge, Hawaii, Venice, Lisbon) plus 3 volleyball trips and 3 trips to see my daughter in college.

    Hopefully 2023 will turn out to be just as big and exciting with more places that we’ll visit and enjoy.

  • Daily Coping 23 Dec 2022

    Today’s coping tip is to be generous. Feed someone with food, love, or kindness today

    It’s often a family day today, as work ends and we prepare for Christmas. However, this year we invited over our volleyball team for a team building activity. We’re baking Christmas cookies and having some fun.

    I’m helping out, and I set out some snacks and appetizers while the cookies get assembled along with some small gifts for the kids.

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

  • Daily Coping 22 Dec 2022

    Today’s coping tip is to buy an extra item and donate to a local food bank.

    The food banks in my area are only open limited days, especially post pandemic. However, they often have volunteers at various stores this time of year. I’ve made it a point to get their list (usually with a photo to save paper) and go shopping.

    This week I grabbed a bunch of extra items, aiming for the items they have less of, and adding in some fun things like extra cake/cookie mix and frosting.

    Most everyone enjoys a treat this time of year.

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.