Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Daily Coping 1 Jun 2021

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral 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. 

    Today’s tip is to find a new album to listen to today.

    The last few weeks, I’ve been in the car a fair amount moving around, and had different radio programs and podcasts on. Recently I listened to Paul McCartney on Smartless. they chatted about his new album, McCartney III Imagined, a bit, and I decided to give it a try.

    I am a big fan of the Beatles, and I’ve learned a number of their songs on guitar. However, I haven’t followed Sir Paul much since the group disbanded. I somewhat liked the songs, but it’s quite a change from the Beatles, or even Wings. It was a welcome distraction from a more regular routine, something I’ve appreciated during the last year.

  • A Computer on Wheels

    I enjoy cars, and I’ve owned a lot in my life. In fact, I resurrected my list and I count 30 for my wife and I, with 1 motorcycle, 2 ATVs, 2 UTVs, and a tractor. Likely a new tractor or skid steer coming in the next few years as this one is 14 years old. I was hoping for a different car this year, but with two kids needing help, I’m going to have to delay my gratification for another year or so.

    For years, Glenn Berry has been trying to get me to look at a Tesla. He’s owned a few and has driven me around. I’ve never been thrilled with them from a design perspective, though they are quick. Recently I ran across this video (5 Features that didn’t exist when I purchased my Tesla model 3), and for some reason I watched it. It caught my eye (especially dog mode) in that Tesla is doing DevOps with their cars, introducing new features in a way that evolves the car into something new.

    Since then I’ve watched a few other videos, and the Model Y is intriguing. It’s got more range than the cars originally did and it’s not a crazy price. It’s expensive, and more than I want to spend, but it’s tempting because it’s a computer.

    The way that DevOps is changing software is moving beyond tech companies. As I study more about how some companies are building better software quicker, I see that this is finding its way into more and more types of industries. From finance to medicine to manufacturing to shipping to anything, there is tremendous investment in software developers and computing technology to transform industries.

    More and more we are going to depend on software, which means that quality, security, and more are going to become more important. They already are becoming issues, as different companies are realizing just how costly it can be to remediate software bugs for their customers.

    I don’t know if I’ll get a Tesla, but it’s on my mind. If I do, I’ll ping Glenn for a referral code, and then likely be reminded forever that he introduced me to the car.

    Steve Jones

    Update: My wife and I went to test drive a Y. She loved it and actually decided to sell her current, 1yr old car and use that money for a Model Y. So I’m getting a Tesla. Or half of one.

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

  • Daily Coping 31 May 2021

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral 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. 

    Today’s tip is to take a moment and think about what about your life changed the most in the last year and the impact on your life.

    I think the biggest thing for me was traveling. Between work and personal life, I made a lot of trips to various places around the world every year. While that can be stressful with a busy life, it’s also exciting to see new places in the world, or return to familiar ones.

    Between not going places and being stuck in this office for over a year, without much variation, that both gave me more time with family, but it reduced my excitement, enjoyment, and embracing of work. I’ve struggled to enjoy work this past year, and there have been more days than I’d like where I’m not productive at all. Either I’m sitting here getting very little done, or I’ve walked away and been upset with myself for not working.

    Trying coping tips has helped, as has some perspective resets, where I realize just how wonderful my life is on a daily basis. I’ve come to terms with this, with hope for the future, but I’m also still adjusting to how I focus on helping Redgate and the community move forward in a new world.

  • The PASS Data Community Summit Call for Speakers

    The other day I saw something that I wasn’t sure I’ve ever see again. The call for speakers for the PASS Data Community Summit went out. After the dissolution of the PASS organization, I wasn’t sure this conference would ever appear again, but it is happening.

    Redgate is running this as a community summit, and we’ve engaged a number of people that helped put things together in the past to help again. It’s a free event this year, like many large conferences, and that means your sessions could be seen by hundreds or thousands of people.

    If you have ever spoken, or want to try, submit. There are less rules and restrictions. The program committee is headed by Grant, Kathi, and Marcella, all of whom have worked on the program in the past. They have lots of volunteers to evaluate the talks and put together a great schedule, but they are looking for alternative points of view or unique solutions.

    They’re also looking for back to basics, which is something many of us could talk about. Likely many of us do every day at work.

    I’ll submit something, and I hope you will as well.