Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Thanksgiving 2020

    Today is Thanksgiving in the US. I wrote a bit yesterday about my thanks at work, but today I want to just say that I’m grateful my family is healthy and we can mostly be together. My oldest is in Spain, and we’re all thinking of him and missing him, but we’re also happy he’s on an adventure in life for the next year.

    Please remember those that are important to you today, whether it’s a holiday for you or not.

    Life is short. Appreciate the time and people you have while you can.

    Happy Thanksgiving.

  • Daily Coping 26 Nov 2020

    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.

    Today’s tip is to tell someone how you’re grateful for them in your life.

    It’s Thanksgiving, a day traditionally in the US where we give some thanks. Lots of people do this all month, picking something each day. My family does this at dinner, each of us giving a few things we’ve been thankful for this year.

    However, this is something you ought to do regularly with those in your life for whom you are grateful. Partners, kids, parents, boss, employee, etc. Remember to appreciate things, and people, in your life.

    I do try to let some people know that I an grateful, but not enough. I’d hope I remember to do this monthly, if not more often. There are a lot of people I am grateful for.

    In this case, for today, I’m remembering to tell me wife how grateful I am to have her in my life, for all the help, support, love, and joy she brings.

  • Finding Thanks

    Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US. While my family often gives thanks to each other over a big meal in the afternoon, I know plenty of people that make it a point to post about something that they are grateful for during each day of the month.

    This year we won’t be having family over. A couple local members of our extended family are worried about COVID, for good reason. Others are out of town and not looking to travel. With a situation worsening in Colorado and a request from the state to avoid mixing households, I’ll have the smallest dinner we’ve had in decades.

    This has been a challenging year for many of us, and certainly me. Despite the things that have been bothering me, I have made it a point with my coping tips to look for the good things I can find.

    Today I want to acknowledge some career things that I’m thankful for. Apart from my SQLServerCentral founding partners, I am really grateful for the closeness that I have with people at Redgate. My trips over there have netted many friends, thoughtful conversations, memorable events, and tight bonds. As I think back across the last decade, I realize just how many of them have influenced me in life across that time.

    I miss being able to visit Cambridge, but I am thankful for the times I have gone and the memories I can call on until I can go back.

    I hope you find some things that you are thankful for in your career, your job, your coworkers, or somewhere else. Take a moment and enjoy some of them today. If you don’t have enough, then start working to find a place where you can build some.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Daily Coping 25 Nov 2020

    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.

    Today’s tip is to connect with someone from a different generation.

    I used to always view a different generation as an older one. Now as I age, with more life behind me than in front, I tend to think about younger generations more.

    We did some speed networking recently at work, as a way to connect and meet other people. I ended up with people I know in two of the three sessions, but in the third, I ran into a former intern that was hired back during the pandemic.

    It was a neat 10 minute conversation, hearing some of his experiences on how things are different, his experience and impressions of working with his team inside the company.

    I enjoyed it, and it brought me back to my first job after college, and how different the experience was, both in life and at work.

    I don’t know if he enjoyed it as I did, but I really appreciated the opportunity and perspective. I hope I get to see him again, and also get to do more speed networking.