Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • The Effectiveness of Solar Estimation

    We added a solar system to the ranch as a way to hedge against future costs as well as require less energy from the utility. I don’t plan to, or think, that everyone can get away from using utility power, but this is a way to control our finances for the future better, as well as reduce the load on the utility.

    When we designed the system, the company (Namaste) provided us with production estimates for each month of the year. I wrote about this in a database design post, but I wanted to update how things are going.

    The estimate for May and June were:

    • May – 1556.81kWh
    • June – 1779.63kWh

    Pretty specific, but based on our house, the system, and weather patterns, this is what they came up with. I have a real time tracking system, which I back up in my database, so I can keep a running total.

    For May, we had unusually dry, hot weather. Not good for the land or ranch, but good for power. We ended up producing 1830.28kWh. This was a surplus of 273kWh, or 5.4 extra days of power.

    June is still going, but as of the 20th, we had produced 1263kWh compared with a running total estimate of 1186kWh. It was interesting because the first half of June was mostly negative with some cloudy (and a little rainy) weather. Since the 12th,however, we’ve been on a sunny streak and have been building a surplus.

    I don’t know what this means for costs this year as we are supposed to have a surplus of power in the May-October time period and then draw more in the winter months. However, our power bills have been near the minimum charge for a connection to the utility. So far, I think we’ve made a good financial investment, but time will tell. I’ll continue tracking and hopefully continue to see positive results.

  • Daily Coping 24 Jun 2022

    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 get outside and find joy in being active.

    My ankle is doing better. I managed to go this whole week without a cane for assistance, including a work trip to Austin.

    I took advantage of this to walk alongside the Colorado River in Austin. enjoying the cool(er) evening air. Since I’ve been limited in my mobility, this was a great chance to enjoy the outdoors in a very neat place, watching people enjoying the city life and the river.

  • Daily Coping 23 Jun 2022

    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 look for something good in a difficult situation.

    I had ankle surgery a few weeks back. Actually, it’s almost a month and things are going well. However, the first two weeks I was in a boot and supposed to avoid weight bearing where possible. The next week was beginning rehab, but still being careful how much I used the joint.

    In that time, I had to travel to Germany, camped in Nebraska, and flew to Austin. Across those trips, I had to maneuver with a cane and wheelchair, navigate planes, steps, ferries, trains, carry bags, and more. It was certainly difficult at times. My ankle ached, My right arm and wrist were sore from using the cane to support myself, and I was slow. I couldn’t do things that I normally do, or if I could, I moved at half speed.

    Still, I got to go to Germany and speak at a conference. I got to go camping with my family and enjoy a beautiful view of nature. I got to go to Austin, speak at an event, meet people, and see my cousin.

    I had a lot of good, even if it was difficult.

  • A Big Year on the Road

    Someone asked me recently about my travels this year, and I listed out the trips I’ve taken. So far, I’ve been to these airports on trips away from home:

    • LHR
    • SYR
    • LAS
    • ORD
    • RNO
    • LAX
    • JAX
    • LHR
    • BRU
    • AMS
    • AUS
    • AUS (2nd trip)

    Today I’m in Austin for for the second week in a row, this time visiting the Redgate office space.

    Still to come this year, that I know of, are these:

    • EWR
    • SEA
    • LAX
    • HNL
    • LHR
    • SYR
    • YYC
    • MCO
    • MCI
    • SEA

    There are a couple other possibilities,. including 1 or 2 more LHR trips. I’ll also likely get another LAX and AUS trip in somewhere to visit Redgate offices.

    I don’t know if this will be the biggest year of travel for me. In 2019, I flew 144k miles in the air. My current total from this query of data I keep:

    SELECT top 10
      YEAR(u.Transaction_Date) AS FlightYear
      , SUM(u.PQM)
      , SUM(u.miles)
      FROM dbo.United AS u
      WHERE u.Activity_Type = 'Airline'
      GROUP BY YEAR (u.Transaction_Date)

    is 118k, but this is with a lot of bonus miles. I’ll need to parse out some of the bonus stuff to figure out how much I fly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up with around 100k miles this year.

    Unfortunately, the downloads from the airlines don’t separate out bonus miles, so I think I need a little data modeling adjustment to figure out my trips.

    With things reopening, this feels like a big year, and I am looking forward to all of these trips.