Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Range Anxiety is Easing

    This is part of a series that covers my experience with a Tesla Model Y.

    One of the things that bothered me for a long time about electric cars is range anxiety. Maybe because I’ve almost run out of gas many times, or because I sometimes have a few days with lots of driving. In any case, I often worried that I’d run out of charge. I used to feel that way about my phone, though I have gotten used to running low on power at times.

    The same thing has happened in the Model Y. It’s almost two months, and I’ll do a mini review next week on how I feel, but for now, I’ve come to grips with the fact that I don’t worry about range in my daily life anymore.

    When I picked up the car, it was set to charge to 90%. I wrote about the charging experience, and have since gotten even more relaxed. The car has a scheduled charge set (another blog coming), and when I plug it in, by 7am the next day it gets to 83% charge.

    Often I drive it and the charge only goes down to the low 70s or high 60s on many days. On those days, I sometimes don’t bother to plug it in again. I often don’t have plans that will require a lot more than my normal 20-50 miles, so I just let the car sit.

    On the second (or third) day, I will be driving around and see the charge drop to 50%, sometimes even into the low 40s. Surprisingly this is more of a cue I need to plug in the charger that night rather than worry if I’ll be able to get home.

    So far, no long trips. This week I’ve started to drive more, as coaching has started, so we’ll see how that changes my attitude, and if this continues in the winter. Already I’m starting to use the seat heaters, so I’m definitely consuming more power.

  • Daily Coping 5 Nov 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 time to reflect on what you accomplished this week.

    I’m writing about last week because if I delay this until Friday morning, or Thur afternoon, I’ll forget to do it. So, Oct 25-Oct 31.

    It was a busy week. Really the last stressful week with a bunch of deadlines for the next month, at least, I hope that’s the case. Here’s a list of things that happened last week:

    • Record a presentation
    • Review another presentation that was recorded in a group with comments for the editor
    • Schedule a bunch of social media stuff
    • Deliver a sales presentation on our products
    • Organize a few things I want to read through for learning (the actual learning is for next week)
    • Rehearse a presentation
    • Deliver a live presentation (SQL Saturday Orlando 2021)
    • Get on a plane, have a few dinners and breakfast with friends, and fly home. Actually got some work done on a plane.
    • Write (or really, finish) 5 editorials.
    • Watch a marketing presentation and give feedback (I didn’t expect this to be interesting)
    • Renewed my driver’s license
    • Watched a few kids I coached last year at their last high school game
    • Hold a first practice with kids starting their new season with me
    • Get to yoga 3 times, lift twice, ride the elliptical once and walk once
    • Cook 5 dinners for the family
    • Cut some grass, and cut down a tree that I’ve been meaning to clear all summer
    • Learn part of a new song on guitar

    I know I did more little stuff, but this came to mind.

  • Daily Coping 4 Nov 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 sign up for a new course, activity, or community.

    Not everything is work, and I am a member of plenty of work related things. I actually started looking at a new course for some work tasks.

    However, I also want to engage in other ways throughout the rest of my life. This wasn’t today, but I signed up with a coaching group a few months back. It was a chance to grow my knowledge, skills, and thoughts about how I interact with kids and work with them.

    As with a lot of groups, it’s been up and down. Lots of whining from people, and lots of complaints about things. Plenty of irrelevant chats, from my perspective. I don’t work with high school, so those aren’t applicable to me.

    However, I’ve gone from a lurker, trying to learn from others, to a participant, offering my thoughts or observations from my experience. While it hasn’t been that long for me, I have been coaching for about 6 years in this way, so I’ve learned a few things.

    It’s been an interesting addition to my life. I don’t spend a lot of time there, and not very regularly, but I am glad I made the effort.

  • Live Learning at the SQL Server and Azure SQL Conference–Dec 2021

    It’s been a long two years for most of us, with little or no training budget being spent on us at conferences. Online events are convenient and accessible, but they aren’t the same. I know I learn better when I’m in a room with others, watching something live.

    If your company has a budget and you feel safe attending an event, come join me in December at the SQL Server and Azure SQL Conference in Las Vegas. Use the “SQLSERVERCENTRAL” discount code and save a bit more.

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    Everyone needs to be vaccinated or have a negative test. The conference is following guidance from the venue and city, which requires masks at this time. However, I coached all last year while wearing masks. Any inconvenience was worth the chance to be around others.

    There’s a great promo showcasing some of the speakers. This is a great chance to learn from some of the most talented professionals from Microsoft at the event.