Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Daily Coping 26 Oct 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 share a hopeful quote with a friend or colleague.

    I’m not sending this to anyone in particular, but sharing more widely here. I love flipping through quotes and usually send them to others on their Facebook birthday. Today, I want to share one that caught my eye and is a variation of others that I believe in:

    Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. – Nido Qubein

    Things don’t always go our way, and sometimes the way forward from here feels overwhelming and tough. We can lament where we are, rather than looking forward and trying to figure out where we want to go.

    I often see this in software. We can get caught up in how we got here, or the problems of today, rather than looking forward for future solutions.

    Don’t be bound or defined by today. It’s one of the thousands of steps on a journey.

  • Daily Coping 25 Oct 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 recognize that you have a choice about what to prioritize.

    This seems like an obvious tip, but I see myself, and most others, often not prioritizing work. We tend to work on a FIFO method, first in first out, or within the squeeky-wheel methodology where the loudest voice wins.

    I am guilty of this at times, though I certainly get caught up in working on the thing that is due soonest, letting deadlines drive my workflow.

    At times I do find better ways to work, and occasionally I remember that I can set priorities. A couple weeks ago I was slammed, running from thing to thing (literally as I was in the Redgate office), and letting others dictate my schedule.

    This week I aim to do better. I have things due today, some tomorrow, some Wednesday. Then things open up a bit from a deadline perspective. However, I know that there are some items I can do today, which will relieve some pressure. I’ll prioritize a recording today, then a review of something for tomorrow. Those should eat up half of today. From there, my plan is to focus on the question of the day for a few hours. I need to build up a queue, and I know that tight focus time here will likely get me a couple weeks of questions, which reduces lots of stress.

    I’ll worry about Wednesday tomorrow or Wednesday.

  • A New Form of Address: Mx

    When I was presenting at the dataMinds Connect conference, I called on someone in the audience. At the time, I called on someone raising their hand and said something like, “yes, miss.”.

    I got dinged in feedback for assuming someone is a he or she.

    At first I wasn’t sure how to take this, but like much of life, I decided to try and learn something. I set aside my feelings and started to look at how I’d address the individual in the future.

    I should have asked then, but I didn’t think about it. I keep my “he/him” pronouns on my bio slide, and I’m happy to refer to someone as he, she, or they, as they prefer. It’s a simple thing and I look for the forms of address in other people’s slides and signatures.

    However, I’ve grown up with sir, madam, miss, and other forms of addressing someone I don’t know well. I’ve always considered is polite to say sir or miss.

    That’s not good enough for the current world and I learned there is a title: Mx. According to a few sources, this is pronounced mooks, as rhyming with books.

    Something new for me to think about as I call on people. Certainly I should ask, though asking everyone seems like overkill. Certainly, however, if I’m not sure, I ought to ask.

  • Daily Coping 22 Oct 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 reflect on what you accomplished this week.

    I’m going back a week, mostly because this is a busy week and I don’t know I’ll get to get organized in my thoughts on Thursday.

    Last week, 11 Oct-17 Oct, I was doing a lot. The first part of the week was in Belgium at the first live work conference in nearly two years for me. It was great. I met people, chatted about all sorts of things from how the event ran to what some people did in their jobs. I delivered a presentation, networked with speakers and attendees, and got to enjoy some amazing Belgian beer.

    I was back in Cambridge, UK on Wednesday, where I went to the office and had a few meetings. A hectic day, especially as I was trying to prep for work Thur. A great dinner with a friend as well, but a late night. That’s 3 in a row.

    Thursday was recording a series of interviews for the PASS keynote. This was surprisingly difficult to do, helping the people focus and answer questions, sit in a not-very-comfortable chair all day, take after take. 8 hours of recording and then a team dinner. I fell into bed at 8.

    Friday was also hectic, a few meetings, trying to get the final face time with people before leaving.

    Saturday was travel, so I didn’t do much, but I did read a few books on the trip. Total for the pandemic limited 2021, 97 so far.

    Sunday I got back to yoga class, cut some grass, and coached some volleyball.

    It was a lot of stuff, a bit too much, as I ended up getting run down, feeling as though I’m fighting a cold after too little sleep and too long days. I used to handle busy weeks like this better in the past, but I’m getting older. I need to learn to slow down a bit, which is my big reflection.