Category: Blog

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 set hopeful but realistic goals for this week.

It’s a busy week here for me. After coming back from travels, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do at SQLServerCentral. I also have a number of work commitments, with other goals I’d like to accomplish this week in my life.

What I feel I need to do:

• get to the gym 4 times
• go for a hike
• get to a high school volleyball game
• spend a few hours mowing the lawn
• paint a fence post
• run the weed whacker one last time and trim around the house and empty the gas tank
• fix the string trimmer head on the weed whacker to cleanly dispense new string
• cook dinner every night
• see a movie with my wife on the weekend (first one since 2019)
• finish painting the bathroom
• catchup on laundry

Realistically, this is too much, with 2 presentations to give, a third to record, and a number of other meetings. Likely I’ll need to decide which things are realistic for the week and weekend. I’ll choose:

• get to the gym 4 times
• go for a hike
• get to a high school volleyball game
• spend a few hours mowing the lawn
• fix the string trimmer head on the weed whacker to cleanly dispense new
  string
• see a movie with my wife on the weekend (first one since 2019)

I’ll probably be able to cook a few nights, I might get to actually trim something or do some painting, I’ll do some laundry. I also know I need some downtime, I want to relax with the guitar, and spend some time with my son.

We’ll see how I did on Sunday.

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 be a realistic optimist. See life as it is, but focus on the good.

This is something I’m writing while in Belgium, earlier this week. I am optimistic in life, even as the world struggles in different ways with the pandemic. We are still moving through this, with various places and organizations trying to find ways to cope.

I am at the first live technical conference I’ve been to in nearly two years. The event is following the local guidance in Mechelen in Belgium. Things have changed a bit since I submitted and was accepted to the event, and the conference was still viable as the date approached. My travels were fairly smooth, and I think, fairly safe. I know there are still challenges, there are people with different levels of comfort with crowds and greetings, and I respect their thoughts.

From what I see, most people I’ve encountered in Chicago, London, Brussels, and Mechelen just adjust to the rules and how others feel. If someone asks for space, or requests a mask, wants an elbow bump, or is happy to shake hands, others oblige. That gives me hope and optimism for how we will grow and interact in the future.

I also know that there are still risks involved, especially for unvaccinated people. This event is live, but not hybrid, which inherently cuts out some people that might not be able to attend or be concerned about health. There is a risk of spreading COVID 19, though everyone is supposed to be vaccinated or taking precautions. Travelers were tested coming into Belgium, which may or may not be 100% accurate.

That’s the world. It’s reality. There is a balance of risk, precaution, reward, restrictions, and life that need to be weighed, but I am confident that most people are making good decisions and complying with the rules.

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 the good in people around you today.

I’m in the office today, but no idea how many people I’ll see. However, I was with a number of people recently in Colorado. I went to go watch a high school volleyball game, and I ran into a lot of people that I knew.

I took a few minutes to think about what I appreciated about them, and what they’d done that was good. Not all of them were people I’ve gotten along with, or even liked seeing, but I did find things that they do that help the world.

Thinking of those things made me smile.

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 start with the most important thing on your to-do list.

I’m in the UK today, so my to do list is what the company needs. However, I am actually writing this before I leave, thinking about fall life in Colorado.

As winter approaches, we have a lot of things that need to get completed before the ground freezes and weather gets bad. It’s not often really bad, but it is more difficult to work during the short days, in chilly weather, and with other commitments. My current list is, in no order:

• get the pastures cut (mowed)
• blow out sprinklers
• use or drain gas in mowers
• clean out the shed to get a mower in for the winter
• recharge/replace the generator battery for the house
• rebuild the generator shed for the riding arena
• paint some spots on the house
• paint the master bathroom
• do some maintenance on the BMW
• change the Chevy oil
• Change oil in the UTV and ATV on the ranch

There are probably a few other things I’ve forgotten, but these are the main ones. I’ve slowly masked and painted a little some nights, and I’ve been trying to work on the pastures. The recommendation from the state agriculture board is cut early in spring or late in fall. I missed spring, so I started in September mowing. That’s about 40 hours of work.

However, one thing I need to get done at the top of the list is close the sprinklers for the winter. It’s been warm in CO, so I haven’t been worried, but with a trip overseas, I can’t leave this. I went out and bought a air connector for the new pressure valve this weekend and then blew out the lines.

One thing to cross off for winter.