Voice of the DBA

Today’s coping tip is to eat mindfully. Appreciate the taste, texture, and smell of your food.

I am not a big foodie. I’ve been to some cool dinners with Brent Ozar, but I mostly go for the company. I’d be just as happy if we had the chance to eat at Ted’s or even an Applebees.

In any case, I am trying to enjoy food more, mostly as a way to build better eating habits and cope with getting older. I don’t think I have great taste, but I also am working to experiment and try new things.

A few noticeable tasty things lately:

• My wife and I went out for sushi. I ordered a new type of roll, as did she. We shared. Hers was wrapped in ginger and had mango inside. Salmon as well, of which I’m not a huge fan, but it was a pleasant mix of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft. Mine was tune with crab mix, and a firm avocado and spicy mayo. More squishy.
• I went to Hard 8 BBQ in Dallas and had the softest, tenderest, cut with your fork brisket. It was really good.
• In St Louis, I tried a number of different BBQ sauces. I tend towards spicy, vinegary ones, but tried the sweet ones and appreciated the mix of honey, sugar, and spices in there.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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 coping tip is to take three calm breaths at regular intervals during the day.

I had to travel recently, crossing time zones and moving between planes, trains, and automobiles. I set a few reminders on my phone to do this throughout the day. Take a few minutes to calm myself and refresh myself.

I even did this a few times on my own. A few deep breaths are a great way to reset yourself physically and mentally.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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 coping tip is to slow down if you find yourself rushing too often.

The modern world encourages rushing around. We try to do so many things, get to places, experience things, take our kids somewhere, etc. One of the things about the pandemic closing the world down was that things slowed.

Now I am back in a busy routine, and this year has felt especially busy. I’m trying to appreciate downtime and not make plans or even try to “fit something else” in. My life is busy enough, so a couple things I’ve tried.

First, if I don’t need to get something done today, I try not to do it or worry about it. I’m working to avoid “crossing something off my list” more than necessary.

If I can, I’m sitting down and relaxing more. With my wife, with a guitar, a book, or just hanging out. Spending more time with the family at home is a nice way to slow my life.

Even when working on things around the ranch, I’m putting less things on my list for a Sat or Sun, to ensure I have more a mental break from the busy work life that fills my weeks.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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.