Honored to be a Microsoft MVP Again

Posted on July 6, 2022 by way0utwest

I was renewed this week as a Microsoft MVP. This is my 15th award in a row and each year this happens it is an honor to be recognized for helping others.

2022-07-05 14_10_45-My Profile — Mozilla Firefox

This is an award that Microsoft decides to give, based on the help and impact you have in their community. For me, this is in the data platform space, which includes SQL Server.

Playing My Game

I do many community things, primarily to help others. Some of these things are a part of my job, but I also make an effort outside of my job to teach, educate, and help others that want to become better at their jobs in improve my career.

That’s been my game, and I continue to play it on a regular basis. I appreciate that Microsoft recognizes this as valuable enough to award me the MVP, but whether they do or not doesn’t change what I do.

For anyone that is intrigued by the MVP, my advice to enjoy helping others. To write, speaker, organize, etc. to help your community in some way. If you enjoy doing that, and are willing to spend time regularly, then you might be an MVP.

I (and many others) are happy to nominate you, but you should be helping others as a regular part of your life first. If you do, then feel free to reach out and ask me to nominate you.

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Daily Coping 6 Jul 2022

Posted on July 6, 2022 by way0utwest

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 a small step to overcome a problem or worry.

I have lots of projects and tasks. I have lots of things that I need to handle and keep going in life. Some are work items, some personal, some family oriented, some for friends.

One problem I’ve had this spring and summer is keeping up with some maintenance and improvement around the ranch. I’ve had too much travel and then surgery get in the way of things. During one trip, my son called to say that a leaf spring on our hay trailer had broken. I couldn’t do much remotely, so I had him take a picture and then measure the working side.

Small step 1: I looked around online while in the airport and found one for sale and ordered it. Fingers crossed.

Small step 2: I went out to look at the trailer the next week when I was home (and healthy). I found the spring broken. You can see the edge of it below.

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Not much to be done that day, but I balanced out the lifted trailer with jack stands on each side so the frame didn’t warp.

Small step 3: I went out and start to remove the old spring nuts and bolts. I got the axel attachment off, but the bolt holding the old spring to the frame wouldn’t move. I tried pulling on it, banging on the wrench, and spraying Liquid Wrench on the bolt. Eventually I got tired, frustrated, and went to get a drink.

I wrote this a few days ago, and that was when I took this small step.

Small step 4: I went and got some more liquid wrench and sprayed it on. That’s it.

Big step 5: The next day I went out and used a breaker bar and got the bolt to turn. I was able to get it out and my daughter helped me fit the new leaf spring on and tighten all the bolts.

leafspring_2

It wasn’t as satisfying to take days to get this fixed, but some patience and a few small steps worked out well.

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A Blogging Break

Posted on July 5, 2022 by way0utwest

Outside of coping tips, I’m gonna take a break from blogging. I’ve been aiming for 3 posts a week, and mostly keeping there, but it’s created a little stress and I need to handle a bit more stuff at the ranch, so not as much time outside of work for blogging.

I also have some work work to take over. We have a surprising amount of sabbaticals this summer, and some staff changes, so I need to take on a bit more in July/August.

I’ll likely blog here and there, but not consistently.

Of course, I’m sure tomorrow I’ll get 10 ideas for post and this will go out the window, but look for less for a few weeks at least.

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Daily Coping 5 Jul 2022

Posted on July 5, 2022 by way0utwest

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 make a list of the joys in your life (add to this regularly).

My list:

  • sleeping next to my wife at night (not doing that enough the last few months)
  • having my dog come greet me (every day)
  • kids enjoying the food I make ( a regular occurrence these days)
  • traveling to a new place and seeing a different way of life (I love new cultures)
  • driving my Tesla (this is a lot of fun)
  • accomplishing a chore at the ranch (changed a leaf spring last weekend)
  • playing guitar and hitting all the notes
  • delivering a presentation where people are engaged and smiling
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