The Next Great Thing

Posted on August 18, 2025 by way0utwest

At SQL Bits, I was chatting with Brent about a few things, including AI, which we think is changing the world. I’ve got my set of AI experiments going, and I do believe we will fundamentally alter work and how we use computers in the future.

Not sure if it’s for the better or worse, but things are changing and will change more.

Brent mentioned he was thinking about how a few years ago the “next great thing” was blockchain, which was going to change databases and storage, but never really caught on. I never thought it would as it seemed too niche-y for me.

What other great waves of tech have you seen over the years? I saw a prediction that data engineering will be dead in 5 years. I’ll take that bet. I’ve been hearing the DBA (or other data related positions) will be gone soon for over 25 years. I remember friends asking me if I was worried about my position after SQL Server v7 was released in 1998. I wasn’t then, and I’m not now. It seems there is more work than ever, though certainly the bar is higher for people doing the work.

You need to learn to be better at your job if you want some job security. That’s one reason I constantly push people to learn, improve, and show off ( consider #SQLNewBlogger posts) their skills. Employers want to know you’re providing value if they’re paying you $$ (or € or £ or ¥ or whatever).

There have been plenty of tech flops. Virtual/Extended/Augmented reality and various headsets haven’t quite taken off, though there is no shortage of new “AI powered” eyeglass products. Quantum computing still seems to be only slightly less fantastic than fusion energy. Voice control or gestures were supposed to make keyboards obsolete, but we still type a lot.

There are also some amazing things. Touch computing, especially on mobile, dominates. More and more digital payments are changing our commerce functions. Smartphones are essential devices for most people with apps available for anything and everything.

I do think GenAI will continue to change the world and how many of us work. This was an interesting talk on how AI changes work, not from a technologist per se, but from a writer. The GenAI models continue to improve, and I find them most useful in saving me minutes, not doing all my work. They are becoming more helpful, though slightly untrustworthy assistants. They are eager teenagers that can help, but need supervision and guidance.

And sometimes need to be abandoned for the current task and you need to do the rest of (or all of) the work.

What memories do you have of past “next great things? or maybe of what you see for the future?

Steve Jones

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Monday Monitor Tips: Searching Procedures

Posted on August 18, 2025 by way0utwest

A customer was asking about how to track all the stored procedures that execute on their system. We have a section in Redgate Monitor that’s set to look at stored procedures, and you can easily find information about them.

This is part of a series of posts on Redgate Monitor. Click to see the other posts.

Finding Stored Procedures

If I go to the SQLServerCentral_Test system on monitor.red-gate.com, I can scroll down and see the top queries for the time period selected. Here’s an example of a query. The main query window shows SQL, but these are parts of procs.

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If I expand to the full query, we see this is part of a proc. That’s good, in that if the query causing problems is part of a procedure, I can track that down.

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However, what if I know people are reporting a problem that is related to this proc. Can I find it knowing the name? I can’t in the Top Queries.

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However, we’ve added a Top procedures item to the right. That’s the place to focus on if you use stored procedures. And you should, since they create a looser coupling between your schema and the various business things your app needs to do.

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On this test system, there are relatively few procedures running, but on many systems in production, this is a large list of things. To the right (not shown) there are various metrics that help you determine which of these items might be stressing your system because of execution counts, duration, CPU, etc.

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If I know I have a procedure, I can search using the box. Here, I’m searching for UserA, but you might be searching for FinanceReport, hoping to find which of the FinanceReport_A, FinanceReport_B, FinanceRepot_Prep, etc. procs is using resources.

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Expanding any of these (clicking the arrow) gives you more detail, as you would get in the Top Queries section.

Summary

Tracking down which queries are stressing your system and why can be hard. We added the focus on procedures as this is an easier way for some customers to determine what part of their workload is causing issues. In the top queries, sometimes procedures get lost, so this section lets you drill down into how your system is performing.

Redgate Monitor is a world class monitoring solution for your database estate. Download a trial today and see how it can help you manage your estate more efficiently.

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Sabbatical 3 Review

Posted on August 15, 2025 by way0utwest

I’m back. My last day of work was Jun 27 and I came back a few days ago, on Aug 13. Just over six weeks away and I am very grateful to Redgate for allowing me the break from work. This was my third sabbatical, and it was mostly unwired, which was new.

Or as my wife said last week, I was practicing for retirement.

I think I was, as I didn’t have firm plans when I started and tried not to feel pressured to get things done, but I did have a nice mix of being productive and relaxing. Here’s a look back.

Week 1

Week one started with expenses. I know I was off, but I had a lot of expenses in June with travel to multiple places and I needed expenses done. I spent a few hours Monday getting those done and submitted, as well as playing a little guitar and relaxing.

The week had me at the gym, swimming outside for the second time this summer, doing some yoga, and a little yard work, but mostly relaxing. It had been a long May and June, and I took it easy, spent time with my wife, cooked for the kids, and tried to unwind.

This was also almost time for volleyball tryouts, so I was at the gym, running some practice sessions.

Week 2

Week 2 was a bunch of medical appointments. I had a yearly checkup, a dentist, and an ortho appointment that diagnosed golfer’s/tennis elbow. I’ve been bothered for months, but hadn’t done much about it. Not great news, but it did slow me down from doing too much work this week. My wife and spent time running errands around my appointments, we got some supplies for our basement, which was being finished, and I relaxed more. I did some chores around the ranch, but not too many.

Learned how to play “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, although it’s rough. Need more practice.

We also booked some trips this week for the sabbatical, which have us something to look forward to.

I spent some time this week with volleyball tryouts eating up partial days.

Week 3

Despite my elbow, I had to go to work this week on the ranch. I wrote about this earlier, but this was roof replacement week for our riding arena.

A long week.

Week 4

We finished midday on Sunday with the roof and Monday morning my wife and I were off to Cancun. The plan was Monday – Friday, but we were enjoying it and decided to stay until Sunday.

Expensive, indulgent, but we had a good time at Secrets the Vine, adults-only, all inclusive resort. An amazing view from our room and good food and drinks all week (too many).

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I wouldn’t do it again, but despite a good time and enjoying the week with friends, I prefer more movement on vacations, so I’d choose something else. But I’m a weird, type-A, keep moving person.

Week 5

Mostly chores, trying to not aggravate my elbow. I had purchased a few things, like a brush cutter, so I got those things assembled and did some work around the ranch. I also built a tire rack, organizing the spare tires in the shed.

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Some gym time, some chores, and some maintenance. I managed to get a couple sprinklers working that had been broken and spent an afternoon at the gym fixing some chairs for the club.

Week 6

I had a quick trip to Chicago for work, coming off sabbatical for an event at Wrigley Field. I had never been, so I was willing to do this. My wife was supposed to come for a 2 day trip, but she cancelled with our other plans so she could work. As a result, I was in town for about 26 hours, and enjoyed myself. A beautiful view from across the street.

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It was weird to be back at work and sit in the airport and make a bunch of notes from the event. It’s been awhile since I was typing that much.

I turned around 24 hours later to head to Big Sur, CA with my wife and our oldest. We’d agreed to take him on a trip and we spent 5 days there, bleeding into this week.

It was a fun trip, more our style with biking, hiking, and moving around a bit. It’s a beautiful part of the country and the weather was amazing. Here we are a Bixby Bridge.

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Overall

Overall it felt like was retired. I had things to do, but no real time pressure. I didn’t let the 6 week limit drive me, but just moved around day to day. Taking my time on things and not worrying about what got finished and what didn’t.

I could have done more, but it was a very relaxing time and I feel ready to get back to work.

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Advice I Like: Naps

Posted on August 15, 2025 by way0utwest

Learn how to take a 20-minute power nap without embarassment. – from Excellent Advice for Living

I don’t like naps. In fact, I try to avoid them and keep going, even when I’m tired. I’d rather power through things and then go to bed early and get rest.

That being said, there are some times when traveling that I’ve decided to just give in and nap. Turn off distractions, leave my phone out of reach, and just sleep. I’ve even done that a few times during the work week at home when I’m exhausted. Getting 20-30 minutes of rest can be refreshing.

If I sleep. Sometimes I end up laying there and not sleeping and then I feel like I’ve wasted my time.

This is good advice, and I should follow it more often, not just when land multiple time zones away from home.

I’ve been posting New Words on Fridays from a book I was reading, however, a friend thought they were a little depressing. They should be as they are obscure sorrows. I like them because they make me think.

To counter-balance those, I’m adding in thoughts on advice, mostly from Kevin Kelley’s book. You can read all these posts under the advice tag.

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