Voice of the DBA

Tag: life

  • Work To Live

    This editorial was originally published on May 2, 2012. It is being re-run as Steve is at SQL Bits.

    I’m halfway through my career, having spent about 20 years since college working in technology with another twenty to go. The rest of the community is probably spread out around me, some older, some younger. It doesn’t matter what part of your life you are in, there are a few things about work that I think always apply. The first is that we work to live, and don’t live to work. The second is I like to hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

    It’s all too common for people in this business to overwork themselves, work very long hours, and neglect the rest of their life. I have rarely seen someone that is retired or late in life complain that they didn’t work enough over their lifetime, and I’d caution you to keep that in mind as you go through life. There will always be more work, more things to do, and more requests from clients and customers. Keep a balance in your life, and remember to enjoy it along the way.

    The second part of my advice can apply in many parts of our career, but it ought to apply to our finances and our retirement. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a few articles like this one that notes many people have not funded their retirements well. We all have expenses, and it’s easy to delay the investments in our life until later, but that is a bad idea. Whether it’s your IRA/401K or your health, you’d be better off sacrificing a little today for a little more security later.

    In the US, many employers match contributions and you ought to take advantage of that. There are all sorts of options for retirement, like ROTH IRAs, that it seems many people aren’t aware of. I also meet many people that don’t realize they can borrow against their 401K as well, taking a loan whose interest goes back to your own account. There are few excuses to not plan for the future. Enjoy today, but plan to live a long time and to enjoy your retirement.

    How much money you might need depends on your lifestyle, and that’s something you should spend time thinking about and talking with your family about. Many of us may not be able to retire at 65, or count on social security, but I’d hate to have to work longer than I want to because I cannot afford to retire.

    Steve Jones

     

  • 2015 For Me

    This was an interesting year for me. Certainly a time of change with one kid starting high school, one entering his last year, and one graduating from college. These events signal a bit of a change for me, and have me starting to look forward to a life without kids, where I may work more, or differently, and explore other interests. As I freed up some time, and became a bit excited by changes in learning for my kids, I also kick started some of my learning.

    After lots of puttering, I finally decided to actually get back to writing some code this year. I’ve been working to build small utilities in C#, Python, and M this year. My goal has been to not only improve and expand my skills, but also get back to some software development and observe how this aligns with my work on ALM/DLM for Redgate. It’s been exciting to follow along with the San Diego Tech Immersion Group, Pluralsight, and even the Advent of Code.

    In terms of travel and vacation, this was a pretty good year. Despite some long trips (two 10+ day journeys), I managed travel pretty well overall. Still a bit much as I was worn out by the time November hit, but I learned a few things. I am managing things better for 2016 already, limiting the number of trips I’ll take. I also managed to take almost all my vacation, and spend a few different trips with family. I’ve got at least one big family trip planned next year, so I don’t feel bad about carrying over the 3 days I have left.

    Career wise, I’ve enjoyed some of the changes that have come along in my work with Redgate. I do more development than administration, which I enjoy. I started more as a developer, so getting back to those areas, at least for a year or so is nice. I’m looking forward to some of the changes at Redgate, and am especially interested to see where we go with Ready Roll. I really like the product and that style of work.

    I’m certainly getting older, and felt my age this year more than ever. I struggled to run, even sporadically, and while my surgically repaired knee is fine, I think I hurt the other one playing baseball. We’ll see how it does over the winter with snowboarding, but I am more conscious of how I work and take care of myself than ever before. I think 2016 will be a rededication to building more muscle and improving health. In line with that, I think I may actually get a real standing desk I can adjust to allow me to go up and down during the day. I don’t mind standing too much, but I do get a little worn out and I’d like to have my desktop and laptop set up semi-permanently in one environment. Right now I drag my laptop to a couch or table, which isn’t ideal.

    All in all, a good year. Hope it was the same for anyone reading this.

  • Closing Down for the Year

    Today is my last day of work for 2015. I’m actually proud that I’ve managed to take almost all my vacation (3 days left), and will be enjoying myself next week with my family, taking our holiday vacation in the mountains.

    It’s been quite a year for me. Lots of travel in short spans, some long trips, but also some good breaks. I’ve spent some time learning, and improvind my skills, and at the same time I turned down lots of work that might have overloaded me.

    I think 2015 was a good year for me, and I’m looking forward to continuing some momentum and making 2016 even better.

  • A Few Days Off in Space Country

    The new Star Wars film opens today, and while I won’t see it then, perhaps I’ll get to it early next week in the shadow of the US space program.

    My middle son is in his last year of high school before he goes off to college and as his birthday present in 2015, I’m taking him down to Florida and Cape Canaveral for 4 days. We leave early tommorrow, not returning to Denver until late Tuesday.

    A couple days of vacation for me, and hopefully some memories for my son. He was there a long time ago, at 2, so he doesn’t remember much. However he’s interested in flight and space, and looking to study aeronautical engineering in college, so this is a treat for him. In fact, when we were talking about where to take him, his eyes lit up when I suggested this trip.

    It will be an interesting trip, with the chance to visit the Kennedy Space Center, meet an astronaut, and study some of the history of US space travel in person.

    I’m also excited to go. Not that I want to go into space, at least not until they get artificial gravity, but I find the subject fascinating and I felt rushed the last time I visited. It will be nice to be able to spend time and not hurry around as we get the chance to vacation together.

    Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll see you briefly next week before I close down for the year.