Voice of the DBA

Tag: life

  • Taking My Wife on a Date Out of Town

    This isn’t data related, but I had some fun, so I decided to make a quick post. I’m on holiday today, actually yesterday and today, in San Francisco/ Oakland.

    The reason: a date.

    My wife is a fan of Dwele and she’s often said that since he lives in Washington D.C. and is sometimes in clubs there, we should plan a trip sometime. I’ve periodically searched for concert dates and never seen any. While I was traveling this spring, I happened to see a couple dates at Yoshis, a jazz club in Oakland. I bought tickets and surprised her. I then booked a short holiday this week for us to fly out and see the concert.

    Tonight is the show and we’re excited for the adventure.

    Life is short. Work hard, but remember to enjoy yourself when you can. Especially with those you love. Look for opportunities to bring them joy and take them when you can.

  • Action Over Knowledge

    I saw a quote recently that resonated with me. It’s not something I’ve often struggled with, but I have at times. Here’s the quote:

    “Life rewards action, not intelligence. Many brilliant people talk themselves out of getting started, and being smart doesn’t help very much without the courage to act. You can’t win if you’re not in the game.” – @JamesClear

    Part of my goals in life are to help others and motivate them to engage in life and drive themselves forward. I have tried to motivate my children, I work with kids I coach to grow and change, and I (think) write about this often here. I want you to take charge of your career and life and drive it forward in the way that works for you.

    However, you have to work at things. The quote above notes that it’s not how smart you are, but having success in life comes from action. From doing something. From making efforts. The last part is the most important, if you don’t engage and become part of your game, your life, you can’t win or achieve your goals.

    As Ferris Bueller said, life can move pretty and you can miss it if you’re not paying attention. As I get older, that means more to me. Life slips by, days, weeks, months, even years seem to fly by. Especially after the pandemic, where I see someone and realize it hasn’t been a year or two since I’ve seen them but four years.

    You don’t have to be extremely driven and type A. I think I might be a little too driven at times, living in chaos, but I met someone recently who spent more than 5 years trying to transform a company. This individual worked their job, spent nights and weekends trying to learn more about their business, and drove themselves and others well beyond what I’d consider a balance in life. They were working well over 60 hours a week for years, as were some employees. I don’t think that’s a great way to live, and whether it’s work, hobbies, or something else, forgetting to balance the various parts of your life isn’t good.

    At the same time, inaction, not trying to grow, learn, practice, or even attempt something new in any part of your life isn’t good either.

    Work on your career and skills but balance that with the time you need away from work. Invest in your education to change careers if you like, but don’t plan on working what is essentially two jobs to become a way of life. At least not for too many years. Enjoy your hobbies, but remember there is family at home that deserves and needs your time as well. Find ways to engage in life, but in a way that respects all the commitments to work, family, friends, faith, hobbies, and yourself. Especially don’t forget about taking care of yourself.

    Effort is often more important than the short-term results. Just being engaged and in the game gives you a chance of success, but more, it allows you to enjoy the ride. Just do so in a balanced way.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • Getting Away from Work

    A bit over a week ago, the volleyball team my wife and I coach won their first tournament of 2024. We’ve had an up and down year, and been close to one win, but the kids hadn’t been able to put together enough good things to win until then.

    2024-02-15 09_53_25-Panther Volleyball Head Coaches _ BAND

    Today we’re finishing the annual three day local President’s Day tournament. As I write this on Friday, I have no idea how we’ll do. We have a couple kids recovering from illness, and one from injury, so fingers crossed things go well.

    Actually, things will be great. I’m not overly concerned about wins or losses here, and however things go, kids will learn some lessons, either from success or failure.

    And that’s life.

    A lot of the skills I’ve learned at work in communicating, teaching, getting along with others, they come into play here. At the same time, the coaching skills I’ve learned, are applicable to work situations.

    The key thing is this isn’t work (not really). It’s a break away from technology. I take stats on paper, I’m in a room with a lot of others, and we’re laughing, crying, having fun, struggling, but in a very different way from the time at my desk.

    Hopefully you have some nice breaks away from work as well.

  • A Working Break on President’s Day

    Today is President’s Day in the US, and it’s a holiday for me. At least from Redgate. I’m actually working my other job, perhaps with some overtime.

    This is the end of a three-day weekend tournament up in Greeley, CO, where I’ve been coaching a 13-year old competitive volleyball team with my wife. We enjoy working with kids and we’ve been coaching in the spring for the last five years together. The RMR Showdown is a fun event, and it’s nice to get out of town. Hopefully we’ve had some success, but even if we haven’t been winning, it’s a good experience for the kids to grow, learn, and stress themselves across multiple days. Most of the time we do one-day local tournaments, so this is a chance for them to learn the eating well, hydrating, and sleeping are important.

    We’ve also had a pregnant coach in the 18s division, and it’s entirely possible she can’t coach this weekend. She was due around this time, so as I write this, my wife volunteered us to take over her team if she’s giving birth. That means we’ll be working a morning wave with our team, from around 7a-2p, and an afternoon wave from 3p-9p. There might be some long days for us, but they’ll be fun.

    Despite the work, it’s a recharging event for me in that I’m not doing anything with technology, and the time spent on this hobby is completely different than anything else in my life. It can be stressful during games, but it is very rewarding. I enjoy working with kids, and when it’s over, it’s over. The results of the competition are quickly forgotten, at least by me, but I see the lessons learned by players growing through the year.

    However, work starts again tonight. As soon as we’re done, I’m heading to the airport for the DevOps Airways tour. No, I’m not flying a plane, but I am getting in one for our first stop tomorrow in San Jose. There are quite a few more, and I hope to see some of you at one of our events.

    Steve Jones