Voice of the DBA

Tag: sabbatical

  • Sabbatical–Not the Flagpole I remembered

    My employer, Red Gate Software, offers a sabbatical to their employees, and this year I’m taking mine. I’ll be gone from June 2 – July 14, away from work, but I’ll be blogging here about my experience.

    I finally got my DVD and drawing for the flagpole.

    Photo May 12, 9 34 52 PM

     

    I saw down and watched it one day, just out of curiosity. It was some of what I remembered, but some I didn’t and I learned a few things. One was that the base, which I was thinking was a 4×4 base sticking up, isn’t what Norm used. I must have confused this with another article I read, because this is a metal one.

    That’s a decision I’ll have to make. I wasn’t planning on welding a base together, though I have a fairly expert friend that I’m sure would help me get that done. It’s tempting to expand on the sabbatical and add on some metal skills. I think some of this will depend on how quickly I get the basic pole built. Once I have the thing glued up and square, I can then measure for the base and plan. No matter what I choose, I want to get it into the ground and cemented before the end of June.

    I guess that leads me to the next step, getting a plan together.

    Most of the rest of the DVD made sense and was what I remembered. I’ll need to build some sawhorses and get a space prepped to work. I’m thinking in front of the garage, just to the side of where I’ll pull out with the car. That would let me easily access tools and power, and also be convenient. I could also easily cover things with a tarp if needed.

  • Sabbatical Flagpole

    My employer, Red Gate Software, offers a sabbatical to their employees, and this year I’m taking mine. I’ll be gone from June 2 – July 14, away from work, but I’ll be blogging here about my experience.

    When I wrote about my sabbatical decisions, I was excited to get moving. However I still had plenty of other work to do, and with a few other commitments, I was slow to get started. Last week I documented my college progress for step 1. This week, I’m looking at my third item, and independent project.

    I want to build a flagpole. Years ago I saw an episode of The New Yankee Workshop where Norm Abrams built a flagpole. I thought it was neat, and I’ve wanted to build one. Around that time we moved to my current house, which had an aluminum flagpole, and it didn’t seem like I needed to build another one, but times have changed.

    A few years ago my flagpole broke in the wind. I’d added a small aerometer to the top, and I think that was just enough weight to cause it to snap in a high wind storm. Since then, I haven’t replaced it, thinking I’ll build a pole one summer. This is that summer.

    Surprisingly I didn’t find much online about building a flagpole, so I decided to order the plans from The New Yankee Workshop. I did that recently, and once they arrive, I’ll start getting supplies ready for my project.

  • Sabbatical – Back to College

    My employer, Red Gate Software, offers a sabbatical to their employees, and this year I’m taking mine. I’ll be gone from June 2 – July 14, away from work, but I’ll be blogging here about my experience.

    I wrote recently that I had decided on what to do for my sabbatical, and the first item on the list was learning something at a local college. Red Rocks Community College is renowned for their Fine Woodworking program, and I decided to take a class this summer from them.

    The first step, however, was to register for college. That meant filling out an application and hoping that this would be smooth. While I wouldn’t mind taking the ACTs and seeing how much knowledge I’ve retained over the years, I’d prefer to have this happen quickly.

    The process was fairly easy. I applied online, filling out lots of forms and the submitted them.

    And waited.

    I had thought I’d be moving in a day or two, but it took a few more than that. However finally I had my acceptance to college and I could get moving. Registering took a bit more time as I had to get through an orientation and take a quiz that helps new students get ready for college, but eventually I was able to register for Fine Woodworking 101.

    It’s an intro class, but all of the really cool classes require this one and the summer actually didn’t have a lot of choices. I thought about woodturning, but decided that with my other project, I should make sure my fundamentals were sound. This also gives me the chance to ask questions if I have issues on my own.

    Step 1, done.

  • Sabbatical Decisions

    My employer, Red Gate Software, offers a sabbatical to their employees, and this year I’m taking mine. I’ll be gone from June 2 – July 14, away from work, but I’ll be blogging here about my experience.

    I wrote before that I had a sabbatical coming from Red Gate Software this year. It’s a fantastic perk, one that grants all employees 6 weeks of paid time off every five years. The time is supposed to help you grow in some way, not necessarily related to work.

    I had lots of comments on my piece, and I’ve thought about it quite a bit. With my schedule at home, and other items on the agenda, I’ve decided to do the following:

    1. Learn something
    2. Help someone
    3. Wander on my own with a project

    Those broad ideas boiled down into these actual physical items.

    1. Take a class at a local community college. I have an interest in woodworking and I’m looking to go through one of their summer classes. I’ve not made the time in the past, mostly because of the distance to travel to the school, but this is a good time to experiment with the idea.
    2. Volunteer with a charity part time. I have a soft spot in my heard for Habitat for Humanity, and I plan to volunteer with them in both their stores, and on some local builds.
    3. Make something with my hands. As I mentioned, I have an interest in woodworking, but I don’t always get the chance to work through a large project with so many other things happening at the ranch. I decided that I’ve wanted to build a flagpole, strictly for me, and that’s my project.

    Now that my surgery is done and I’m on the mend, I’ll be working through each of these, setting up the details and getting ready for time off.

    My sabbatical is scheduled for Jun 2-July 14, though I won’t be back right away as I will be heading to England right away for SQL Bits XII.

    The blog will likely switch from data topics and SQL Server to some progress on the sabbatical so you can follow along if you like. I won’t syndicate these posts over to SQLServerCentral, as they’re not really relevant, so if you’re interested in how it’s going, subscribe here or keep checking back.