Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Off to the Summit and SQL Saturday Oregon

    I’m traveling this morning. My second to last trip of the year, and another long one. Today through the 20th I’ll be in Portland and Seattle.

    First is Portland, where I’m seeing lots of friends and speaking at SQL Saturday Oregon & SW Washington 2022. I have been to Portland for a few SQL Saturdays, and I’m glad to see one coming back to the area. This was one of the first locations for SQL Saturdays back in 2009, and they’ve had quite a few since then.

    Then a first time event for me, the #sqltrain. A few years ago Chris Hyde and a few others decided to go to Portland for the SQL Saturday before the Summit and then take the train up to Seattle. I’ve never done this, usually because I avoided long trips when my kids were kids. However, this time I am excited to join the ride up Sunday.

    Sunday night through the following Sunday are in Seattle for the Data Community Summit. It’s a busy week for me and I have a lot of small speaking things, so I’m going to be running around a bit and rehearsing. With a pre-con on Tuesday, I’m going to be reviewing things Sun and Mon, as well as working on the day 2 keynote. When I’m not working on stuff, I hope to be in the Community Zone to talk about SQL Saturday and general community stuff with whoever walks by.

    Fri night through Sun my wife is coming, so I’m looking forward to a dinner out and a night over on Bainbridge Island as a mini-vacation.

  • Daily Coping Tip 11 Nov 2022

    Today’s coping tip is to make a list of new things you want to do before the end of the year.

    Hmm, definitely some things to do, but what’s new? I’m not great with new as I like routine and familiarity. Here are a few aims:

    • visit Portugal (planned)
    • sand and finish a cheese knife
    • try a new restaurant for date night
    • new approach to coaching, asking more questions rather than telling setters what to do

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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.

  • Thursday is #sqlkilt Day

    At the PASS Data Community Summit, Thursday is the day when the Women in Technology (WIT) luncheon takes place. This is an event I’ve come to enjoy as I do feel it is harder for women to deal not only with all the things I do inside of a company, but they also have the sexual overtones. Often it’s not harassment, but in the US, too many men view women very differently, allowing their hormones to affect their judgment.

    It’s also #sqlkilt day. This was something started for men to show their support for women at the event. I’ve worn a kilt numerous times, including the first year when only 4 of us were in kilts.

    2022-10-25 12_37_19-Pass 2009 _ Flickr

    I’m looking forward to the 2022 WIT panel, which has some friends on it, where they’ll talk about many of the same challenge that all of us face, but with their own perspectives. I’m double committed that day (or maybe triple), but I’m going to swing by and listen as much as I can.

    Hope to see you there, and in a kilt (if you’re a man).

  • Daily Coping 10 Nov 2022

    Today’s coping tip is to respond to a difficult situation in a different way.

    There are plenty of difficult situations I find myself in, some of which create lots of emotion. Anger, fear, frustration, and more.

    One thing I tried to do recently was accept the emotion and then let it go. I didn’t express it back to the person and instead made an internal effort to acknowledge there was something I didn’t like and then take a moment. I stepped back and tried to re-examine the situation as if it were happening to someone else.

    I asked myself what role should I play, what was the intent of the other party, what part of the situation am I really responsible for? Doing this helped me to realize that while my emotions were valid, they would have had me become defensive or short and overreact to the situation rather than just focus on my part and my role. I learned some of this from Doing Hard Things.

    Hard to describe without giving details, and I don’t want to disclose who/what/where as it’s private. The main thing was making an attempt to respond differently to a situation than I had in the past.

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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.