Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Daily Coping 29 Jun 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral 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.

    Today’s tip is to appreciate the joy of nature and the beauty in the world around you.

    An easy one for me, with land and animals all around. I appreciate nature constantly by taking the time to notice how the world flows around me and how much I love where I live.

    I also get regular reminders on the hard side of nature with dead animals that my cat will catch and bring in.

    Nature is amazing and wonderful, and can help you enjoy life. Take a minute sometime, inhale a deep breath and just look around.

  • Bringing Redgate Streamed Down Under

    Next week is the Redgate Streamed APAC Edition, on July 2. At least, July 2 in Australia. I’m still not sure what time it will be for me, and I am double checking all the schedules since Australia and New Zealand make me feel more disconnected from everywhere else in the world. I loved my trip last year, but crossing the dateline was a weird experience.

    You can register for the event and attend. It’s 0800-1430 in AEST, but I’m not going to try and figure out where that is anywhere else. You’re on your own for that one.

    This time I’ll be presenting and hosting the event from Colorado in the US. I also get to do a short interview with Troy Hunt, who is in incredible expert in his field. I follow his blog, have watched his presentations, and am somewhat disappointed I don’t get to meet him in person. Maybe next year.

    We also have some other amazing speakers:

    • Damian Brady, Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft
    • Steve Jones, Microsoft Data Platform MVP & SQLServerCentral Editor
    • Greg Low, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and founder of SQL Down Under
    • Hamish Watson, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and founder of SQL Down Under

    I’ve been blessed to be on the stage with each of these experts, and I am looking forward to learning more from them next week. We’ll be talking security, DevOps, compliance, and more. Register today and join me next week for some learning, inspiration, and excitement.

    As a  plus, Redgate is donating to the Australian Red Cross and the WHO for each person that attends, so be sure to tune in.

  • Daily Coping 19 Jun 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral 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.

    Today’s tip is to appreciate the joy of nature and the beauty in the world around.

    I’m blessed in that I live closer to nature than most. I live on a horse ranch, with lots of wide open space around. Wildlife regularly passes across my property, and I get to interact with non humans.

    I’m not a horse rider (much), but I appreciate their beauty, grace, and power. I don’t have too many chores anymore, but I have had more during the pandemic. One thing I had to do recently was feed the horses while my wife was out of town.

    This was my view, during lunch one day. A break from the office.

    20200609_150522_HDR

    A breath of fresh air, and an understanding that there is more than technology, airplanes, and my gym.

  • Social: Growing Up with the Dukes of Hazzard

    I grew up in the South. The capital of the Confederacy was a short drive from my house. We studied the Civil War.

    I watched the Dukes on TV, and enjoyed it. Many of my friends did and we laughed, joked, and wanted a car like that. We loved the horn, and when a friend’s Dad got a programmable horn that could play Dixie, we did it over and over.

    I thought many of the people thinking “the South will rise again” or embracing this as history were just showing some pride. I’ve visited the cemeteries of Confederate soldiers, even as an adult, with curiosity and understanding this is part of our history in the US.

    It is, but it’s also a racist icon and one that represents treason to me. We can study history and relegate the item to history, but I don’t think that we should display and celebrate that time. You may be proud that your ancestors stood up for that they believed in, but I’m not sure you should be proud of what they believed in.

    I used to tolerate and not think too deeply about people putting that flag anywhere. As I look at the world, which has both grown and regressed, and not grown, I can’t tolerate that symbol anymore.

    I had friends that embraced it. I also had people out there that physically threatened or assaulted me who proudly displayed it. I’ve had few physical encounters and some were not about race or skin color, but some were. In fact, all of the ones as an adult were.

    The Confederate flag in the US ought to be treated like the Nazi flag in Germany. It’s the symbol of traitors, of racism, and of losers of the Civil War. I can’t believe our military has tolerated this until 2020, but I’m glad they are removing it.

    I am, too.