Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Daily Coping 1 May 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    The tip to day is to focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t.

    I think I wasted three weeks (or more) thinking about what I couldn’t do. I missed a trip to the UK, I missed volleyball tournaments. Even weeks later, as I accepted some of the changes, I still was saddened as reminders came up for things to do (I had a couple other trips), or cancellations appeared (SQL Sat Richmond and Va Beach). Even now, I mourn some of the events that Redgate had tentatively planned, which are unlikely to take place.

    Slowly I’m learning to appreciate other things. I’ve gotten caught up on some ranch repairs, which would have been harder if I was in the “normal” busy schedule.

    I get to cook more and eat dinner with the family. Those are things I do because I have more time, life is slower, and my daughter is home from college.

    I’m able to row more at home, which is something I haven’t done in a decade. Not that I don’t miss other things, but I have learned to appreciate rowing a couple times a week as a way of getting exercise. I’m also drinking more water (coping 25 Apr) with the water bottles filled up every morning.

    More importantly, I get more time with my wife, which is great. I’m even riding with her some days, which she loves.

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  • Daily Coping 30 Apr 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is

    Take a minute to remember what really matters to you and why.

    For me, what really matters is my family. Everything else can go way, but I chose my wife and produced my children. Ultimately, I appreciate every minute I get with them.

  • Azure DevOps Agent Job Names

    I’ve been working with some complex builds lately, multi-stage ones, and I’ve been annoyed by the Azure DevOps agent. If you’re like me, you might see this in Agent consoles:

    Azure DevOps agent output

    Notice anything interesting? No? Me, either.

    This is annoying. I’ve renamed the releases and builds, but for some reason, I still get “Agent Job”. Very annoying, but I also see that this does allow for more customization. In Azure DevOps, things are very flexible, but often not obvious or intuitive where they are changed.

    In this case, I can look at a Build stage. I see something like this:

    ADO Build definition

    I’ve renamed the CI, and I see that as the  Pipeline as well. This what I’d hope would get sent to the agent. However, it doesn’t. Instead, I need to click on “Agent Job 1” in this case. Once I do that, I see this:

    ADO Agent Job properties

    Here is where “Agent Job” comes from. In this case, I’d had two at one point, but deleted the other. I can rename this to something else:

    Renaming the agent job title

    Once I do that, I’ll start seeing names that allow me to more easily track what the agents are doing.

    ADO Agent output with proper names

     

     

  • Daily Coping 29 Apr 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is enjoy washing your hands. Remember all they do for you.

    I’ve never quite paid as much attention to washing my hands as I have the last couple months. I’m not a germaphobe, but I do fine myself soaping up longer, counting seconds to 20+, rinsing, and then being careful what I touch. I wash my hands after going through a store. I try to avoid finger pressing buttons on things like payment machines, and use some sanitizer if I do.

    It’s not perfect, I’m not paranoid (or maybe not enough), but I am being careful and cognizant.