Voice of the DBA

Tag: travel

  • Leaving (for) Las Vegas

    Tomorrow I’m off to Las Vegas for SQL Connections. Since tomorrow is also T-SQL Tuesday #012, I’m writing a pre-trip blog a day early.

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    I’ve never been enthralled with the image of Las Vegas, but I went there earlier this year with my wife for a vacation and had a great time. I did finally gamble at a card table, and actually won money, but it’s not something that I’m overly excited to do again.

    This is my first trip ever to SQL Server Connections and DevConnections. I had hoped to go last year, but my wife broke her arm and I ended up cancelling my trip. This year SQLServerCentral is sponsoring a track again with some great speakers to teach you about SQL Server. We have:

    • Brad McGehee
    • Allen White
    • Buck Woody
    • Glenn Berry

    I elected not to speak so that I could see more of the show and report on what it’s like. With more and more people becoming hybrid DBAs, I think this is a great format for a show. Many people these days fine themselves needing skills in other technologies, like Windows, Sharepoint, .Net or something else.

    I am curious to compare this event with others, and see if it might be a great place for SQL Server professionals to get a wide variety of knowledge that can help them work with the different aspects of IT that they need in their jobs.

    I’m also looking forward to sitting down with a few friends I haven’t seen in some time and catching up on what’s happening in their lives.

    If you live in the area, but won’t be at the show, I’ll also be speaking at the Las Vegas SQL Server User Group on Thursday night, so come out and say hi.

  • Six Trips

    Six trips left to close out this year. Most are very short, so that’s good, but still, it’s a bunch of packing and prepping to do.

    Here’s my list:

    Sept 25 – SQL Saturday #52, Denver Tech Center, OK, so not a real trip, but still I’ll essentially be gone for a day and a half from home with a late Fri night, all day Sat, getting home late Sat night. On the plus side, I get to hang with Jack Corbett from Orlando while his wife talks horses with my wife.

    Oct 1-3 – SQL Saturday #53, Kansas City, speaking here, and getting to a Royals game for the first time ever. *cool*

    Oct 19 – Boulder SQL Server User’s Group – It’s a day trip, but over an hour from my house to the group, so I’ll count it.

    Nov – Nov 2 – 5 am – SQL Connections and Dev Connections and the Las Vegas SQL Server User’s Group. SQLServerCentral is sponsoring a track and Jason Brimhall convinced me to make good on my promise of speaking to his group Thur night.

    Nov 7 – 8 – Heading to Seattle to take care of some admin stuff and hang out with Brent Ozar for a day.

    Nov 19 – Nov 21 – NYC. SQL Saturday #59. A last minute decision, but I want to support these groups and this will cement my Premier status for United for next year 😉

    I’ve got a couple ski trips with the family planned as well (Thanksgiving and Christmas), so it looks like a busy fall for me.

  • Saved By a Spare

    I started traveling with two laptops after I had a laptop fail during a trip in 2009 the day of a presentation. I bought a netbook as an emergency, but it didn’t work well and ended up as the bedroom spare for my wife.

    In it’s place, I’ve started carrying an 11” tablet along with my 15” laptop. They both fit in my bag, and in the course of 5 or 6 trips, I haven’t needed the spare.

    Until SQL Saturday #28

    I had some family things come up this past week and didn’t get all my work for Database Weekly done before I left. Since I had some free time on Friday, I was planning on working at the Marriot when I arrived. Everything went fine until I plugged my laptop into the wired connection at the hotel.

    Nothing.

    No lights, not LAN indicator, no connection. I got a spare cable from the front desk, rebooted everything and no connection. I even called tech support before hanging up after being on hold for 10 minutes. Somewhere in the back of my mind it occurred to me to rule out my wired connector in the laptop. I think it used to work, but wireless is so ubiquitous that perhaps I hadn’t.

    Actually I noticed the spare tablet in my bag and decided to plug it in. I’d need to sync it anyway, so I plugged it in and it worked.

    I was late to the speaker dinner, and left early, coming back to work, but I was able to get all my work done. Or at least what was important for the weekend.

    The last few times I’ve been in a hotel, I’ve had issues with my network connection, so I should have known better than to count on it, but this time, having that spare really saved me.

  • Slack Traveler

    I realized over the weekend that I hadn’t booked a hotel for my SQL Saturday #28 trip to Baton Rouge. This was one I can’t miss since I’m doing 2 sessions and the keynote. I remembered today, and called the Cook Hotel, a beautiful place on the LSU campus where I stayed last year.

    Nothing available but suites. Tempting but at $299 I’m not sure my boss would like that. The reserved rate was $99, and the difference is probably the cost of my trip to Kansas City later this year. So I started to look around on Expedia and found a Marriot not too far away to book.

    I’m traveling a bit more these days, more like 10 times a year, and in doing so, I’ve gotten a bit slack. I went to New Orleans without knowing my hotel reservation, and I haven’t been traveling with printouts or directions. I’m relying on the iPhone, which is OK, but I probably should keep a backup somewhere since you never know if service will go out or batteries will die.