Voice of the DBA

Tag: work

  • The Worst Day

    I challenged people to write about their daily work a few weeks ago. I haven’t see a lot of posts, but I am still hopeful some of you will document your day, as Iris Classon has done a few times. It’s not that I expect a lot of the same posts, but rather, I’d like you to talk about the way a specific day has flowed for you. Did you work on a problem? Just pick up tickets and perform routine scripting? Learn a specific thing? Give us some details. I expect everyone’s day to be different.

    Jon Shaulis broke his series in a few parts, one of which was his worst days as a DBA. I thought that was interesting and it brought back from memories for me. Overall, I’ve had mostly good days, and even the crisis situations weren’t that bad.  That being said, there are some tough days, both physically and mentally, and worse, tough for my family.

    This week, I wanted to ask you what was the worst day in your career? Or maybe the worst event, since some of the tough times I’ve had actually spanned multiple days. Let us know what happened, but also, what the challenge was for you?

    I’ve got a couple items. My first exposure to SQL Server was as a network admin. I helped a group of 4 other FTEs run a large Novell Netware environment of over 1000 nodes. We handled the servers (6 or 7), email, and more for hundreds of employees. We managed Netware servers, Windows (and DOS) desktops, and way too many printers. As a part of a government mandated change, we rolled out a new system at midnight on Jan 1, backed by this new database, SQL Server. We installed an OS/2 server at the end of December and prepared for the cutover from the old system. Since this was a mandated change, we weren’t going to roll back. Ever.

    I arrived at work on Dec 31, around 6pm. I planned on getting setup, checking with developers, and being ready. We cut over at midnight and people began using the system. Within 30 minutes, we had problems, including an overloaded SQL Server that would freeze up. We ended up babysitting the server to reboot it regularly, as well as trying to determine the problems. I left work on Jan 2, around noon. That was a bad day.

    Another bad way was with a SQL Server 6.5 instance that ran financial services. We detected corruption in a table and got on the phone with Microsoft one afternoon. I worked with support, being handed off from the west coast to Asia to North Carolina throughout the night, trying to debug the problems and extract data. A nice 30+ hour, high stress day for me. After that I kept a pillow and blanket in my desk, which I used a few more times that year.

    Those were tough times, but most of my days are great. Some are long, some stressful, but overall, I’ve enjoyed my time doing database work. Can you say the same thing?

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 5.3MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • My #SQLCareer Day–July 19

    I’ve asked for #SQLCareer posts, and I haven’t done any. My job isn’t a data platform DBA or developer, but it is SQL related, so a glimpse of the nonsense I perform. I’m asking for more posts, so a note at the bottom.

    This should have been a cool day, after all, I’m scheduled for my first (partial) presentation at Microsoft’s Inspire conference. It turned out to be not so great.

    The day started with my waking up in the Tropicana in Las Vegas. I was a last minute addition to the Inspire staff, so I grabbed the nearest Hilton. I travel enough that it’s worth me to try and stick with one airline and hotel company. As I write this, I got two free nights for my wife and daughter in South Dakota this week for a volleyball camp.

    However, I get up around 7 and pack up. As I’m doing so, my daughter calls. I took her car key while she was gone to get copies made.  A minor crisis distracted me on Tuesday afternoon and her key is in my car. At the Denver airport.

    I apologize for the hectic, chaotic nature of my life and for not putting it back. I make mistakes, and know my kids do as well. I expect them to apologize, and I should do the same.

    I check emails and answer a few, then shower and pack up.

    7:45am – Walk across the bridge to catch the tram from the Excaliber to the Manadalay Bay resort. It’s got to be 90F this morning already, and I find the first station is blocked off for construction. Great.

    Walk to street level and start heading to the next station. I get there and don’t see an easy way up. It’s a coin flip to walking inside and looking for a way or crossing the street to the Luxor. Everything is far in Vegas, and I elect to walk. I get into the Luxor and it seems as easy to use the internal walkway to the Mandalay as it is to wait for the the tram.

    7:52 – Starbucks. Priorities, yo.

    8:05 – Inspire registration. I had problems on Wed, so I needed to complete this today. I start, click to pick my MS account login, and when I click the “Next” button, the internet disappears. Fortunately the event staff was helpful and brought me a laptop to complete registration.

    8:30 – The Inspire schedule is a bit of a mess. I’m not sure where to go, but pick my co-speaker and he texts me directions to the room. I head over and sit down, watching a few other Microsoft partners talk about their companies and strategies.

    I have 3000 steps today, but I see a couple interesting things that partners are doing. One of which might be something we try at Redgate. In any case, it’s an interesting half hour. Then I head over to an empty room to practice my talk with co-speakers, go over timing, and review my notes.

    9:45 – We’re on. There are three of us talking about SQL Operations Studio, which seems to be Ops Studio to MS. I have 15 minutes at the end, so I stand around for a bit. Me on stage, just waiting around. The professional look today.

    IMG_20180719_094939

    While waiting on stage, I check Slack and respond to a few messages. I do my talk, get one question, and then walk out. That’s after I’ve finished my coffee.

    11:00 – The schedule seems to be just some general partner stuff to close the day. I ping a friend for lunch, but he’s down the strip at another hotel. With a 1:30 flight, I decide to give up and get a cab to the airport.

    Not wanting to waste time, I forgo an Uber and get a cab. The guy talks a slightly long way around the West side of the airport, which is annoying. It’ s not my money, but at Redgate, we try to spend wisely. This feels like I should have stood around waiting for an Uber. I could have answered a few emails while waiting. I did that in the cab, but likely I didn’t save anything other than a few minutes standing and wasted $5.

    In any case, I get to the airport, walk to security, get through and make my way to the terminal. I do this enough that if I don’t try to be efficient, I waste lots of time. Fortunately from taxi drop off to sitting down for lunch is about 15 minutes for me. I sit there and go through a few product items on Slack, and respond to a question on the Redgate Hub. Nothing that important, but it’s the type of busy work that will catch up to me if I don’t get things done.

    Post lunch I still have about 45 minutes before boarding, so I pull out the laptop, charge my phone, and start this post. I also answer a few emails and load some Database Weekly items for the newsletter. It’s my week to get links and write an editorial, so I try to do a little of this everyday. I find it keeps me in touch with what’s happening in the database world.

    One article is on Managed Instances in Azure and how they are different. It’s interesting and I learn about the Job Object, which I knew nothing about. I always seem to learn a few things every week that I didn’t know from someone. I also caught up on a couple SQL Career posts from Jen Stirrup and Brent Ozar.

    The flight home is fine, but it’s cramped. I don’t do any work and just read a bit and watch part of a movie. I seem to see parts of movies here and there, but never bother to finish if they’re not that interesting.

    6:30pm – I hit the gym on the way home for 30 minutes and then get my daughter’s keys made and then some chores at home.

    7:45pm – One last check of things and finish this post. I realize I’ve scheduled tweets for the next three newsletters all tomorrow.  Grrr, I delete them all and need to rebuild the schedules. Takes about 30 minutes.

    Not a productive workday, but since I travel again Friday to SQL Saturday Louisville, I’ll let it go.

  • The Slow Week

    This is usually a very slow week for most organizations. Staff is on vacation, customers aren’t demanding much, and it’s entirely possible if you’re in the office today that you’re a bit grumpy as Monday was Christmas and many of us haven’t had quite enough of a holiday this year. With many employees in the same situation, and another holiday coming next week, it’s likely that everything in your shop is moving a bit slow. Certainly there are no shortage of people that might be on vacation this week. Usually it’s a ski week for me, but not this year.

    Some of you might be just as motivated to get things done this week as any other. In fact, with less people around, you might even be more productive and perhaps are taking advantage of the time. Others of you might be trying to mosey along through your workday, enjoying a relaxed pace of work.

    I find that this is a good week in the office for me to catch up on some work that might not get a priority the rest of the year. Perhaps there are some processes that I’ve been wanting to automate, but never found the time. Perhaps my automation isn’t quite as robust or resilient as I’d like. These are the times when I can actually make a few changes and try to improve a system for the next year. If I finish early, then I’ll often use this as a chance to learn something or tackle some POC that’s on my list.

    That hasn’t always been the case. My first exposure to SQL Server was with a system that went live on Dec 31 at midnight. In the week leading up to the launch, I was working with various other employees and contractors to get a plan in place for the cutover, including new equipment installed and all the various networking and security changes that were required. It was a busy week for me, and one that sticks in my mind. Despite all the prep work and testing, after turning the new system on we found that it couldn’t handle the load. Rollback wasn’t an option, so my 5pm-2am shift didn’t go as planned. I worked through the next day and into the early evening before being relieved.

    If you have a slower week, consider taking advantage of the time to do something interesting at work and have some fun in a way that might benefit you and your employer down the road with a new script, a stronger skill, or even a better way to handle some task. There are still a few days this week that you can use to try something.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.0MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • Dealing with Supervision

    This editorial was originally released on Feb 4, 2013. It is being republished as Steve is out of the office.

    I’ve been working at home for a decade, first for my own company and now for Red Gate Software. In that time, I’ve learned to manage myself, motivate myself, find work to do, and meet deadlines, all of which I’ve done without having anyone manage me. Over the last five years I’ve worked at Red Gate, I’d like to think that I was one of the easier people to manage since I work well on my own. I’m not sure if my various managers would agree, since I know that I can be particular about how I work and not necessarily work closely with others, but at least I haven’t required much of their time.

    A short while back I was talking with a friend that was under pressure to complete a deployment that was proceeding poorly and their manager stood next to their desk, watching, commenting, and asking how long each process would take. I’ve had to deal with that situation in the past, and it was  maddening to me. It’s hard enough to focus and work on a task when there are problems with the technology. Having someone that can’t contribute but is in a supervisory role nearby usually makes things worse.

    Ultimately I think micro-management says more about the manager than the employee. There are trust issues or control issues, or perhaps pressure from the manager’s boss. It can be hard to deal with micro-management, but if you plan to continue your employment, you need to find some way to deal with it.

    There is no shortage of ideas. You can search for “dealing with micro-management” and you will get a wide variety of advice. I’ve tried different techniques in the past and some have worked, some haven’t. The best way to handle micro-management seems to vary with the situation, but it’s good to have a few things to try.

    Steve Jones