On the Friday at the end of the Summit we had a 4 hour Board meeting, welcoming new board members Brian Moran and Jeremiah Peschka (and newly elected Tom Larock too). Perhaps out of order, one key thing we discussed was when to have our first in person Board meeting… Read more

I met Rob via email early this year as a volunteer helping with content for PASS, and I’ve been following his blog since then – always interested to see what people that are willing to volunteer are working on. He’s averaging 2-3 posts a month, and almost all of them… Read more

Ran across this list a while back, Jurgen posted his Top 200 Developer Blogs list and an OPML file of the results. Some I recognize, a lot I don’t, but I’m going to add them all to my reader for a couple months and see which one I want to… Read more

Brian Moran (incoming Board member) did a nice interview with Kevin, worth reading, and some good stuff about areas where PASS could do better. I’m hoping that as he gets through the adjustment of not being on the Board that Kevin will continue to think and comment on areas where… Read more

I’m fond of browsing the discount shelf at the bookstore, it’s another way to see books that I might otherwise miss, tending to spend my time around the business and computer section. I found Let’s Create for a mere $2.99 and decided to get it, nothing makes for good family… Read more

I know Thanksgiving has some deeper meanings, but at one level it’s all about the food. Food is a good way to celebrate family, having foods that you all enjoy and evoke good memories. However, cooking all that food isn’t always simple and is often stressful. Some years we’ve opted… Read more

Earlier this week I posted Part 1 and Part 2, today I want to wrap up by thinking about how to handle success and judging success. I think that’s important, because I’m advocating that you (and me) put some extra effort into something that is speculative. No guarantees you help… Read more

Yesterday in Part 1 I wrote about opening doors – the art of showing others what is possible within the context of your own experience. Today, let’s take a deeper look at that idea.

The problem with opening doors is that for most people, they have to be in the… Read more

As a speaker, blogger, even a DBA at work it’s hard to know when you’re having a positive impact on someone you know, and often even harder to know when you’ve successfully opened a door for someone – my phrase for when you show someone possibilities that they didn’t realize… Read more

I read The Deceived a few weeks back and enjoyed it, even though it was the 2nd book in the series, and finally got around to reading first the one. Interesting to learn more about the characters, though even here I feel I’m missing book zero. Hopefully at some point… Read more

I’ve had this on my list of things to talk about someday, a recent post on almost the same subject by Sacha Chua along with my recent experience at the PASS Summit made me decide now was the time to write it!

Professionally I’m outgoing, most of the time. It’s… Read more

In a recent blog post Brent Ozar questioned why PASS decided to relaunch the SQL Server Standard given the failure of other content related projects. A good question, so I’ll devote this update to answering that question as best I can and talking about our plans moving forward.

First though,… Read more

Last Monday was my first day back from the PASS Summit, planned for (and was) a slow day, just starting to catch up and figure out what needed to be done for the week. Tuesday morning was one of those where I just wasn’t focused, always frustrates me when I… Read more

New friend David Easley shared two sources for hot sauce that I wasn’t familiar with:

• http://www.datilsensation.com/products.shtml
• http://www.pepperpalace.com/

I like some spice here and there, lately I’ve been on a wasabi kick. Thinking maybe it would make good holiday gifts, anyone have recommendations? Read more

I grew up watching baseball on TV and playing it too, and for reasons I don’t recall my Dad’s favorite team was the Cincinnati Reds. Every Saturday afternoon was baseball time. I followed along a lot, loved learning the history and the stats, and of course right there in my… Read more

I’m sure you know what I mean when I say that I feel like my ability to task switch and be creative has been degraded lately. Fixing that means a break, and while a good four day weekend can work wonders, it’s not the same as a real break. Of… Read more

A few weeks ago I was looking for a few branded items, happened to run across drink coasters at 4imprint. Minimum order is 500 at .25 each, free setup. Not cheap, but perhaps an interesting way to deliver a message. I’ve used 4imprint before with no problems, not affiliated with… Read more

A short post today, ran across http://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2007/03/08/66-best-quotes-on-time-management/ when I was looking for ideas for my Moo cards. Quotes are fun and sometimes useful, but also all too easy to just find a quote that fits what you want to do. Yet, it’s interesting to think that time management has been… Read more

I was up early again on Friday morning to have breakfast with Patrick Leblanc (SQLLunch man), and then off to a four hour Board meeting, then a few more shorter meetings, finally finishing up the day at 4 pm with a trip to the bookstore and the mall for a… Read more

I’m trying to pay more attention to things that cause me stress and how I deal with the stress. It’s helping some to work on the self awareness, but some of the reactions seem to be baked in, very hard to change some things that I perceive as stressful. As… Read more