On Wednesday I gave a presentation to the St. Louis Visual Basic.Net user group.  I really enjoy speaking to this group, they never look like they are falling asleep and we always have a lively discussion.  I spoke about indexes, using estimated query plans to troubleshoot queries and the procedure… Read more

We recently received a script for a modified stored proc from a vendor.  My colleague ran the script on the test database, but the application owner wasn't ready to test the new functionality.  My colleague knew she had to revert back to the old proc and scripted out the proc… Read more

I am a big fan of automating whatever I can and being proactive.  The more proactive you can be, the less fires to put out and the less stress you have.  I was reading the 7 Habits book at one time which suggests that you can carry around a little… Read more

I can think of three ways to insert just the missing rows from one table or query into another table. 

The first way is so ugly that I hate to even bring it up, yet I know that there are developers and (gasp) DBAs using this very technique.  Basically, you create… Read more

After years of mild weather in the St. Louis area, this is the second time we have been hit hard in a year.  In July, two storms in one week left hundreds of thousands of homes without power in 95 degree plus temperatures (F) .  On Thursday afternoon this week, an… Read more