Well, I set 7 professional goals for 2009 and I did okay in meeting them, but I was not successful in all and, really, that is only because I did not put in the time to get them all done.  So let’s go through them and see how I did: Read more

I recently had the opportunity to present,  Nuggets Found by Mining the Default Trace, for SQLLunch.  This was my first time presenting via Live Meeting (or any on-line meeting functionality for that matter) and it was quite different.  I have presented technical contant at several user groups and… Read more

Merry Christmas to everyone.  As many of you know, at least I hope you do, I am a born-again Christian and try to live my life according to the Bible, so I’d like to share what Christmas means to me at this time.

There are many scripture passages that are… Read more

I just found out that I’ve been accepted to speak at SQLSaturday #32 – Tampa on January 23, 2010.  My session will be:

Why Should I Use Stored Procedures?

With the proliferation of ORM Tools like Linq To SQL, NHibernate, there has been a move to no longer use stored…

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I did my first SQLLunch today and it was fun.  I don’t know how many attended, my last look was 12, so not a huge crowd, but that’s okay.  It is definitely different presenting online versus in-person and there will be a blog post soon about how I found it… Read more

I know you all are clamoring for the opportunity to have lunch with me so I agreed to do a SQLLunch on Monday, December 21.  Doing it this way will allow more people to enjoy lunch with me.

I’ll be speaking on Nuggets Found by Mining the Default Trace. … Read more

The Reported Problem

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a former employer because an SSRS report I had written several years ago was no longer returning the data that was expected.  The report returned Manufacturing Instructions that were attached to an Order or Order Item and was used… Read more

I was tagged by Ken Simmons (@kensimmons) in the blog chain started by David Stein (@made2mentor).  Here’s Ken’s post and the original.  There are several other posts including ones by Brent Ozar (@BrentO) and Thomas LaRock (@SQLRockstar).  So I guess I’ll… Read more

When SQL Server 2005 was released Microsoft made a major change to the client tools provided with SQL Server, moving from Enterprise Manager for management tasks and Query Analyzer for scripting to the Visual Studio-based SQL Server Management Studio.  I have to admit that when SSMS was released I didn’t…

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This was the first meeting where I really lead most of the meeting.  Andy Warren (@sqlandy) did the networking at the beginning and the raffle at the end while I did announcements and set the agenda.  As usual, I forgot to mention something at the beginning, the Florida… Read more

T-SQL Tuesday was started by Adam Machanic (@AdamMachanic)  on his blog to encourage SQL Bloggers to share their tips and tricks about a specific topic once a month.  A great idea and a great way to get a topic to blog about!

I’ve been working with SQL Server… Read more

Alternative title for programmers using C-derivatives and Java:

Good Programmer == Lazy & Dumb?

I read this blog post, Why Good Programmers Are Lazy and Dumb, and it struck me a being an excellent perspective.  Especially with these 2 quotes:

Lazy, because only lazy programmers will want to…

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Several months ago I received a copy of the Apress book, Pro SQL Server 2008 Administration (Amazon) by Ken Simmons (@kensimmons), a friend of mine, and Sylvester Carstarphen (this is my disclaimer that I didn’t buy the book).  Well, I finally finished the book and can…

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