blog.stuco.me

"I regret to announce — this is The End. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell." - Bilbo Baggins Soon, I'll nuking this blog I've (barely) maintained for the past 6+ years. Time for something 2.0-ish.

I'm at the end of a very long day which started last night, because I got very little sleep at last night at scout camp. All in all the camp was very successful and the boys had an absolute blast. My discomfort was well worth it for their sakes ;) Coming home is always nice; air conditioning, own bed and home cooking. I'm also glad I took the extra hour on arrival to air out everything before packing it away until the next camp. Tired and sleepy...

It rained for most of the evening, but I was able to catch a brief period of light sprinkling enough for me to pitch my tent. The boys are tenting with other scouts in their patrols, so their accommodations were ready when they arrived. The rain also made it possible for us to light a fire, something we thought might not happen since drought conditions has caused a burn ban for most of the summer. As long as there is moisture on the ground, "light 'em up boys!" Going to bed it was very humid, but by 2:00a or 3:00a temps dipped into the upper 60's and I was chilled enough to crawl into my bag. That felt good. I was woken up at 7:00a by my boys rapping on the fabric of my tent asking for keys to the van so they could get the food out. They seemed to be in very high spirits and that makes a Father's heart happy. The day ahead involves a hike, water activities at the nearby lake and other scouting skills. For now, I sit in my tent listening to the sounds of kids p...

Going camping my boy scouts in a few hours. It's the first campout since the Spring and the first real opportunity for me to unplug from work for a couple of days since the job change. We'll be cooking, hiking and kayaking in temperatures not in the 100's. Look for tweets, status updates and picture blogging.

Being away from a technology as vast as SQL Server for a few years is like reacquainting with an old friend you haven't seen since childhood. Your friend has matured and added a lot of sweet features to his/her list of mad skillz. Getting back into the SQL groove in the middle of 2008 R2's lifecycle and now almost Denali isn't exactly like riding a bike, but the core passion and love for this line of work is fueling my learning and resolve to take the product serious this time. I feel like I've been given a second chance with Database Administration and I aim to invest the time to truly master it. Speaking of Master, Kendra Little ( blog | twitter ) received her Microsoft Certified Master designation in SQL Server today . A very big CONGRATULATIONS to her, because it really is a big accomplishment . :) Fellow Dallas/Fort Worth resident Sean McCown ( blog | twitter ) has posted couple of great articles recently from his daily experiences and highly animated conversation...

Second full day as a bonafide Database Administrator has been completed and I am mentally stretched and swimming in an ocean of question marks that are beginning to form coherent questions, soon to be addressed with my new team members. The mental stretching actually feels good (at the end of the day) and is making me realize that I haven't been really exercising my brain for the past few years. I may have been extremely busy supporting many IT infrastructures at a basic level, but focusing on database technologies for one customer (my employer) at a much deeper level is causing me to really think (Like). Through conversations with the Data Team Leader, I know that she expects me to ask questions without actually telling me that she wants me to ask questions. I only asked a few questions today which were at a very high level. At the time, my meager interrogation felt inadequate given the mountain of infrastructure, process and history I have to learn. But after thinking about it t...