Category Archives: Career Advice
Books that I Read in 2012
The year 2012 was a great year for me in many regards, but today I want to acknowledge that I read fifty books this year! Reading is great for your mind and your soul so this year I made a concerted effort to read more and I believe this is the most books that I have ever read in a year.
There was a few books on the list that I have read before, but they were read so long ago that it was great to re-read them and experience them all over again especially the Hobbit and A Stranger in a Strange Land. I read and enjoyed them as a child. In addition, a few of the Star Wars books I read in my younger days but I would like to read the entire Expanded Universe and I thought it was a great refresher to read them all at once. Enjoy!
| Title | Author |
| The Associate | John Grisham |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Outcast | Aaron Allston |
| Atlas Shrugged | Ayn Rand |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Omen | Christie Golden |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Abyss | Troy Denning |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Backlash | Aaron Allston |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Allies | Christie Golden |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Vortex | Troy Denning |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Conviction | Aaron Allston |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Ascension | Christie Golden |
| Star Wars Fate of the Jedi – Apocalypse | Troy Denning |
| Star Wars Cloak of Deception | James Luceno |
| A Stained White Radiance | James Lee Burke |
| Star Wars Darth Maul Shadow Hunter | Michael Reaves |
| Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace | Terry Brooks |
| Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith | Adult Comic |
| Star Wars Rogue Planet | Greg Bear |
| Star Wars Darth Plagueis | James Luceno |
| Star Wars Outbound Flight | Timothy Zahn |
| A Stranger In A Strange Land | Robert Heinlein |
| In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead | James Lee Burke |
| Star Wars The Approaching Storm | Alan Dean Foster |
| Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | R. A. Salvatore |
| Dixie City Jam | James Lee Burke |
| Burning Angel | James Lee Burke |
| Cadillac Jukebox | James Lee Burke |
| Star Wars Shatterpoint | Matthew Stover |
| Cestus Deception | Steven Barnes |
| MedStar I: Battle Surgeons | Steve Perry & Michael Reaves |
| MedStar II: Jedi Healer | Steve Perry & Michael Reaves |
| Jedi Trial | David Shermann |
| Yoda: Dark Rendezvous | Sean Stewart |
| Labyrinth of Evil | James Luceno |
| Han Solo Trilogy: The Paradise Snare | A.C. Crispin |
| Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | Matthew Stover |
| The Rise of Darth Vader | James Luceno |
| Han Solo Trilogy: The Hutt Gambit | A.C. Crispin |
| Han Solo Trilogy: Rebel Dawn | A.C. Crispin |
| The Awakening | Kate Chopin |
| Their Eyes Were Watching God | Zore Neale Hurston |
| A Good Man is Hard To Find | Flannery O’Connor |
| The Ballad of the Sad Café | Carson McCullers |
| The Color Purple | Alice Walker |
| The Testament | John Grisham |
| The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Star Wars Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire | William C. Dietz |
| Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | George Lucas |
| Swimsuit | James Patterson |
| Heir to the Empire (Thrawn Trilogy Book 1) | Timothy Zahn |
| Dark Force Rising (Thrawn Trilogy Book 2) | Timothy Zahn |
Personal Development Plan Part Dos….
The fourth most popular post from 2012 on SQLGator.com
Having posted yesterday about my Personal Development Plan, I read a blog post from Neil Hambly regarding his 2012 goals. Now, I realize that my goals were somewhat vague and easy to worm out of. Here are the goals that I had mentioned yesterday:
- I want to dedicate time everyday to this blog and giving back to the SQL community that has helped me so much over the years.
- I want to continue to dedicate time to the SQL community in social media.
- I want to attend at least ten events this year consisting of SQL Saturdays, training, code camps, and possible SQL Rally and/or SQL PASS.
Let’s revise those goals to the following:
- I will post daily to this blog in order to give back to the SQL community that has helped me so much over the years.
- I will spend time daily helping people on twitter, SQL blogs…
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Great News for my Goals
Today I received word, after a lengthy four-month process, that my petition to return to the University of Florida after 23 years has been approved. This was one of the major goals that I set for myself last year and this year and now it has been accomplished. I have always felt a gaping hole inside having never completed my degree, not because I really needed it, but because it has always burned inside of me as a personal failure. At this stage in my career it is probably not necessary, but it is something I set out to do and never accomplished. It will be completed, I will not leave this world willingly without accomplishing this goal.
To Mac or Not To Mac
I have been debating internally for months on the decision to buy a Mac. I have been wanting one for a while now mainly because I want to learn to write iOS apps and return to my programming roots. After having an iPhone and iPad for several years this is the next logical step, obviously.
I have programmed in Unix, Linux, DOS scripting, Windows with Progress, Delphi, C++, and Visual Basic as well HTML. Do not get me wrong my passion is SQL Server, but I enjoy creating things as a hobby now mostly.
I think I will buy one but I think the timing is off, probably better to wait until after Christmas. Enjoy!
Moving On Up, To the Eastside
Yesterday was a good day, I was officially promoted to Senior Administrator late in the afternoon. Same job, a little more pay, but mainly recognition by my employer that they appreciate my performance. That is always a great feeling and a great way to start the weekend.
How will that change my day-to-day routine? It will not, except maybe that I will walk a little taller and have a bounce in my step. It is interesting to note that there have been rumblings of creating additional pay grades so that technical people like myself can advance further without going into management. However, if that does not happen then I have reached the proverbial glass ceiling as I prefer to be a DBA instead of a manager, to be honest.
I truly cannot see myself at the same pay grade for the rest of my career. Money isn’t everything, but raises on a regular basis say that you appreciate me and my work and that you value my performance. Always the optimist, I think everything will work out for the best, so no worries.
Enjoy your weekend!
Roll of the Dice
My wife and I are confronted within the next year with an interesting quandary. Come August, we will be empty-nesters at a young age. Our children will be either on their own or in college. This puts us in a unique position to move onto the next stage of our life. We still have around twenty years left in our professional careers, but where do we want to spend that? Do we stay in our beloved small town?
At this point, it does not look like our children will stick around to start families here so there is really nothing other than a lifetime of friends holding us to this town. We will however, keep our house and possibly move back here for retirement. Do we take the plunge and move somewhere totally outside of our comfort zones and reap the rewards. Do we live the life of nomads moving every couple of years to a new town just for the sake of new and exciting opportunities? We almost feel like high school seniors trying to pick the right college. What do you think?
Testing Candidates?
When hiring SQL Server professionals it would seem to be a no brainer that you would test the candidates? Especially if you are looking for mid-range or senior level candidates. Maybe a technical interview gives you some level of insight into the candidate, but today I saw a DBA test and I was impressed. The test was simplistic in nature but the questions would definitely tell you whether the candidate could handle the day-to-day things that a mid-level DBA should come across. Obviously you could google the answers, so this would have to be administered on site.
What are your thoughts? Do you test your candidates?
Milestones, Keeping Them in Perspective
Today is my daughter’s last high school marching band competition. Being my youngest daughter, her senior year has been filled with “lasts” and she has been nostalgic to say the least, probably more so than my other children because she is the youngest. For me this is bittersweet as we will never experience these moments again in our lives but we also know that next year will bring many new “firsts” for her.
In life we have to keep milestones in perspective. I am more excited about her “firsts” than her “lasts” but cannot help but be a little sad at the same time because I know she will leave the nest in a few months and our nest will be empty for the first time in over twenty years. That will be a new “first” for us. A challenge to be sure. Enjoy!
Write for Life
Often I am asked why I blog daily. The answer is simple, I write for life! What started out as a Blog365 challenge to write a blog post a day every day for a year in order to force myself to write something down daily has turned into a lovely habit. At this point, I cannot imagine a time when I did not blog. I cannot imagine why I did not start this habit a few years ago. But I cannot cry over that, what’s done is done. I am here now and I write for life.
Writing is cathartic, it is somewhat like exercise for the brain. Do you have a few thoughts you would like to share? Start a blog, write for life. Enjoy!
Growing or Dying? Your Choice!
This morning as I return back to my SQL boxes after a week of unrelated vendor training, I ponder the truth from Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now “every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger.” In other words, every minute I work on some other task, my SQL Server skills are diminishing. This is a sad truth mainly because some tasks are inevitable and must be completed. However, we must combat the atrophy with additional training and flexing our proverbial SQL muscles at every opportunity within an adequate life balance, of course.
How can I flex my SQL muscle today? I think I will watch some MCM videos to thoroughly work out the muscles. Enjoy!
SQL Swampland 