Category Archives: Random Musings
SQL Saturday 132, Pre-Con
Today I am spending the day at Pensacola State College attending the pre-conference training for SQL Saturday #132 titled “Demystifying Database Administration Best Practices” presented by Microsoft Certified Masters Robert Davis (twitter|blog) and Argenis Fernandez (twitter|blog).
This is my first pre-con and I was excited to meet both Masters as I have talked with them many times on twitter. This was definitely money well spent with the rapid fire style spouting out best practice after best practice answering questions along the way was refreshing.
Typically, I get bored pretty easily if the speaker can’t hold my attention. No problems here. When I get back home I will blog about some of the new things I learned. This has been a great day of learning, SQL awesomeness at its best!
Memorial Day
Today we give thanks to all those veterans and soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom. Soldiers put their lives on the line day after day to ensure our way of life and today we should remember that sacrifice. Both of my granddads in WWII, my uncle in Vietnam, my brother-in-law in Iraq, my cousins in the Army including Patrick who died in service, and my stepdad spent a career in the Navy. I have many other relatives as do most of you who also served. Thank you can never be enough but it’s a start.
Who’s You’re Daddy?
Sitting around my Dad’s house for the Memorial Day weekend which always coincides with my birthday celebration weekend, the subject of ancestry always comes up. My sister and I have been tracking our ancestry especially with my parents are getting older this becomes more important for the two of us to pass this along to our children.j
My wife enjoys listening to the numerous stories of my childhood and all the stories of our family and our crazy relatives; when you’re from the South you always have crazy relatives. The repetition is helpful so that these stories are remembered, now my wife is recording all of this into ancestry.com to coincide with her history. My sister has recorded part of this history, and thankfully we have a Civil War heritage that does not include any Yankees, which would’ve been disgraceful for any self-respecting Southerner. We are also part Native American, as well as Irish and Scottish so you can guess that we have a rich history with alcohol and fighting.
With all of this being said, I am reflecting on family and the greatest lesson I have learned in life is that no matter what happens in life all you have is your family, treasure it! Spend this wonderful weekend with your family. Enjoy.
Rites of Passage
Today my youngest daughter will take her driving test. She is the third one in the house to take the exam and you’d think at this point I would be a pro at this but I’m a nervous wreck. I think I’m more nervous than she is. This rite of passage moves a child along on the journey to adulthood and while I wait here in the office for the results I’m faced with dealing with them growing up. Parenting is a tough job but worth every minute of it. Hug your children and enjoy every minute of them!
Commencement
This week marks the beginning of the end resulting in my daughter’s high school graduation. The commencement. In school, I knew the meaning of the word and was confused as to the usage since the ceremony was the end of an era. Things were never the same after that point for me. Friends drifted apart and out of my life. My adult life commence and my childhood ended.
This is our third child out of four to soon leave the nest and it does not get any easier. We have already become grandparents. This is an amazing stage in our lives as our children become adults and begin their own careers and families. What an adventure! This is the commencement ceremony for the rest of their lives! Enjoy!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Get off the computer and go spend the day with your Mother or Wife! Enjoy and thanks again Mom for everything you do!
Frantic Month
The month of May has been frantic in pace and it has only just begun. Today I returned from a 10-hour round trip to pick my son up from college for the summer and bring all of his belongings back to our garage.
Earlier this week my daughter performed in the high school’s spring concert where she won MVP for the choir and color guard for the junior class as well as letters in both activities. Tonight we are at her starring role performance of the Wiz where she will play Dorothy. We also will have two senior honor banquets for our other daughter, Baccalaureate and her graduation in a few weeks.
In addition, next weekend I will drive my son to Tennessee where he will be employed for the summer as summer camp counselor. Then we will round out the month with Project Graduation, my birthday, and a memorial day deep sea fishing trip to my Dad’s house on the coast. This month will no doubt be hectic, but as the moments we spend with our high school and college children wind down we need to savor these last few moments of their childhood. This is what life is all about! Enjoy!
SQL Swampland Blog Upgrade
Figure 1 - Add to Home Screen
This morning SQL Swampland was configured to be more iPad friendly which includes a new magazine look and feel. In order to get the amazing new cover logo, however, you will have to add the site to your Home Screen which is like a bookmarked icon directly on your iPad. If you were not aware of this feature on your iPad/iPhone, it is a pretty cool feature for website that you visit frequently instead of opening safari and then accessing your bookmarks.
Figure 2 - New iPad Cover Logo
After you add the site to your Home Screen you will see an icon with my face on it, mainly because I do not see a way to change that. After you click on my head, you will see the great new cover logo as shown in Figure 2. When you swipe on the right hand side of the screen you will see the magazine format as shown in Figure 3. With this format in mind, I may add more images because personally I am a visual learner and we all respond to visual stimuli.
I hope you find this useful and will take me with you on your iPad! Enjoy!
Figure 3 - New Magazine Layout
Relay For Life Has Been Completed
John Wayne Pushed Me Onward
Relay for Life 2012 for Sumter County has come and gone. Many people stopped by our team’s booth to chat and buy food: Roy Ponder’s whole sweet corn on the cob was amazing as was his chili dogs. We raised some money, I will update this post later with the exact amount, for a great cause and we saluted our friends and family that have survived cancer. We cheered them on as they completed laps and we walked for our friends and family who did not survive. Even John Wayne came out to cheer us onward.
There were many people who helped our team and I thank them. But I really want to thank Roy and Theresa Ponder for doing most of the work setting up the team, the tent, cooking the food, buying most of the food and drinks. This team is their passion and I am humbled by their spirit of giving for this worthy cause.
I did not walk as far as I wanted to, but I did walk farther than I did last year. I was told in the past that the track was a half mile, so last year I made ten laps for five miles, or so I thought. Last night I found out that the track was only a quarter-mile. So essentially I only walked 2.5 miles last year. This year, I fumbled around with RunMeter on my phone for three laps before I got it working. It reported just under 2 miles but with the .75 miles I walked prior to that I did beat my distance last year, but it was a let down to know that it was such a short distance but it was worth every step!
The music and activities were amazing and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed another successful Relay for Life. Won’t you come out next year?
People Making Their Way Around the Track
Today is Our Relay for Life
Tonight I will be participating in the annual Relay for Life. This is a cause that I believe strongly in as I have had several friends and family members who have beaten and/or lost to cancer. I’m sure my story is no different than most and I am not telling you anything you haven’t already heard. Tonight I will walk for those who cannot and I walk for my children and hope that they will never have to feel the hurt that I have felt losing friends and family to cancer. There is always hope and today is no different. Won’t you join me?
Please join my team or make a donation to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together, we can help make sure that cancer never steals another year of anyone’s life!
SQL Swampland 