Second Job
A little over a week has gone by since my first blog post went out. Somehow I’ve shipped four blog posts during that time and I’m warming up to the idea of sharing things with the internet. My first few were preliminary steps in getting set up for learning, sharing, and experimenting.
So far I have:
- An old server (that has worse specs than my cell phone) that I’ve turned into a lab
- An Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS fresh install
- Concocted a ridiculous experiment with Git, PowerShell, and SQL Server
Last Week Was Nuts
Yes, I work full time as well. The office itself gets a bit less chaotic this time of year as we wind down towards the holidays; for my department, we work to wrap up projects and start planning our 2019 technology strategy. It’s fantastic having this opportunity to focus on new technology and acquiring new knowledge. It’s also fantastic not spending nights and weekends putting out fires and fixing shit. Instead, I can focus on building upon the solid foundation we have created over the past few years.
The following are some of the infrastructure projects that we have completed:
- Built a data warehouse and a robust BI infrastructure with ETL, MDS, and Tableau Server
- Upgraded from SQL Server 2008R2 to SQL Server 2016
- Constructed a disaster recovery infrastructure spanning two data centers with a Multi-Subnet Availability Group
- Implemented development and testing environments
- Introduced source control into our workflow
This Week Is Nuts
Our Senior Software Engineer had to bail on the Live 360 Conference and they were able to transfer registration over the weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hardly had time to look over the sessions. But I will say this, the first session I attended with @SQLChicken, @SQLBalls, and @JoshLuedeman was exceptional. I’ll have a review of the event and my experience posted in the near future.
Besides catching up on work things during the breaks, I also have to somehow manage to:
- Make my first appearance at the SQLOrlando meetup this Wednesday after the evening session at Live 360. I’ve recently discovered this group and I’m very much looking forward to joining the local community.
- Write a couple of blog posts to keep the momentum going and get my “writing legs” underneath me.
- Squeeze in some Christmas shopping.
I’m grateful that my Junior SQL Developer (DBA in training) is really outstanding and I can trust him to get things done in my absence. It says a lot about his character and where his career is headed.
And with that, I’m out. Hope you all have a great week.
What are you looking to accomplish over the holidays?
Is there any one new SQL technology that you are most excited about?
Let me know in the comments below. Until next time.
-Chris
