Dear Old Self, read these blogs...

on February 13, 2009

in General, Professional Development, Syndicate

I just got back from a New England SQL Server Users Group meeting. Andy Leonard (twitter: @AndyLeonard, blog) gave a great presentation on Change Data Capture and SSIS 2008.

At the beginning of this week, I posted about things I wish I knew when I started. I tagged a couple people asking them the question and they tagged others. It is interesting to read through and see the lessons folks have learned along their careers. Some commonality between them, some new lessons for me from them.

While the meme thing can be a bit annoying (ala chain letter), it was actually a way to find some interesting blogs to add to my feed reader. I am probably missing some but at the end of this post I will list the links to those that I had compiled at the time of writing.

Some of the common themes and items that stuck out for me:

It’s all about the community – Nearly every person who posted mentioned something about getting involved. Be it user groups, newsgroups, forums, PASS, etc. Get involved, network and learn. The relationship may start out parasitic(and that is fine, we all started that way) but it grows to be mutualistic really quickly.

Learn – This came in different forms: Be passionate about a product, read the manual, don’t be afraid to ask a question. The point is –> Commit yourself to learning about the skill set(s) you are planning your future with. Sure things may change but never stop learning or you might as well throw in the towel.

Reuse isn’t evil – David Stein of made2mentor.com wrote”Before starting a new project, check if a solution already exists…” in his response. He went on to qualify this and I agree. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Of course give due regard to the solution and test it out first (pet peeve of mine 🙂 )

Learn the other pieces – Jason Massie (twitter: @Statisticsio, blog) reminds us that our world (especially as a DBA) has moving pieces that we don’t always control. Learn the hardware that you rely on. Know it cold so you can ask the right questions and get the right support.

And from the humor department (though there is truth in jest), your superhero tights can become dysfunctional with an extra 30 lbs. (Thanks, @SQLBatman). This response has humor but it brings up a good point: take care of yourself. This is a job, be passionate about it, engage in learning but don’t make it your life. Enjoy your family, take care of your body, get some fresh air and make a fool of yourself on occasion.

Links to some of the responses that I found (they are all great reading and have other interesting blog posts to discover while visiting). In no particular order:

If I didn’t catch yours, I am sorry. Post a comment so I can read it or send me a tweet

Community, meme, Quiz

Article by Mike Walsh

Mike loves mentoring clients on the right Systems or High Availability architectures because he enjoys those lightbulb moments and loves watching the right design and setup come together for a client. He started Straight Path in 2010 when he decided that after over a decade working with SQL Server in various roles, it was time to try and take his experience, passion, and knowledge to help clients of all shapes and sizes. Mike is a husband, father to four great children, and a Christian. He’s a volunteer Firefighter and EMT in his small town in New Hampshire, and when he isn’t playing with his family, solving SQL Server issues, or talking shop, it seems like he has plenty to do with his family running a small farm in NH raising Beef Cattle, Chickens, Pigs, Sheep, Goats, Honeybees and who knows what other animals have been added!

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