Not every DBA has the time to sit down and spend a couple of hours learning about some new topic in SQL Server. But most DBAs can find 15 to 30 minutes to squeeze in a little learning, here and there. That is the concept behind www.sqllunch.com, a new website devoted to providing short bits of training that can fit into most any schedule.
Starting Wednesday, December 9, 2009, I am on vacation until Monday, January 4th, 2010. Instead of traveling somewhere else for my vacation, I will be staying home in Hawaii, catching up after a busy year of travel.
I was just compiling my travel statistics for the year, and this is what I discovered (somewhat to my amazement):
I knew I had traveled a lot, but I hadn’t realized that I was on the road for 125 days, a record for me. I am already planning my travel for 2010, and I think I will try to reduce my traveling, although it will certainly still be a busy travel year.
Today was the first official day of the full (3-day) conference, with about 2,200 full conference attendees. Officially, PASS claims there are 2,998 registrations from 46 countries, but that number includes pre- and post-con attendees (who are also attending the full conference), plus Microsoft employees.
As you might expect, the Seattle Convention Center was packed with DBAs all wearing their orange and brown lanyards with their attendee badge, many carrying bags of swag they picked up from the various vendors attending the conference.
After making seven presentations in Australia, I headed to New Zealand where I made four presentations in four cities, on four successive days. Because my schedule was so packed, I only got a couple of days in Auckland (New Zealand’s most populace city) to visit the sites.
The photo is of the Auckland Sky Tower, the tallest free-standing building in the Southern Hemisphere, even taller than the Eiffel Tower. It was about a 10 minute walk from my hotel, and I had a chance to go up and see all of Auckland in one fell swoop. I also went sailing (Auckland is known as the “City of Sails”), and to go on a dolphin and whale watch, where we saw hundreds of dolphins, but only one whale. If you really want to see whales, visit the Big Island of Hawaii (where I live) between January and March, and you can see hundreds of Humpback whales, even from the shore (no boat required).
On Tuesday, October 13, I spoke at the Sydney SQL Server Users Group, presenting on “How to Get the Most Out of the SQL Server 2005/2008 Profiler,” the last of my seven presentations made on my Australia speaking tour.
The group meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Mechanics School of Arts in downtown Sydney. Most meetings draw 65 or more people.
I spoke at the Melbourne SQL Server Users Group on Monday, October 12, 2009. The group meets at lunch time the 2nd Monday of each month in downtown Melbourne. I spoke on Getting the Most Out of the SQL Server 2005/2008 Profiler. The group is hosted by Greg Low, and sponsored by SolidQ Australia.
Brad M McGehee 