Howdy all. A couple pieces of housekeeping on the blog to share with you.

First, I have the pleasure of announcing that I’ve been asked to speak on failover options for SQL Saturday #49 in Orlando, FL on 10/16/10. Andy and the gang down there always do a bang-up job with their annual event. I have no doubt this year will be just as memorable. More on that as we get closer to the event, but make sure to be on the lookout for the #SQLSat49 Twitter hashtag.

Next I’m happy to announce that I’ve been asked to present on failover/DR options for the 11/17/10 Jacksonville SQL Server Users Group monthly meeting. This will be my first presentation to a user’s group after more than a half-dozen SQL Saturdays. So while slightly nervous, I accept the task head-on and look forward to the night with great anticipation. We always go out for munchies and beverages afterward, so if you’re in the Jacksonville area, would love to see you there.

Permanent links to both these events are across the silver bar at the top of this page.

And finally, I’ve updated the resume attached to this site via the Google Docs link at the top to reflect my most recent position here in Jacksonville.

Thanks and have a grateful day…Troy

The Grateful DBA is happy to announce that I’ll be speaking at several SQL conferences this spring and summer.   Not exactly what one would designate a “whirlwind tour,” yet nonetheless I’m truly looking forward to each for many specific reasons.  I will be speaking at each of these conferences on a subject which consumes much of my day; transactional replication.  So…if you happen to catch it more than once and it sounds familiar, now you know why.

The schedule and a couple notes about each event…

• 4/24/10, SQL Saturday #41, Atlanta, GA – Besides the normal “I’m-REALLY-looking-forward-to-this-SQL-Saturday” reasons, this weekend has an extra bonus attached, and it’s called Railroad Earth.   For those not familiar with this wonderful bluegrass-rock-roots-jam band, search them out on MySpace, YouTube, etc for a taste of their style.  Anyway, they just so happen to be at the Variety Playhouse that evening after the conference and I will of course will be making my way downtown to boogie.

• 5/8/10, SQL Saturday #38, Jacksonville, FL – This event holds a special place in my heart only because it’s put on by my local SQL Server user group, JSSUG.  I will be taking an active role in not just presenting, but helping Brian, Devin, & Scott prepare in any way needed.  It takes place right around the corner here in Jacksonville on the lovely campus of The University of North Florida.

• 6/5/10, SQL Saturday #22, Pensacola, FL – You may have guessed by now that these SQL Saturdays are numbered sequentially, and this one being #22 tells me they’ve been working on getting it together for quite a while.  The official presenter’s list has not been decided upon yet as I believe the call for speakers hasn’t technically closed.  I have of course applied to present and certainly hope to be asked to speak.  Either way, I will attend this fine event as a day of free training with some of the top SQL minds in the country is just too good to pass up. (Edited 4/19/10:  Speaker’s list appeared over the weekend…it’s official!  See ya there!!)

• 7/31/10, SQL Saturday #40, Miami, FL – Same thing here as for Pensacola; the call for speakers won’t close for another month or so, but I certainly hope to be asked to present.  Despite the expectation of oppressive heat (c’mon, it is South Florida in July), I always love traveling south the length of my home state as well as catching up with several close friends I happen to have in the Boca/Palm Beach area.

If you attend any or all of these events, please please make sure to find me and say hello.  I truly look forward to meeting the 3 people who read my blog. 

Have a Grateful day…Troy

Paul Randal asked yesterday in his blog, “What three events brought you here?”  As I read through his post and then Scott Gleason and Brent Ozar’s follow-ups, I thought to myself perhaps it might an interesting exercise to answer this question in an honest way. Narrowing down 42 years into three occasions at first seems like a daunting task, and it probably is. But since the Cowboys are getting their tail kicked by the Vikings at this particular moment, and that’s depressing the cr@p out of me, I think I’ll give it a go.

1. 4/7/85 – I can hear it now, “we knew you’d include your first Dead show.”  Well congrats, you were spot on.  As cliche as it sounds, indeed that show was a major life occasion for me.  I don’t mean it in a “wow, did I get f’d up that night” kinda thing either.  I found my second family that spring evening; one that hasn’t left a day since then.  It’s hard to explain, but an intangible element pervades the atmosphere at these events that I’ve been unable to recreate in any other form since.  Jerry and the boys still to this day (even a full 15 years since his passing) bring peace and order to my life.  The music and my Dead family fill my mind with joy and purpose and expect they will for a very long time.   Been struggling with a nasty replication problem all day?  Hmmm, how ’bout a mind-numbingly sweet 5/8/77?  The devs insist it’s a SQL problem but you’ve run trace after trace proving otherwise?  How about a smokin’ 8/29/83 to soothe your soul?  I suspect strongly that a lot of you won’t really appreciate this as much as I do.  But you all will have to agree that whatever you find in life that feeds the soul, be it fishing, knitting, riding your motorcycle, or the Grateful Dead; sometimes that’s all you need to put you in the right place.  The late Bill Graham said “The Grateful Dead aren’t the best at what they do.  They’re the only ones that do what they do.”
2. The day in 1998 I left Chrysler Financial – After graduating from Delaware in 1989 (go Hens), I did what most art majors do; worked in a restaurant.  After eight years running IHOPs, Pizzeria Uno’s, Perkins, and a couple Olive Gardens, I had had enough coming home smelling like a fryer every night.  Taking a position in suburban Philadelphia w/ CFC in their customer service department eventually brought me here to sunny Florida.  For that, actually I’m pretty happy.  But the job itself (post-repossession collections) was absolutely horrible.  Dunning people for money you know they didn’t have will wear tirelessly on you.  It wasn’t long before I ached to do something else; something more fruitful both mentally and fiscally.  It was then I turned my life around by leaving Chrysler, getting an evening job waiting tables, and going back to school and getting my technical degree.  It was a difficult several years but changed things for me monumentally.  Shortly thereafter, I landed my first position as a business analyst and Microsoft Access specialist.   A few years later here we are.  Not only has my income multiplied several-fold since Chrysler, but more importantly; I actually enjoy waking up in the morning and going to work.  You can’t put a money value on that.
   
3. Orlando SQL Saturday 2009 – Now I realize this was a few months ago, but this was the day that truly awakened me to the depth of the SQL community.  Yes, I’d heard of Twitter.  Yes, I read a couple blogs here and there.  But it wasn’t until this Saturday that I was made aware of just how much of a brotherhood that existed within the SQL professionals all over the world.  Connected in real time by the miracle of the internet and this “new” technology called Twitter, I shortly came to realize just what resources and kind individuals were out there.  Sessions from my new friends Jorge Segarra and Andy Warren cemented this new found knowledge.  Within a few days, the GratefulDBA Twitter account had been opened and the beginnings of this blog were starting to take shape.  If I had to pick a single day that brought me into the world of blogging, this would have to be it.

Mark Twain said, “Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Have a Grateful day…Troy