Blog Posts

Why I Quit My Job(s)

July 4, 2012

I’m far from a job-hopper – I like to stick with a company for as long as I can. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence because it’s Astroturf. But when you’re in a long-term relationship – whether it’s with a company or your significant other – the tiniest things can drive you crazy. We start to dwell on those small problems, and they bother us more and more until we’re ready to walk away and start again somewhere else over the tiniest thing. Maybe we got passed up for that 3% raise this year, or…

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Wanna Join Me at Dinner at Connections or SQLSaturday NYC?

June 10, 2012

conference, restaurants, travel, wd-50

I love restaurant experiences – not just good food, but experiences – things we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. I’m fortunate enough to have two upcoming trips where I can share these experiences with others. Here’s a couple of trips coming up this fall that I’d love to share with you if you’re going to these conferences: Wylie Dufresne at Work SQLSaturday New York City August 4 – My second-favorite restaurant in the world is Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50. This Top Chef Masters contestant specializes in molecular gastronomy, the science of cooking food. No, not cooking – cooking as…

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Easy In-Case-of-Emergency iPhone Lockscreens with MemeGenerator

April 25, 2012

iphone, memegenerator, memes

If you get into a horrible, nasty accident doing whatever it is you do, help the police and ambulance crews track down your loved ones. On your phone, go to MemeGenerator.net. At the top, click on God Tier, Demigod Tier, and so forth until you find an image that matches your incredible sense of style: MemeGenerator.net Click on the image you’d like to caption, and at the top right, there’s a form where you can fill in your own witty gem. The two edit boxes correspond to the top and bottom of the image. Below the edit boxes, you should…

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Where I Find Inspiration

April 2, 2012

art, inspiration, keynotes, personal

If you only look for inspiration in your own field, you’ll never break new ground. Instead, whenever you find something interesting or exciting in any field whatsoever – television, books, art, food, architecture, fashion, business, weather, anything at all – stop to examine it. What is it that makes you interested? Why can’t you take your eyes away? What’s the root quality about that experience that brings joy to your heart? Then ask yourself, “How can I build that into my own work?” I’d like to tell the stories of some of my favorite past inspirations, times when I’ve taken…

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My 6 Rules for Incredible Time Management

March 27, 2012

career, gtd, productivity

I’m always surprised when people say, “I don’t know how you do all that stuff.” I feel like I hardly do any work at all, honestly – I think I’m the least hard working person of anybody I know. I just follow six simple rules: Even my mirror self-portraits are incredible. And by that I mean lacking credibility. Rule #1: Decide that you want to be incredible. If you’re okay with doing an okay job, then you don’t need any time management. But if you want to have incredible results, you’re going to have to do incredible work. That doesn’t…

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Why I’m Skipping the Microsoft MVP Summit

February 24, 2012

microsoft, mvp, travel

Every year, Microsoft invites thousands of IT professionals to its hometown turf, puts us up in nice hotels, and puts up with us, period. They conduct sessions led by Microsoft staff who let us in on upcoming stuff, and we complain about all the ways it won’t work. We throw things, we drink a lot, and somehow Microsoft grits its teeth and keeps bringing us back. Tim, Jeremiah, and Kendra at the MVP Summit Event at Safeco There’s really only four benefits to being an MVP: Free software A cool badge on your bio slide The MVP email distribution list…

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My Home Office Setup – 2012

February 18, 2012

chicago, computer, desk, home office, productivity

I’m running out of excuses to produce bad T-SQL: My Home Office Setup We just finished moving up the street in downtown Chicago, and I’ve finally made it: I’ve got the proverbial corner office. The view north up Michigan Avenue: Heading North That’s Millennium Park, home of the Bean, Buckingham Fountain, and lots of festivals. On the left side, the Art Institute and the Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion finish up the park just short of a line of skyscrapers including the Microsoft offices where our local user group meets. The view east toward Lake Michigan: Beyond My Monitor When I look…

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Join Me In Building a Story

February 2, 2012

disneyland, health, life quest, marathon, running

Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I worked at Southern Wine & Spirits in Florida alongside Ben Block. Ben was a fellow member of the Windows team, and we managed stuff like storage, VMware, SQL, and a bunch of other applications. Ben and I shared the pale, flabby skin that marks so many of us IT geeks. (We both still have it, by the way – this isn’t an inspirational story about getting skinny or tan.) We ate bad food, worked long hours, and sat in office chairs the whole time. Oh, sure, we’d get up every…

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And they wonder why my stuff is negative.

Blog Posts I Couldn’t Develop in 2011

January 23, 2012

blogging, inspiration, writing

I keep a list of blog post ideas in RememberTheMilk.comin case I run out of ideas. After piling up dozens of them, I’m giving up and setting some of my favorites free. If I couldn’t write these in 2011, I’ll probably never get around to it. If you’re looking for inspiration, here you go: Why Bad People Hate Good DBAs – Developers hate us because we find flaws. Sysadmins hate us because we identify hardware problems. Network admins hate us because they can’t blame the database. Just because people hate you doesn’t mean you’re doing a good job, though. 5…

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PASS Board Brouhaha BS Bulletin

January 18, 2012

#passvotes, pass, sqlpass

You, dear reader, have a real job that doesn’t afford you the ability to follow this kind of gossip, so lemme bring you up to speed. Dec 28 – Board Election Results Announced The Professional Association for SQL Server held their elections for Board of Directors, the people who shape the direction of the community, SQLSaturdays, and the annual PASS Summit. Here’s the final tally: Adam Jorgensen – 1,026 Denise McInerney – 990 Rob Farley – 958 Sri Sridharan – 781 Kendal Van Dyke – 762 Geoff Hiten – 526 There were 3 spots open, so Adam, Denise, and Rob…

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Blog Posts

Hi. I’m Brent.