Category: Blog

I am thrilled to announce that I have finally earned my Bachelor’s Science in Information Technology from the University of Arizona Global Campus at the age of 44 with Magna Cum Laude honors. This long journey would not have been possible without the help of my supportive employer, Microsoft, and the love and motivation from my wife.

Continue reading “I Finally Did It”

On July 1, 2020, I was awarded the Microsoft MVP in the Data Platform category. That was a truly elevating moment for me and this blog post is intended to share my journey over the past year.

Continue reading “How I Became a Microsoft MVP in a year”

One of my 2020 goals was to start presenting more. The easiest, and most cost efficient, way to do that is by presenting remotely. Another goal I had was to start creating Big Data Cluster videos for my YouTube channel. These two goals required a different set of tools. I also had no idea how complicated video recording could get. I finally got everything setup the way I want and a few friends asked me about my setup. This blog post will list everything I use and lessons learned.

Continue reading “My 2020 Home Office Studio Setup”

It was an absolute honor to host this month’s TSQL Tuesday. I decided on doing the “Dear 20 year old self” as a way for us to reflect on life. It seemed like this topic hit home with a lot of people. I enjoyed reading each one of the posts.

If you don’t find your post in this Round Up, please email me your link and I will update this post!

Continue reading “T-SQL Tuesday #115 – Dear 20 Year Old Self – Round Up”

Yesterday was my 41st birthday. Twenty years ago, I remember my best friend asking me, “Where do you see yourself when you’re 40?” My reply was something like, “I can’t see myself as a 40 year old.” For some weird reason my mind went blank at 40. It wasn’t like I thought I’d be dead by 40, but I remember thinking of 30 or 35, but not 40. Maybe because 40 was twice my age and just too “far into the future” to think about?! But in a “blink of an eye” here I am twenty-one years later. Funny enough, now I can see myself as an 80 year old. Weird.

Continue reading “T-SQL Tuesday #115 – Dear 20 Year Old Self”

I remember first hearing about the IDERA ACE program a little over a year ago (in 2017). Previous to that, I had no idea that companies existed that helped out the SQL Server community. As soon as I read-up about the ACE program I emailed asking how I could apply. Of course, I had missed the 2018 submission deadline by a few weeks. So I had to wait an entire year to apply…
Continue reading “IDERA ACE Class of 2019”

Paul Randal, of SQLSkills, recently announced a chance to win a free seat in their 5-day IEPTO1 or IEPTO2 classes in October (2017). You can sign up for their SQL Insider’s newsletter here.

I was extremely fortunate to attend IEPTO1 back in Spring 2015 and blogged about it here.

This blog post is hopefully to win a free seat in IEPTO2. Continue reading “IEPTO2: Performance Tuning and Optimization – Part 2 (Competition)”

What Should My Salary Be?

There are two questions that you just don’t ask people. It can create animosity and can even cause relationships to break. One of those questions is, “how much do you make?” Continue reading “What Should My Salary Be?”

Sometimes the best stuff is FREE!

I recently came across this Microsoft site when I was searching for whitepapers. It’s part of the Microsoft Virtual Academy. They not only have free ebooks, but they also have free virtual courses. Continue reading “FREE Microsoft eBooks!”

How To Study Smarter Not Harder

One of my “New Year resolutions” is to increase my knowledge. As an IT professional, it is crucial to stay abreast with the constant changes in technology. The new replaces the old and by the time you get around to learning the new, that becomes old. As someone who works closely with SQL Server, I find it extraordinarily cumbersome to stay abreast of the new trends and technologies. Just SQL Serve 2016 alone has so many cool new features. Imagine the constant updates with Microsoft Azure. All that can be demotivating. Continue reading “How To Study Smarter Not Harder”

Here are the top 5 blog posts of 2016:

1. How to Find Last Login Date of a SQL Server Login? – This was by far the most clicked on blog. It looks like a lot of people need to secure their SQL Server environments :)

2. How to Request a DoD Server Certificate – Working in the DC area, I have a lot of experience working with DISA STIGS, securing and hardening SQL Server. Continue reading “Your 5 Favorite Blog Posts of 2016”

I recently came across a tweet by Microsoft MVP Adam Machanic (b | t) that caught my attention (see below):

EventBrite just sent me an ad for this amazing course! Learn full SQL and Oracle database admin in just 3 hours… https://t.co/eyxbmjqozB

— Adam Machanic (@AdamMachanic) November 23, 2016

Continue reading “Please Avoid Get Rich Quick Schemes Like These”

I follow over 80 people on Twitter. Over 30 of them are MVPs and/or MCMs.

That means when I wake up in the morning and scroll through my Twitter timeline…all I see are tweets to intellectual blog posts, discussions, #sqlhelp replies to tough questions, etc.

This is why following so many MCM and MVPs on Twitter (social media) is like a double-edged sword. Let’s start with the cons: Continue reading “Pros & Cons of Following MCM & MVPs on Twitter”