Rachel Raises a Toast - to more Liquor!I hope you enjoyed our little anniversary celebration and the chance to hear all that great music on the General Jackson cruise into downtown along the Cumberland River. The past year has gone so fast. Things that I thought might be tough have been easy and [gasp] fun. I hope it's been as fun and easy for you. Thank you for marrying me, Rachel. Thank you for loving me. Now, let's raise a toast to many more years together! … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2009
College Orientation
August 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Took Dylan down to MTSU for orientation. It won't be long before he'll be a full-time student there. Of course, I'm sure he'll be home all the time. After all, it's only a 45 minute drive one-way. That might be a bit long for commuting, but it's definitely fine for coming home on the weekends and occasionally during the week.He pretty quickly made friends and got to see a lot of the benefits and opportunities available around the campus. I, on the other hand, got to hand out with all of the other parents and get lectures about how not to be a helicopter parent who constantly parachutes … [Read more...]
Changing Thoughts on Tithing
August 14, 2009 by 2 Comments
I recently stumbled across a couple articles about tithing that got my mental gears turning. First, on Slate, I encountered this article in an advice column where a reader asked whether it was ok to suspend their tithing while they paid off a credit card. Then I further read about tithing on a more global and historical basis in an article on CBS Sunday.This whole discussion got me thinking about, despite the protest of our most conservative citizens, that our Christian history and ethos informs and colors so much of what the US government does. For example, governments have never paid to … [Read more...]
Ozymandias
August 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveler from an antique landWho said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal these words appear:"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, … [Read more...]
Bitemporal Data
August 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Any IT pro with more than a year or two of experience will have faced the challenges of version control for an application, but what if you have to implement version control for data? The most common way to tackle this problem is implementing something called "bitemporal data". Under this method, each row in a table includes the current valid time and the transaction time. Since two distinct time values are stored, we get the term bitemporal. A great place to start is Adam Machanic's excellent article at … [Read more...]
24 Hours of PASS
August 3, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Join me and many other great SQL Server gurus on September 1st for a 24-hour virtual event, 24 Hours of PASS. I'll be there along with many of the great SQL community speakers (and personal friends) such as Louis Davidson, Kalen Delaney, Steve Jones, Andy Kelly, Brian Knight, Brad McGahee and many more. Each session is one hour in length with a 45 minute presentation and 15 minutes of live Q&A. Local PASS Chapters from around the world will be hosting each hourly segment. If you live in middle Tennessee, northern Alabama, or southern central Kentucky, be sure to check out our great … [Read more...]
More About Successful Directors versus Successful Technologists
August 3, 2009 by 2 Comments
If you're a SQL Server professional who hasn't been to the website of the Professional Association for SQL Server, you're doing yourself a disservice. Membership is free and, in addition to all of the technical resources that it provides, it connects you to a world of networking opportunities with other like-minded professionals. I strongly encourage you to register and then go the second step of creating a PASSport profile. Once you're registered, you can get access to many resources such as live and recorded webcasts, SIG events, and much more. Not to toot my own horn too much, but … [Read more...]
