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One of the most difficult things in Asia for a Westerner to get used to is the "squat toilet". What's a squat toilet, you ask? As you can see at right, there's no relaxing on one of these babies. You simply crouch over it and let 'er rip. Of course, if you don't get your trousers out of the way properly, they'll be in the toilet. But I guess you learn to deal with it.Another kind'a weird thing about the Asian scene is their enjoyment in Cosplay. Cosplay means "costume play". It's just like with little kids playing dress up ("I'll be the doctor, you be the patient.") except that they're adults … [Read more...]

You can tell it's conference season because I get a lot of interviews around the time that the annual PASS conference is on the horizon. You can see my latest interview (text only, thankfully) at http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/97021/97021.html.Enjoy!-Kev … [Read more...]

Well, Quest has turned around another video of me touting a new white paper. I think that I look better in this one, but sound worse. Of course, I'm horribly embarrassed by all of these videos. So, no matter how good I look, I still feel uncomfortable about them.On another note, I've read a few books in my most recent travels that are worth mentioning. First, are two books from Christopher Moore - The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Fluke. Moore is best known for concocting interesting characters and situations, then turning them into slightly wacky laugh-fests. BTW, the topics are rated R … [Read more...]

My daughter Emily tagged me on her blog. Now, I have to respond to her tagging me and then tag 6 other people. And since she got tagged by her mom, I'm sure that her mom and all of her mom's blogging friends aren't available for me to tag. Ugh!Alright- the rules are we must list 6 weird things about ourselves, then tag 6 more people. Each player has to clearly state the rules and then leave a comment on each person's blog, telling them that they've been tagged and to read your blog. Here are my 6 weird things:1. I used to be able to blow air out of my tear ducts. When underwater, I could blow … [Read more...]

I can't believe it, but somehow I forgot to post pictures of things that the kids and I have been up to during October. So here are some pictures of things we've been up to.It was another beautiful fall day in late October when Lakeview Elementary hosted their annual fall festival. We did the usual festival stuff, such as jumping in all of the inflatable play areas and eating lots of fair food. There were lots of games to play and friends to hang out with. I even managed to talk Katie into doing the cake walk. She's normally very shy about that sort of thing. (Of course, I didn't have to talk … [Read more...]

I don't usually post this sort of thing, but these pictures are truly amazing. http://home.att.net/~hideaway_fun/442/planet.htmTake a look and let me know what you think.-Kev … [Read more...]

I've been to Amsterdam a couple times now and I have to say that it's one of my favorite cities in Europe. The weather isn't particularly cooperative much of the time. But both times I've been, the weather has been really nice.The city is surprisingly small and navigable by foot without any problems. The famous canals were mostly just landmarks for me, but many people in Amsterdam use water taxis and even own boats.The city is full of beautiful old churches. However, it's ironic that in a city full of churches AND where there is a national, sanctioned church that very few people actually go to … [Read more...]

Unlike some of my techie book writing friends (e.g. Kalen Delaney, Itzik Ben Gan, or Brian Knight), I do NOT have groupies.I admit I'm a little bit jealous. Doesn't everyone want to have groupies - at least one or two - even if it's just your spouse and kids? But while I have no groupies, I do have a lot of fans and that is really gratifying. I didn't realize how many fans I had until Quest Software held a book signing for me at the PASS Summit two weeks ago.We were giving away my most recent book, "Database Benchmarking" published by Rampant Press. I was really impressed with how long the … [Read more...]

You Are 50% WeirdNormal enough to know that you're weird...But too damn weird to do anything about it!How Weird Are You? … [Read more...]