Dealing with mental wellness and stress

Last year, I wrote about how stress landed me in the hospital. The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with my job loss, created a large amount of stress over the course of that year. Because of that stress, I stopped taking care of myself. And because of that, I got sick and ended up …

The right frame of mind is important for your overall health

I've been holding off on writing about this, but what happened to me is an important story to tell, and a cautionary tale for others who might be going through the same thing. The photo you see above is me lying in a hospital bed about a month ago. And I want to tell you …

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 26: The evolution of emergency services — #EMS #EMT #Paramedic #Television #COVID19

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been spending a lot of time -- probably too much time -- at home. As such, one of the pitfalls is that I'm probably watching way too much TV. Yes, I know, I really need to get out of the house more. With that, one of my …

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 25: Taking the “distancing” out of “social distancing” #COVID19

Before I get into this article, I want to make one thing extremely clear. This article has NOTHING to do with circumventing pandemic protocols or ignoring the advice of Dr. Fauci, the CDC, the WHO, or any other medical professionals. That is NOT what I'm about to write. Please, please, PLEASE keep wearing your mask, …

#DataSaturday

After the demise of PASS, a common question among data enthusiasts and PASS members was, "what happens with SQL Saturday?" SQL Saturday was backed by PASS, and as such, when PASS disappeared, so did SQL Saturday. Enter Data Saturdays, the successor to SQL Saturday. As I write this, the first Data Saturday is in progress, …

Goals for 2021

So, for my first post of 2021, I figured I should list my goals (I refuse to call them "resolutions") for the new year. First and foremost, above everything else, find new employment. I have been unemployed since May 1. For those of you keeping score, that's eight months. 67% of my 2020 was spent …

Requiem for #PASS — #SQLFamily

Many data professionals, myself included, are shocked and saddened by the announcement that PASS will cease operation on January 15, 2021. I'm sure that a large number of data 'bloggers will be posting their thoughts regarding PASS's announcement; this is only one of many such articles, I'm sure. I know that PASS has been under …

#SQLSaturday Minnesota — the debrief #SQLSat1017 #SQLSatMN

I don't think I have to tell anyone what a crazy year 2020 has been (and I won't belabor the point). As such, many of us have had their fill of Zoom meetings and virtual conferences. I've heard a lot from people, myself included, about their dealings with pandemic fatigue and how burned out they …

#PASSSummit2020 part 5: The debrief #PASSSummit #PASSVirtualSummit

(Ed. Note: I had intended to get this out last week, but a family emergency prevented me from doing so, so this article is a week later than I'd wanted to post.) Now that I've had the weekend to recover from a busy PASS Summit 2020 week, I can write about my thoughts and impressions. …

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 22: How TV could make this world a better place #COVID19

TRANSPLANT -- Season: 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) Torri Higginson as Claire Malone, John Hannah as Jed Bishop, Hamza Haq as Bashir Hamed, Jim Watson as Theo Hunter, Laurence Leboeuf as Magalie Leblanc, Ayiah Issa as June Curtis -- (Photo by: Fabrice Gaetan/Sphere Media/NBC) When I was in high school, my friends and I were into …