The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 21: 안녕하세요. 저는 김레몬입니다 #COVID19

In case you don’t read Korean Hangul, here’s what I wrote above.

“Hello. I am Raymond Kim.”

Phonetically, it would sound like this.

“Annyeonghaseo. Jeo-neun Gimrehmon-imnida.”

At this point, you’re probably wondering what this is all about. Why am I introducing myself in Korean?

Well, this is another COVID-19 pandemic project undertaking. For whatever reason, last night I decided that I needed to reconnect with my ancestral culture. Don’t ask me what prompted me to pursue this, because, quite frankly, I have no idea. (It might have something to do with me poking around TripAdvisor the other day.) What I can tell you is that this is something I’ve been meaning to pursue for a long, long time. Despite being Korean-American and growing up in a Korean household, I never learned the language. My late grandmother, who spoke almost no English, tried to teach me when I was young, but I never quite grasped it. I had a hard time with it. It probably didn’t help that, because she didn’t speak English, she couldn’t explain to me what she was trying to teach me.

Other than my family, my other source of the Korean language came from watching M*A*S*H reruns.

Last night, I found a Korean language learning program online, and decided to check it out. I signed up for an account and started my latest learning endeavor.

I stayed up past my bedtime — until 1 am.

I discovered that Hangul (the Korean written alphabet) is amazingly easy to learn. If you look at Korean characters and get intimidated, don’t be. The way they are structured is actually very simple, and once you grasp the concept, it’s not bad.

Basically, it’s just these concepts.

• Every character is a syllable.
• Every character is structured around a block.
• Each character block is made up of at least one consonant and one vowel. They may have another consonant, and there’s something (I’m still learning about this) that involves double-consonants and double-vowels, but every character is required to have at least a consonant and a vowel.

I think there’s a little more to it than that, but that’s what I’ve learned so far. In one of my lessons from last night, I learned the Korean vowels. I’m drilling myself to remember what they are phonetically (I’m having a little trouble distinguishing between the vowels ㅗ and ㅓ), but so far, I’m enjoying the learning process and am having a lot of fun with it!

Earlier during the pandemic, I decided I would teach myself French. I haven’t stopped that endeavor, but I have slacked off on it. I think I learned more in one night learning Korean than I did in one week of learning French. I’m having a lot of fun with it, I’m finding it easy to learn, and I feel like I’m connecting to my ancestral roots.

Let’s see how much of this I can learn. Hopefully, before long, 나는 한국어로 말할 것이다!*

(*Okay, I used Google Translate for that last bit. Sorry to disappoint you. I’m working on it!)

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#TheBestOf… Bringing the world together by telling us about your special world

A wandering mind can be a dangerous thing. 🙂

If you’re a ‘blogger who’s looking for something to write about, read on. Perhaps this will give you an idea.

This afternoon, I was doing a mundane, household chore (specifically, I was washing dishes and doing some cleaning in the kitchen), and whenever I do mundane chores like that, of course, my mind tends to wander. So today, I decided to write about what my mind was wandering about.

I don’t know what sparked this idea — maybe it was because I had Andrew Zimmern’s Delicious Destinations on the TV in the background. First, a little background. As a first (or maybe it’s second — I never know how these things work) generation Korean-American, I tend to appreciate cultural diversity. I love experiencing cultures and traditions that are not my own. I enjoy traveling, and I wish I could do more of it (only the lack of time or money — usually both — and these days, the COVID-19 pandemic — keeps me from doing so). I have friends and family around the world — maybe not as many as other people who’ve traveled more than I have, but nevertheless, I have friends I’ve made either by friends I already knew who have relocated to other countries, people whom I’ve met through my association with SQL Saturday or other PASS-related endeavors, or through work or school.

I also thought about things to bring the world together. I don’t need to tell you how divisive the world is these days. A while back, I wrote an article about bringing the world together. I started thinking of a way to do that.

So with all that said, here’s the idea that my wandering mind cooked up.

Let’s say that you have a friend from a foreign country or culture — one that is not your own — over to your home area for a visit. You want to show him or her the best of what your culture or your home turf has to offer. What do you show or tell him or her?

Personally, I would like to show my friend everything that my home state of New York has to offer — New York City, Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, apple picking, the Adirondack wilderness, Buffalo chicken wings, the Baseball Hall of Fame, music, county fairs, festivals, historic sites, etc. There’s a lot here to show off.

So, I’ll write an article now and then (usually whenever the mood strikes me) in which I talk about something — whether it’s a place, an art, a sport, a food, whatever — that is significant to me, and I’d like to show off to a visiting guest. I’ll precede these articles using the hashtag #TheBestOf followed by whatever I’ll write about (e.g. “#TheBestOf… Baseball” or whatever).

Here are some ground rules for this project. The topic — whatever it is — is something special or unique to me that I think a visitor would appreciate. It can not be divisive, disrespectful, or disparaging — partisan politics, for example, is verboten — unless it’s within the context of something historically or culturally significant (e.g. Benedict Arnold’s role in the American Revolution, etc.).

And if you’re a ‘blogger and would like to take part, knock yourself out. The best way to think about this little project is to pretend you’re a travel writer describing your home turf or culture. I would enjoy reading about what makes your world special, and what you’d show off if I came over to visit. If you’d like, feel free to refer to this article for reference or context.

Let’s see how this goes. If you’d like to take part, great. If not, no worries. For all I know, this might be the only article in which you’ll see this hashtag.

Have fun!

The power of a single, simple presentation — oh, the places you can go!

This morning, my Facebook memories feed told me that I did a presentation at my local user group five years ago today (this isn’t the first time I’ve written about this). I did a presentation about how to speak the language of technology to those who don’t understand it.

Little did I know at the time that that simple little presentation would end up taking me places.

I had applied to speak at our local SQL Saturday using that presentation, and I wanted to use our user group meeting as a trial run. That evening, I learned a few things about myself.

• I enjoyed public speaking and presenting.
• I was good at it (or so I was told).
• I have a passion for teaching. This was not news to me, but my experience reinforced that passion.

Not only was that presentation accepted for our local SQL Saturday, I have since given that presentation eleven times — including at PASS Summit, and most recently, at a SQL Saturday this past February, just before the COVID-19 crisis hit.

Since I did my presentation at my local user group five years ago, I’ve spoken at a total of twenty-three (and counting) SQL Saturdays, seven in-person user group meetings (including one that was not local), three online virtual user group presentations, a podcast, and PASS Summit. I’ve gotten the opportunity to travel and to make friends because of my experiences!

And those are just my speaking engagements. I’ve also had some other things that have happened, indirectly, because of that presentation.

• I started a ‘blog about professional development topics (this very ‘blog that you’re reading right now).
• I’ve gotten a better sense of my own professional skill sets and gained more confidence in them.
• I’ve started my own business, something that I previously never thought I would ever do.
• Even though I lost my job, I have much more confidence in my own abilities and career prospects.
• My professional network has become much stronger.

I credit all of this to that one, simple presentation that I gave at a user group meeting five years ago today.

So consider joining a user group and doing a presentation. You never know where it could lead.

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 14: Learning a new language #COVID19

When the COVID-19 crisis is over, if someone asks you, “what did you do to improve yourself during the crisis,” how will you answer? For me, personally, I’ll be able to say that I started my own business, I started running more, and I did an online presentation. (Hopefully, I’ll also be able to include that I got a new job, I upgraded my laptop, and I got back into music recording again!)

One thing that has been on my bucket list for some time is to learn a new language. I took three years of German in high school (and a semester in college), but I haven’t practiced it in quite some time, and I’ve very rarely had chances to use it. I haven’t had many practical uses for it. On the other hand, when my wife and I went on vacation up to Québec a few years ago, I found myself wishing that I could speak French. (Besides, France is on my bucket list of places I’d like to visit.) Likewise, I like to frequent Koreatown whenever I’m in New York City, and as a Korean-American, I figured that it would make sense for me to learn my own ancestral language. My grandmother tried to teach me while I was growing up, but she spoke almost no English, and it was hard for me to pick up. As I often tell people, my knowledge of Korean comes from what little my grandmother tried to teach me, and from M*A*S*H reruns.

I’ve heard good things about Babbel, so I decided to look there. Unfortunately, Korean is not one of the language options that they offer. However, they do offer a number of others. I figure maybe French and Spanish might be a couple of good ones, and I can brush up on my German. I had also heard about language programs costing hundreds of dollars — another reason why I’d never pursued this earlier — but when I looked at Babbel, I saw that they had monthly subscriptions for reasonable prices.

So, I’m looking into it. Maybe by the time the COVID-19 crisis is over, when someone asks me what I did, I’ll be able to say that “J’ai appris une nouvelle langue.“

The #Coronavirus chronicles, part 13: Running for my life #COVID19

I’ll admit that the COVID-19 crisis has had me fall into some bad habits. This morning, I decided to address one of them.

Since gyms have been shut down due to the crisis, I have fallen off the wagon when it comes to my CrossFit workouts. I’ve been doing a lot of sitting on my duff. Since I work in IT, it’s the nature of the beast and a job hazard. I woke up this morning to a sunny morning (for once — we’ve had a lot of rain, sunny days have been few and far between, and it’s directly affected my mood, not to mention my motivation), and decided to do something.

It may not be much — I just went around the block a few times — but you gotta start somewhere.

I went to the Couch to 5K website and did a little reading. I’ve toyed with the idea before, but never pulled the trigger on it. For whatever reason, this morning was different. I downloaded the C25K app to my phone, put on my shirt, shorts, and CrossFit shoes, and followed the instructions for Day 1 as I went around the block several times. Day 1 is essentially a 20 minute AMRAP (or maybe EMOM might be more accurate — I’m not sure) that alternates between 90 seconds of walking and 60 seconds of jogging (not including a 5 minute warm-up and cool-down walk at the beginning and end). It sounds pretty easy, but I was still winded by the time I was finished.

Will I keep this up for eight weeks? We’ll see. Right now, the jury’s out. For all I know, I might wake up tomorrow morning and decide that I want to stay in bed. But hey, we all need to start somewhere. Maybe at the very least, when the COVID-19 crisis is over and I’m allowed to go back to my gym, I won’t cringe when the coaches tell me that the WOD is a 5K run.

Going into business for myself, part 2

Earlier, I wrote about the possibility of going into business for myself. That idea is gaining traction.

This is uncharted territory for me. I’ve thought about being self-employed before, but I lacked the knowledge, motivation, and focus about how to approach it, not to mention that the timing just didn’t feel right. Well, now that I’ve reached a possible crossroad in my professional career, the moment now feels right to attack this.

I will mention that there is a precedent within my own family for this. My parents — who are both now retired — owned their own businesses, as do my siblings. I guess it runs in the family, and now it’s my turn!

Last night, I had a meeting with a friend who’s in the business of consulting small businesses. Her website is here, if you want to check it out; I’m listing it here both (1) for my own reference, and (2) to send referrals her way. Drop Lisa a line, and tell her I sent you!

Per her advice, she told me to hire a CPA. It just so happens that I have a friend who’s a CPA. I have a phone appointment with him later this morning.

I spent yesterday afternoon writing up a business plan. I looked into articles about writing business plans, and came across this. I used this (note: link downloads a Word document) as an example to formulate my own. After running my plan past Lisa and asking for her feedback, she gave me suggestions for improving it. I’m still tweaking it as of this morning.

One question that I had: as an individual business owner, how much can I pay myself from my business? I Googled the question, and as it turns out, the question is not as uncommon as I think.

I’ve started working on a website for my business. It’s currently a work-in-progress; I’ll reveal it once it’s closer to completion.

I even have my first client already lined up! I told my friend (and client-to-be) what I was doing, and he had some advice (he, himself, is also a small business owner) and words of encouragement for me.

I will say that, even though I’m looking into doing this, it’s entirely possible that my endeavor might not be enough to pay my bills (at least not at first). So as I’m pursuing this course, I’m still hunting for new employment.

So, the ball is rolling on my endeavor. If the pieces fall in the right places, it’s entirely possible that my new employer will be… myself!

#CareerAdvice from a friend

My friend Steve Jones posted a couple of career-oriented articles on his ‘blog that caught my attention, and I figured they’d be helpful for people possibly looking to make career adjustments. I thought they were worth passing along.

First, Steve talks about job satisfaction. Is your job or career fulfilling to you? Do you enjoy working a hundred hours a week, or would you rather work fewer hours for less pay but manage to balance your work and your life? While Steve’s article doesn’t necessarily answer those questions outright, it does make you think, and I think a number of people can benefit from his thoughts.

Second, he also mentions an offer by Andy Leonard. In an effort to help those who are recently jobless due to the COVID-19 crisis, he is offering free training to those who have lost their jobs. The courses are about SSIS, and you need to email Andy directly to register for the courses (follow the instructions on his ‘blog article).

In that same spirit, while I don’t have wide course offerings I can give, I can provide a link to my online presentation about ‘blogging that I did back in January. I hope you find it helpful.

#SQL101: Installing #SQLServer 2019 Developer on my laptop

A while back, I wrote about installing SQL Server 2016 on my laptop. Since then, Microsoft has released SQL Server 2019. Additionally, I bought a new laptop last November; my tired old HP 4430s had served me well for several years, but it was showing its age, so I decided it was time to upgrade. Since we have updated versions of SQL Server, and I have a (still relatively) new laptop on which to install it, not to mention that I have some time with this COVID-19 isolation, I figured this would be a good time to install SQL Server 2019 on my new laptop.

Before we begin, let me start with my laptop specs. I make no claims that these are the recommended specs for SQL Server, but this is what I have.

• HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14m-dh1xxx
• Intel Core i5-10210U @ 160 GHz
• 8 GB RAM
• Windows 10 Home Edition (it’s what came installed)
• 129GB available disk space

I started by going to the SQL Server downloads page and downloaded the freeware version of SQL Server 2019 Developer. There are a number of versions on this page, including (among other things) a trial version of SQL Server 2019 on-premises and SQL Server 2019 on Azure (and, of course, the Express version of SQL Server). For my rather modest needs, which includes practicing SQL Server skills, writing about it from time to time, and having some fun with it, Developer version should suit my needs.

The link downloaded SQL2019-SSEI-Dev.exe to my machine. I ran the file and was greeted by a screen asking for the installation type.

I decided to use the Custom option. The lazy body in me thought about running the Basic installation type, but since I’m documenting this installation, I figured it would defeat part of the purpose.

The next screen asked where to download the media. By default, it goes to C:\SQL2019. Since most everything I download goes to my Downloads folder, I decided to switch it there. I set it to download to a SQL2019 folder within my Downloads folder. It also indicated that I would need 8.9GB free space, with a download size of 1.4GB. My new laptop doesn’t have the disk size that my old one did, but I still have plenty available, so it shouldn’t be a problem. (One thing I should note: my new laptop uses a SSD, as opposed to the traditional storage disk on my old machine.)

I clicked Install, and the install package started to download.

Once the Installer finished downloading, the SQL Server Installation Center appeared.

I ran the System Configuration Checker, and it came up cleanly. I decided to proceed with installation. I clicked the Installation tab and selected New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.

On the Product Key page, I selected Developer under free edition. The next few screens were straightforward — the only warning I saw was for my firewall — until it got to the Feature Selection screen. I went ahead and selected all features, which would take up 14GB of disk space. If you’re installing SQL Server on your own machine, you’ll need to decide what features you want to install at this point.

I went with the default instance for the instance configuration.

I selected standalone PolyBase-enabled instance. I’m using this on a standalone configuration, after all.

Since I don’t have Java installed on my machine, I used the Open JRE included with the installation. If you have Java on your machine, you’ll need to determine what instance of Java you want to use.

Under Server Configuration, I used the default service accounts. There’s a note that reads: “Microsoft recommends that you use a separate account for each SQL Server service.” I am not sure about the implications of using the default service accounts; this would be a question for someone who knows more about SQL Server than I do.

Under the Database Engine Configuration, I went with Windows authentication mode. If I was installing this under any configuration other than my own machine and login, I would not go with this option; I would use Mixed Mode and specify a SQL user account. I added myself (clicking Add Current User) as the administrator for this account. Again, this is not something I, personally, would recommend for a large-scale installation, but since I’m the only one who’ll be using this instance, and I have no intention of using this for anything other than demo, practice, and documentation purposes, I went ahead and used Windows Authentication.

I pretty much went with the defaults for the rest of the installation. I did need to consent to install R and Python. I got to the Ready to Install screen, clicked Install, and let it do its thing.

Installation was straightforward and painless. In years and installations past, I’d be writing about the errors that came up and the number of times I’d have to click or press Enter to continue with the installation, but there were no such prompts. I let it go and went off to do other things. I’m not sure how long it took — I’ll guess around twenty minutes, although it seemed longer — but when I looked again, SQL Server was installed on my laptop.

That was as far as I got for this installation. I still need to tinker with post-installation configurations, including SSMS, SSIS, and any tools that I need to actually do something with SQL Server. That’ll likely come later when I have a chance to tinker some more.

Coming up with ‘blog article ideas

Ever come up with a great topic about which to write an article? Do you have something on your mind that you want to get out of your system? Did you just learn something new and profound? Or is there some topic about which you don’t know but are trying to learn? Did you pick up some useful tidbit that you want to set aside for later use? Did you come across something you want to share?

I could keep going with this, but I’d rather not write a rambling paragraph that will eventually bore you; besides, I think you have the idea. I’d guess that one of the most common questions when trying to write a ‘blog is, “what do I write about?”

For me, personally, a lot of my ideas just pop into my head (including for this very article that you’re reading right now). If I think the idea is profound enough that it might help other people, I’ll start writing about it. Other times, I’ll come up with some idea, jot it down in a post, and save it for later. I have 100+ such draft articles; whether or not they ever see the light of day remains to be seen.

There are a number of things to consider when coming up with draft article ideas (and I dedicate several slides to this very topic in my ‘blogging presentation). If you’re trying to come up with things to write about, here are some thoughts that might help get you going.

• What’s on my mind? It might sound obvious, but a lot of my ‘blog article ideas come from random thoughts that just happen to pop into my head. They’ll come from random sources — something I’m working on, something I’m watching, reading, or listening to, a question that someone asks, and so on. Every now and then, they’re thoughts that I think might help someone out. That can make great article fodder, so make sure you at least make a note of it. It happens more often that you might think; I’ve surprised myself at the number of ‘blog articles I’ve written that started as just random thoughts in my head.

• I know something you don’t know — and I’m willing to share! Chris Bell, one of my friends on the SQL Saturday speakers circuit, once told me something profound, and it’s something I haven’t forgotten. He said, “an expert is someone who knows something that you don’t.”
  
  I’ve been a working professional for a long time now (I won’t say how long!), and I’ve learned a lot in my experience. I think I have some knowledge in at least a few subjects, and what I think can potentially help other people. Helping other people is one of my great passions, and if something that I know helps someone else, then I’ve accomplished something.

• I just learned something new! Some people seem to have a misconception that you need to be an expert at something to write a ‘blog. Wrong! If you’re learning something new, keeping an online journal about what you learn is one of the best reasons to maintain a ‘blog! You’ll be able to see for yourself just how much you learn. Additionally, if you’re actively seeking new employment, it shows potential employers that you’re learning something, and that you have the ability to learn. Not only that, it shows off your expertise in terms of what you’ve learned. That’s something that hiring managers like to see!

• I don’t want to forget this. Let me write it down. One of those people you could help is yourself. Matt Cushing tells a story in his networking presentation about the time he was trying to solve a problem, and he found the answer to it… in his own ‘blog! He had written an article about the very thing he was trying to solve, and found the answer in his article that he had forgotten about!
  
  As Matt says in his presentation, “a ‘blog can serve as your own personal Google.” A ‘blog can serve as scratch notes to yourself, and it might even help others in the process.

• Bring people in. Don’t drive them away. You want people to read your ‘blog, don’t you? Like anyone else, I have thoughts and opinions about a lot of things, but I won’t ‘blog about a lot of them. I generally avoid any topic that’s divisive. You will almost never, if ever, see me discuss politics or religion on my ‘blog (I despise talking about politics, anyway). If I want to talk about religion, I’ll go to church. If I want to learn about politics, I’ll read The New York Times. Unless your ‘blog is specifically about those hot-button topics, they are more likely to drive people away than bring them in. I will not touch them on my ‘blog.

• Avoid posting anything that is overly-sensitive or qualifies as “TMI,” unless it’s relevant to your topic. People generally don’t want to hear about your last trip to your gastroenterologist. Stuff like that isn’t typically what ‘bloggers write about. However, if some anecdote comes out of it — “my appointment taught me a lesson that applies to my professional life,” for example — maybe then, it’d be appropriate to write about it. However, be careful about it — make sure that what you write is appropriate for your audience. Nobody wants to read the details of your last trip to the bathroom while you had the bad case of diarrhea.

• It’s okay to go off-topic once in a while. At the time of this article, Steve Jones of SSC is taking a sabbatical from his job (a nice little perk that he has available to him). During his time away from work, he has been ‘blogging about his daily exploits, which include skiing, learning to play guitar, and working around his ranch. I’ve been enjoying his posts, and I even told him that I was living vicariously through his posts.
  
  I’ll occasionally post an article that has nothing to do with my job, technical communication, or professional development. I’ll sometimes write about my extracurricular activities — my music endeavors (I play four different instruments), my workouts (I am an active Crossfitter), and so on. If you maintain a ‘blog about professional topics, it’s okay to post something off-topic now and then. It shows you have other interests, and it shows that you have a life outside of work. It shows that you’re human.

There are numerous other ways to generate ideas for ‘blog fodder. Feel free to comment below with your favorites. Hopefully, these thoughts are enough to help you get your own ‘blog going.

Blogging virtual presentation — Tuesday, January 21 @CASSUG_Albany @PASS_ProfDev

On Tuesday, January 21, at noon (US Eastern Standard Time), I will be doing my presentation titled “Blogging for Success: Advancing your career by blogging.”

If you’re interested in starting a ‘blog, I’ll talk about my own experience with ‘blogging and lessons I’ve learned along the way. Some topics I’ll discuss include how I got started, ‘blogging platforms, and subject matter.

For more information and to register for the event, use this link.

Hope to see you there (so to speak)!