Vacation

As anyone working in the IT field knows, work can be exhausting.

It can drain you physically, mentally and emotionally.

That is why they invented vacations.

This week my wife and I spent a week in the Georgia Mountains.

We rented a cabin in Blue Ridge, Ga. We usually visit this area twice a year for the past five years.

I'd have to say this was out best vacation yet.

The cabin was secluded, close to a creek, close to town, very spacious, plenty of amenities, clean, screened in patio, new grill and best of all, it had a fenced in yard for the dogs.

That meant that I did not have to wake up at 6am to walk the dogs on leashes.

The wife woke up and opened the screened patio door and the dogs went a wandering.

This was a vacation in itself.

We then awoke, had coffee, showered and drove over to the Waffle house each day to enjoy an egg and cheese biscuit.

Then we journeyed to one of the State Parks, Fort Mountain and Vogel as well as Blairsville, Hiawasi and Ellijay.

We mostly ate out fast food for lunch and cooked on the gas bbq each night.

At night we rested, read books and spent some quiet time doing nothing.

Tomorrow we head back to Florida - long drive - then we have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to unwind from vacation.

Not sure if we'll be back in April. Will have to see how things look at that time.

One peculiar thing to mention. Every time we've been to this area the people have always been so friendly. Southern hospitality I suppose.

Not this time. The locals were very unpleasant and seemed to cater to the locals.

Perhaps the down economy has dried up their customer base and they now focus on the repeat customers.

We were kind of disappointed about this as we usually enjoy spending time with the locals.

Either way, the dogs had a wonderful time as did my wife and me.

Microsoft Access

Seems all the rage lately surrounds Microsoft SQL Server Denali / 2012.

Whatever happened to Microsoft Access.

Seems I have worked with Access for a long time now.

The basic premise is awesome.

You have a database.

Can import tables from Oracle/SQL Server either linked or imported.

You have ability to create forms.

You can utilize the built in VBA/Modules.

You can definitely create reports.

It has somewhat built in security although easy to crack the passwords.

It's small and can be uploaded to websites easily and easy implementation to store data for online apps.

Some of the limitations:

Size - constantly have to shrink the db.

Hackable.

In order to maintain the db you have to work on the pc - there is no built in 'Web Interface'.

I was thinking they could build one and use the product to compete with MySQL by giving it away for free --> isn't that how it works, give a product away to crush the competition?

Anyway, I believe it's a fine application that bundles with Office.

I have not researched the 360 version or if it even exists.

Maybe someone can clue me in on that.

From what I've seen with the latest version of SQL Server so far, it's just an amazing product.

Perhaps Microsoft can leverage their ancient solid application called 'Access' too.

What is it you do here?

What ever happens to all that information entered into the system every day?

It's stored in one of the database repository's as 'raw data'.

The Reporting Services team is tasked with converting 'raw data' into 'information'.

That 'information' allows internal and external customer's to manage their business and make decisions.

Reporting Services does that by creating reports which reside on the web to catch
exceptions and help the internal business units run smoothly.

So Reporting Services takes the raw data, converts it to information, in the form of files & reports, for client consumption, to allow the Customers to manage their
business and make timely and accurate decisions.

3/4 through 2011

This year is about 3/4 over. Or 1/4 to go.

Either way you slice it, it's been a pretty good year thus far.

I changed employers in January, from one government agency (the County) to another (the School Board).

What a world of difference.

Rigid, out-dated technology, no authority, strict environment TO relaxed, somewhat current technology, supervisor position in a good atmosphere.

I was almost running out of things to do at the County while transitioning from Java to Oracle / SAP (XCelcius) BI position.

The School Board is a fast pace environment with endless requests.

I enjoy the challenges that are associated with supervising a team of two full time report developers and a contractor.

And interacting with peer supervisors.

And meeting with all the friendly customers.

And writing reports.

Just today though, I was reminiscent of the programming days.

I guess I still miss writing code for web applications and such in Java/JSP/VB.net.

I got my start in Crystal Reports, Oracle and Visual Basic so I always had the three main things covered: getting data into the db and getting it back out in an application.

I attended the SQL Saturday in Tampa in the beginning of the year and then again last month in Orlando - both were excellent events. There's another one next month Nov. 5 in Tampa I plan to attend as well.

I managed to conquer my fear of 'true' BI and dabbled a bit in the new SQl-Server Denali.

I got some SSAS, MDX, Power Pivot experience and hope to finish up with some Share Point.

However on my job I believe we plan to purchase a pre-built data warehouse in Cognos which we could query in SQL from SSRS which would be nice.

And if they ever replace the AS400 they are going to have a lot of new reports to manage and create.

Looking into a crystal ball, I would say that creating reports seems to be in my future.

Also, I had stopped my part time job in June because we had to work 10 hour days in the summer.

I was pleasantly surprise to receive a phone call from my old boss asking me to pick up where we left off.

So I started back part time in early October and it should last until the end of the year - with the possibility of extension. I was extended several times last years so I'm hoping to continue the trend.

My family is heading to Georgia mountains next week to rent a cabin - can't wait to see the leaf color changes and cooler temps.

I have to say this. People raz government workers for being lazy, making huge amounts of money and sucking the country dry.

Well, I've been on both sides of the fence, Public and Private jobs.

I have to say that some of it is true, there are some people who work for the gov't who haven't seen a full days work - ever. But those people are slowly being weeded out. And as far as making lots of money, uh, I don't think so. I'm about $20k underpaid at the moment, in this market. Moving to another market, I'd say closer to $30-40k underpaid.

That's why I have the p/t job though.

Anyway, my skills are slowly improving, I hope. I'm fully into Microsoft reporting at the moment, which is where I wanted to be this time last year.

Overall, things are going well.

I look forward to closing out the year with some time off during the holidays and will see what develops next year.

Thanks for reading the articles on my blog - I write quite often and have no idea who actually reads these things.

Get things done

Working in IT trenches for a number of years, I have often assumed the responsibility of being the "Go to person".

What that means is someone who can "Get things done" quickly, accurately with little supervision.

It also entails solving production problems where systems are down.

Now that I'm on the Supervisor side of things, I've got someone who is that person.

If a production report is displaying incorrect data, I can point this person in the a direction and it gets done.

When I have a list of new report requests that have to get done quickly, I assign them and magically they get done.

There are always different skill levels on a team.

It's good to have solid programmers who turn out quality work at a steady pace.

It's also good to have someone in the "goto" role who enjoys the challenges, responsibility's and perks that are associated.

I guess another term would be "rock star".

Either way you slice it, these people can "get things done".

SSIS

Microsoft SQL-Server Integration Services is not a new product.

It goes back to the original DTS packages of years ago.

I wrote DTS packages and felt comfortable in that environment.

So when writing/debugging SSIS packages, I have an understanding of what I'm doing.

However, if you didn't write the package, and asked to debug it, it is not an easy task.

On first glance, the package seems overly complex.

However by breaking each task down to simpler units, it's not difficult to understand.

In the 2008 r2 version, they have some new features.

However looking at the SQL code beneath seems straight forward.

What I did to troubleshoot is to number each task and write a brief description.

Next, copied the SQL to Transact SQL editor to view what's going on.

However, I can not run the package because it updates production tables and such.

Once you have a birds of view, as well as look under the hood, the problem presents itself.

In my opinion, SSIS is another animal when it comes to programming.

It's not your typical Java or .net app where you can step through the code line by line.

It's a bit fragmented.

But not impossible.

I still prefer to troubleshoot production problems of someone else code rather than write the code from scratch.

Guess that makes me a "maintenance" coder.

Kind of a niche.

Oh well, could be worse I suppose.

SSIS is good for doing specific tasks.

The Quick Fix

How many times have you seen this?

The client has a problem to solve.

A contractor goes into the client's site.

The contractor comes up with a solution.

The solution is implemented.

The client is happy.

What if this contractor wrote 100 reports like that.

Now, fast forward. Exceptions to the business logic are found. The contractor only fixed the problem for a sub-set of the users.

All of a sudden, because the contractor's simple fix was so narrow viewed, now none of the reports have correct data.

Then that person either moves on, after cashing in their checks, or is promoted for doing such a great job.

The person who fills his slot inherits a nightmare.

Nothing works. Customer's are pissed.

So there are two types of coders:

1. Those who create the crappy code.
2. Those who clean up the mess created by the first group.

So, are you someone who creates a quick fix and moves on?

Estimates

In the field of IT, when trying to get approval for a project, an "estimate" is usually required.

My current freelance employer requires an estimate to be created for the work to be performed for the entire month.

I talk with the developer, who goes over the high level tasks.

For each task, I obtain more details:

Issue: What problem are we trying to solve
Technology: SSIS, SSRS, T-SQL
Code Location: Where does the package/report/database reside
Credentials: user access to Servers/Databases/Source Code
Servers: location to Servers/Databases/etc.

Then I look at the code and decide what tasks are involved and split them out accordingly.

Then I look to assign hours to each task and take into account unforeseen issues.

Then I complete the Invoice form and submit to my client.

After getting approval, I begin work.

Hopefully the hours I need to solve the problem are close to what I predicted.

Then I get paid for the entire months work.

It seems that the more effort spent up front reviewing and assessing the work saves time and money in the long run.

I found this Link which goes into more details.

Happy freelancing!

Delegation

I have been in a Supervisor role for less than a year now.

The job entails the web reporting using Microsoft SSRS.

I have two full time developers that create reports.

Recently I've picked up a contractor to assist in report creation.

Coming from the programmer background, I always took on a lot of work.

I would ask my boss to prioritize the work list so I knew what to work on first.

In my new role, I'm the one who has to delegate the work requests and assign priorities.

In delegating the work load, I base the assignment on priority, available resources and skill sets.

I believe someone in a Team Lead position should be able to jump into any code at any time and understand it.

Sometimes when assigning work I figure I could knock out the request in a few hours.

However, I must delegate the work so that my time is freed up to look at the big picture, to attend meetings, to talk with customers, to plan future work, etc.

Sometimes I have to resist the urge to do "too much" of the daily work.

That means "trusting" the employees to work fast, create accurate reports, document them and speak with the customers for specs and questions.

And be available to jump in for logic or functionality questions.

During interviews the past 15 years my general statement was "I do not want to go into Management".

Overall, I really like being a Team Lead, as long as I get to stay hands on.

Create Insert Statements from SQL-Server table LINK

Found this link to a Stored Procedure that will create a list of "Insert" statements for a particular table.

Works great!

- Create Insert Statements from SQL-Server table -

Such a great quote

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” –Steve Jobs