Winding down

Normally I write these posts on a Friday evening. Sometimes it’s later than that, but always before Monday so that my editor can give it some attention before I publish.

On Friday though, I spent half the day in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and getting tested for several things to figure out why I thought I was dying on Thursday night.

While I’m back home as I write this, I can’t help but think of the time my mother and I took my father to a hospital one night, and he never made it back home. He was 41.

This blog started as a way to share my thoughts and discoveries about Microsoft SQL Server. We’ve looked at the technical details of Microsoft’s data platform from many angles. If I was looking for some sort of name recognition, I’ve achieved it. That’s not why I did it, but I must acknowledge the obvious. I became an MVP a surprisingly short amount of time after I started writing every week, and it was another relatively short amount of time before I was employed by Microsoft. To that end, the blog has served its purpose. I got noticed. There is also a fifth book I’m working on.

Over this past weekend I’ve had a lot of time to think about what’s important to me. COVID-19 has changed what it means to be normal. The great resignation (of which I was a part) has changed how people look for work. There is still the work we need to do to fight for equal pay for women, along with recognition and support for underrepresented people in the technology industry. I’m not suggesting I can spend an hour a week doing something better than writing a blog post, but I don’t think I can keep up the pace anymore, and I’d sooner focus on things that I find more important.

I’m not hanging up my writing pen, but I will be writing less frequently here. If you read the Microsoft Docs content, there’s a good chance you’ll come across something I’ve written anyway, especially in the SQL Server on Linux space. I’m working on the book. I’m on Twitter. I’m not planning to go anywhere, but I’d rather go out on a high than writing weekly content that isn’t consistently good.

The last thing I want to mention is that the Calgary Data User Group is presenting its April session tonight, with Kay Sauter as our guest speaker.

Thank you, truly, for reading this blog for all these years.

See you soon.

1 thought on “Winding down”