Yeah…that about covers it I think.
The other day I was sitting at my desk, like always, nose down and figuring out our latest issue with the migration process at my current client. I had my headphones in streaming something from Pandora (probably AWOLNation’s ‘SAIL’ channel I created – listen here) when my phone bleeped. “You have mail” it implied. I checked and what do you know, I did.
‘Oh yeah’ I thought. I had filled that out, guess Red Gate are doing the typical e-blast to thank everyone for joining their mailing list after completing nomination forms. I needed a little break, so I opened it up to see if they were saying the finalists were announced and online to read profiles of and choose who I think should get the award. I fired up email and started reading.
OK, I have some time, I’ll go look at the finalists and read through the profiles and make my decis…..wait…what?
Whoa, whoa whoa……Wait…what…
My mind was in full overload. If you know me, I don’t express a lot of things out loud other than contempt for things not being done correctly or at least in a logical manner. A chill came over me and I got ‘that’ feeling. You know it. That feeling when you go over a hump in the road a little too fast. Like pleasant nausea, if it could exist. I had a big ass grin too. It started to hurt after a little while.
Of course the one thing that sucks about becoming a finalist in something as prestigious as this is getting the slightly advanced notice, and being asked to not tell anyone until the official public release. That is not easy. I did reply to the email almost immediately that I was pleasantly surprised and it was an honor to be selected as a finalist. I also clarified that I would have to tell my wife since she’d really be questioning the big ass grin I had for some strange reason. Hey, I’m a DBA, I’m usually grumpy. I just learned to hide it pretty well. But this grin was beyond the norm and would certainly be noticed.
It has been just over a week, the announcement was made public and I finally get to let everyone know. Here’s all the official stuff.
Huge congrats to all the other finalists, I hope to meet up with all of you sometime in the near future. All you other Nominees, the same to you. Being nominated, even by yourself is a great thing and I hope to meet up with you in the near future as well.
Now of course you know I’m going to ask you to vote for me. DUH!
But seriously, I really want you to go read about each Finalist, what they’ve done and see why they were chosen as an exceptional DBA finalist by the judging panel. Then make your decision.
After you cast your vote, if you are lucky enough to know or work with a DBA, pay some attention to the things they do, that maybe you don’t notice normally. Remember DBA means more than just Database Administrator. It means “Default Blame Acceptor” and “Do ‘Bout Anything” & many other definitions far too numerous to list. Make note of how much the DBA actually does to keep everything transparent to everyone else and the next time the awards come around, nominate them. I once heard of the concept that a good DBA is hardly ever seen or heard from, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be in the limelight every now and then.
If you are a fellow DBA start taking notes of all those ‘extra’ little things you do. Those are what set you above and beyond others. If not nominated the next time the awards are announced nominate yourself. The questions are simple, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how you answer them. It is eye opening to see just how much you do every day that makes you exceptional at what you do.
Thanks in advance to everyone for participating in this award, and for voting. Again, it is an honor and I can only thank everyone out there for helping me to become the DBA & professional I have become over the years.