John Barker retired from the US Air Force in or around 1975. He returned home to rural Blackstone Virginia, in part to help care for his aging parents. He had experience in electronics as a technician and built a Southwest Technical Products M6800 computer kit. Although I’m not sure this is an accurate image of …
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Category:Personal
As 2022 Closes, I am Grateful…
I write this 26 Dec 2022, about half a week before the end of 2022. How was 2022 for me – personally and professionally? This year was pretty good. For that, I am grateful. God is good. Personal I am aware of – and pray regularly about – troubles in the world. Some are closer …
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What If? (Thoughts for 2022)
My favorite variation on the “Expect the best” quote is from Zig Ziglar: One reason this version appeals to me is that it mirrors many sentiments shared by Nassim Taleb (@nntaleb) in his book Antifragile. I write this at the start of 2022 because I, like many of you, have experienced disappointment when expecting general …
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Rest In Peace, Brian Moran (Updated)
Update: Emily, Brian’s daughter, has updated Brian’s Facebook page with information about a memorial service 31 Jul. It grieves me to share that my friend and brother, Brian Moran, passed away late last week. Brian was a gifted technologist and businessman. He built a career and reputation as a SQL Server expert through articles in …
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My Cameras Are Uncovered
The featured image for this post is a shot of my Logitech Brio webcam. It has a cover. The cover is open. Why is the camera cover open? If an individual or entity, be they public or private, accesses my webcam, I want them to catch me working or praising God. Or better yet, Catch …
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Updated “Did You Deactivate Your Twitter Account, Andy?”
Update: I have reactivated my Twitter account. “Yes.” If you are interested in my blog posts and thoughts please sign up for my mailing list of follow me on Twitch.
Slowly Coming Back, October 2020 Edition
I share a lot. Because I share a lot, many people believe: I am an extrovert; and I share everything. Neither is accurate. I am an introvert with a strong desire to help others. My desire overcomes my introvert nature enough to keep me out there. Truth be told? I’d rather be spending time with …
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T-SQL Tuesday #111 Roundup
Thank You! First, we owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Adam Machanic (blog | @adammachanic | Data Education) for starting T-SQL Tuesday in the first place. Thank you, Adam! Next, we owe a huge shout-out to Steve Jones (blog | @way0utwest | SQL Server Central) for carrying the torch by maintaining tsqltuesday.com. Finally, thank you …
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T-SQL Tuesday #111 – What is Your “Why?”
“Why do you do what you do?” This month’s T-SQL Tuesday topic by Andy Leonard.
Leadership and Failure
How Do People Learn? There’s ample debate about whether people learn from mistakes. Don’t believe me? Search and see for yourself. There are compelling arguments for both learning from our mistakes and not learning from them. In engineering and software, I think we learn from our mistakes. I can hear you thinking, “Why do you think …
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