How I Overcame Epic Fail

You can’t avoid mistakes.  It takes a seasoned programmer to admit they’ve had their share of epic fails. I think I do well, as my boss exclaimed “You’re at the Real McCoy now!” … meaning (I think) I’m not working for internal clients anymore.   This is my first job working for an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) since I began programming.

While the wounds are fresh, I’d like to share some of my greatest challenges and how I overcame them.

Being a Software Consultant

I never thought working for myself and making my own hours writing code, wearing pajamas in the room next to where my one and three year olds slept would be a problem. Truth was, although you can actually make great money working from home, you don’t get the experience from team building, code reviewing or even source control.

I had to struggle to get out of my independent coder cocoon. I did this, at least in the inception of .Net, by going to TechNet events and listening to a broad array of developing with .Net sessions.  I also joined an AITP chapter and a Linux User Group. At that time I also learned about the open source community, and how you could share your projects with other users.  I started to interact more and more with developers on Internet forums. It seemed like I had co-workers at my disposal.  With a few clicks, an email or instant message could help me when I got myself into a tight spot.  I learned advanced techniques only by sharing with other developers. The greatest benefit I got out of this was learning how to manage time, project and money. This allowed me to take a position in management for the first time.

Falling Behind

Being a manager was not all it was cracked up to be. I thought I could come in fashionably late and leave as I pleased. I could, but the truth was, there were tasks to be done and staff to oversee. As business grew, the responsibilities increased. Instead of working less and making more, the norm was making less and working more. Weekly travel, hours on Saturday, and on-call on Sunday left me no free time. My greatest challenge was keeping up with the ever changing technology. I wasn’t programming on a daily basis. Implementing new systems meant hiring a contractor to take on a project for three to six months. I was no longer involved and I was no longer happy.

I left the management position to pursue what is dear to me, writing code. It’s hard to do a comeback.  It’s not impossible. Take for instance, Robert Downey, Jr.  He was a wreck and now he’s Iron Man. I knew I could do the same but I had a lot of catching up to do.  I’d missed several versions of Visual Studio .Net and didn’t even realize they dropped the “.Net” from it. SQL Server was totally different from 2000. I had to move quickly as a company took a chance on me even though my knowledge was a little outdated. The company gave me six months to progress.  I had to redo some .Net 2003 and take it to the next level.  Rather than playing it safe with 2005, I chose 2008. I also had to convert from my comfort zone of Visual Basic to C#.   I challenged myself to do this in three months rather than six.

How To Catch Up

I looked long and hard at what was around me. I knew Visual Studio 2003, but not as well as I knew Visual Studio.Net. After playing some catch-up on Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 for two months, I registered for an exam to be taken a month later so I could still meet my three month challenge. The most important thing I did was to schedule and register for the exam. I know people who want to certify and study to certify, but it’s when you’ve paid money and scheduled a date that you’ve created yourself a real deadline.  

Still cloudy on the subject, I created a study plan.  I also found much help and resources on Twitter. Social Media was evolving, and virtual user groups and #sqlhelp hashtags were mentioned regularly on Twitter.  I became family with Twitter, again, creating a network of go-to experts that could get me out of a jam.  I found free training and learned about branding myself.

Maybe the stint in management could count for something. I worked hard at my career and planned it as a project with goals, and certifications served as my benchmarks.  I became certified in 2009 as an MCTS and achieved MCPD status in 2010. 

Now I plan on staying on the certification track.   I won’t allow my certs to expire and I vow to upgrade to newer technologies one day at a time.

Career Move

Last month, a company in Colorado Springs took interest in my experience. After a few phone calls and email exchanges, I flew out to meet with them. We met up in Denver and they drove me out to Colorado Springs for a very casual meeting, then lunch, as they asked me questions regarding my skills. On the drive back to Denver, I was told to talk to my wife and prepare for a decision to relocate. For those of you who know us well know the event that happened 5 years ago this November that brought us back to El Paso. Even though, my wife and I put some thought into this decision, and have opted to leave El Paso for greener pastures.
I accepted the position the end of August, to begin October 1st. Today marks my last week at my current employer and the following week I will be moving to Colorado Springs, aka, “The Springs”. I will be programming for a software company, going back to more Windows development and less web development. Although the primary platform is in VB.Net and C#, the company is over 20 years old and there are still lines of COBOL in their flagship product that needs conversion. I will also be involved with their SaaS (Software as a Service) module and dashboard products they offer their clients, which means I will still be doing some ASP.Net.
The Springs looks beautiful, this was my second time there. My boys are excited about picking up snowboarding and Myriam loves cold weather. I can’t wait to take my baby girl out to the snow and not worry about it melting away by 10 A.M. I will find it challenging to explain to my kids what Medical Marijuana is though. Seems a lot of the technology firms are out there, Oracle, HP, Verizon just to name a few, so it’s a solid decision that we are moving to the right place.
I will leave some unfinished projects in El Paso. I was organizing a GiveCamp, a weekend long event where programmers and IT pros donate their time to develop a web/software solution for non-profit organizations. I was also starting up a .Net and SQL Server User group for El Paso developers and initiating it with a Code Camp, and day long even with workshops and talks on various techniques with .Net. If anyone is interested taking over these project, feel free to email me. I have put many hours into preparation and made many contacts for these projects that are only a hairline away from getting started. I would hate for these projects to be dropped.
So the countdown continues, one week in counting at work, then finish packing and move to the Rockies.

The Road to MCITP: DBA

It’s about that time to focus on a few things, one being Microsoft Certification. I passed the 70-433 Database Developer certification last year. My intention is to become a Microsoft Certified IT Pro Database Developer and DBA.
Microsoft has three Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and three IT Professional certifications for SQL Server 2008. The MCTS include Implementation and Maintenance (70-432), Database Development (70-433) and Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance (70-448). Each of these are the prerequisite to the IT Professional certifications (MCITP) . For instance if you take 70-432 and 70-450, Designing, Optimizing and Maintaining a Database Server Infrastructure using Microsoft SQL Server 2008, you obtained MCITP Database Administrator. Exam 70-433 along with 70-451, Designing Database Solutions and Data Access Using Microsoft SQL Server 2008, makes you an MCITP Database Developer. Lastly, 70-448 and 70-452, Designing a Business Intelligence Infrastructure Using Microsoft SQL Server 2008, make you an MCITP Business Intelligence Developer.
I plan to log my voyage to obtaining my goals on this blog. I anticipate that discussing any details will boost my confidence, and perhaps will encourage others to shoot for Microsoft certification. You can get more details about SQL Server certification of other products from the Microsoft Learning site.
A few tips that I know of. First and foremost, set a date to test. I noticed I prep more for the exams when I schedule and actually register for the test. Registration fee’s for most MS exams are $125 USD. You can register for an exam at www.prometric.com. Currently, they have an offer, from now until June. I’ve known of the free retake voucher for any Microsoft Exam from Prometric for some time now. I been a very bad geek and have been putting if off for some time.  Also, thanks to Rob Boek, I have obtained a 50% off voucher for the 70-432, the first requirement for Certified DBA. Step one, register, secondly, log into Microsoft Learning Plan with a MS Live account and take advantage of the free Microsoft material which include readings, tutorials and recommended books.
Lot into it. If you’re about to take a test, Good Luck and I Hope this information helped.

Gnawing Back

I revived an old blog post that wasn’t time sensitive, and after a hiatus, I’m gnawing my way back into technology. I simply write about tech news that inspire me. I might do this daily, weekly, I don’t know. I had a good run of post before, then I fell off the technology world.

I traveled a lot this week, back and forth from Roswell, NM…. yes Roswell.

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So I was saying, I heard about the new iPod Shuffle. I didn’t like the new generation shuffle. The controls are on the headphone. Meaning, proprietary headphones, more money for Apple, and you can’t use your own headphones until some third party hardware company creates an adapter so you may comfortably use your favorite ear candy. Of course, the price is up a little, to $79. With it comes 40 gigs of space, and the ability to import playlist unlike the old shuffle I have. It’s still available in a variety of colors.

So I already mentioned I have a 1st generation shuffle, and I once had a 1st generation iPod, but I switched to Zune. It’s not too different from the iTouch, however, I hate the software companion. Which brings me to an iTunes hack I came across. I give iTunes two thumbs up vs. Zune software and lame “Marketplace”. . There’s scripting involved, which I can’t wait to dig into, but for now, that’s all I got. Like I said, I been traveling a lot, I yet to tried this out.