Introduction

Normally, my blog is technical in nature, and (hopefully) generally helpful. This series will likely be nothing like that…. maybe helpful for something, but most likely not. As I sit and write this introduction, I am aboard a United flight looking out the window at the Appalachian mountains en-route to Chicago and then on to Seattle for a few (expecting to be hectic) days at the SQL PASS conference.

So I guess there are a few reasons for this series… not the least of which is to have something to look back on and reflect what I learned. So sit back, put your tray tables in the upright position, fasten your seat-belts, and hopefully this will be an informative trip for all of us.

The obvious part-1 of the blog is travel…. I know there are LOTS of road worriers out there that spend (most) of their time on the road. I imagine there is little that I can actually add in the travel department, other than carry as little “stuff” through airport security as you can manage. I have a backpack for my carry-on/briefcase, which needed to be EMPTIED of the contents into little plastic bins… netbook, charger, camera, cellphone. Not to mention the removal of shoes, belt, jacket, everything from your pockets…. makes me wonder why we need the full-body scanner at all.. As for on-the road technology, I am keeping it relatively simple with a netbook. I know there are LOTS of you ipad folks out there, and maybe someday I will come to your side, but for now, something that I can use to type on, read on, remote to work on, take notes on.. still seems like a better choice. I know there are apps for just about all of that, but the lack of actual keyboard is still a problem for me. As for apps… evernote is my personal favorite choice. I have gone (largely) paperless because of evernote, there is little that I don’t store there (that is likely a good post for another day). All the conference docs (which I need to go read to figure out what sessions I am attending). All of the travel docs, and what will be all of the conference notes.

So I guess, that is it for part-1, I hope the rambling of a conference in Seattle will at least be entertaining… but if nothing else, it will give me something to reflect on, and you can come back for the more technical and informative content when I get back from the trip.