Moving On Up

I'm officially no longer a DBA today, I'm now a "Database Developer"!
In the work-sphere of Information Technology I think this is higher than a lowly administrator, but who knows? I've seen enough TSQL code in my 5 years as a DBA to know that there are a LOT of "database developers" who would be better off using Google to find their code. I'm not kidding but I wish I was.

I'm thrilled to know that this change means no more on-call or after hours maintenance. I look forward to being able to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it. My wife does too ;)
I'll take a good pay cut giving up the on-call ball & chain but since time is the only finite resource we've got it's therefore the most precious and I make the trade with no reservations at all.

I'm also really looking forward to being able to be creative again. When I started in IT creativity was a great asset but leaving now I feel it's more of a liability. Creative thinkers who can see and plan beyond the basics have an upward battle whenever they try to go above and beyond. It seems that the larger IT gets, the less flexible it gets. Creative solutions become harder and harder to implement and take more and more selling/politicing/nurturing than one can reasonably put out. When one can see how a more creative solution would work better for less money and with less management required but can't implement it for "soft" reasons it's very demotivating; almost depressing. Live in an environment like that for too long and one becomes bitter.

I'm absolutely thrilled to be moving into an environment where others are willing to listen when a creative idea comes forward and can be demonstrated. The ability to honestly and openly debate technical solutions with my peers on a daily basis has me grinning from ear to ear. It's like a dream come true.

Gone Fishing

Trish and I bought a canoe as our first combined big ticket item for our 2 year anniversary and we spent the weekend fishing. It was great! We both got burned and totally relaxed... Without thinking about it this was by far the best anniversary ever.

As for the Fish Cam- I'll still be posting a how-to and I can saw it works. However, I need to put a tint on the lens as the B&W camera is way too sensitive to daylight and it washes out totally. I did a quick test by putting my sunglasses on it and it worked like a charm. Since the camera lens is small I may be able to get away with just putting a piece of old negative film over it. I can't wait to use it more!

Fishing has been going well. We've both caught loads of bluegill, green sunfish, and pumpkinseed. Plus various mixes of them. We've also caught smallmouth and largemouth bass, and Trish caught a rock bass at one point. I've caught the biggest fish so far with the best being a 2-3lb largemouth :)
We do have pics ;) Trish 98% landed a trophy perch. It was at least 20-30cm long and thick! She caught it while reeling in a tiny little perch- greedy cannibal perch! The wildest thing is that she was having trouble unhooking the small (10cm) perch she had on and the massive perch would just sit at the edge of the canoe and watch, then when she would put it back in the water to keep it alive the predator would strike immediately and she'd have to yank the poor little guy out again! I have NEVER seen anything like it! It actually managed to get her fish all the way in it's mouth and she had them both almost in the canoe when it finally spit out the poor little guy and took off for good. I wish we had that on video... just unbelievable and the whole thing went on for about 3 or 4 minutes.

We're thinking that we may try out carp fishing as the local pond in St. Thomas seems to have changed a lot since last year and the pan fish & bass have been largely replaced by carp, carp, and more carp. :( I hear they're tough fighters and there's no doubt they're shy (they go nuts trying to get away from the canoe when we come close) but I'm just not excited about fishing for something where it's just a throw in the line & wait scenario. Oh well, we'll see how it goes...

Fish-Cam is GO!

I recently made a nice little to-do list on my fridge with a dry erase marker I've had since university. It doesn't judge me; you shouldn't either.
..anyways I've made some very good progress on said project and have now officially kicked off my "Fish-Cam" project. It is essentially a budget/DIY version of this or this.
I decided to use a portable DVD player instead of a stand-alone mini-LCD or *gasp* a mini-CRT. The main reasons for this decision are:

• Cost. A portable DVD player is ~$80 - $180 CAD right now. Mini LCDs are $110+
• Design. Portable DVD players are meant for lugging around. Mini LCDs are really meant to be mounted somewhere.
• Features. A Mini-LCD is useless on it's own. A portable DVD player plays DVDs, mp3s, etc.
• Availability. Wal-Mart had plenty of portable DVD players. Only a few shops have mini LCDs... and questionable return policies if things don't work!

I've also picked up a B&W (I can upgrade to colour if this works well) CMOS security camera with 6 IR LEDs on it for $29 CAD. It comes with 60ft of cable so all I need to do now is get some PVC tube and acrylic that I can mount the camera in. Then the Fish-Cam will be complete!