It’s T-SQL Tuesday!!
T-SQL Tuesday #134
This is actually the first time I’m contributing to T-SQL Tuesday, after having read many of the entries in the years before.
T-SQL Tuesday is the brainchild of Adam Machanic (Blog | Twitter). December 2009 was the first T-SQL Tuesday invitation that went out by Adam. It is a monthly blog party on the second Tuesday of each month. Currently, Steve Jones (Blog | Twitter) organises the event and maintains a website with all previous posts. Everyone is welcome to participate in this monthly blog post.
The Ask
This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by James McGillivray ( Blog | Twitter ). James wants to know how we’re managing to give ourselves some breaks, to keep ourselves from going even more bonkers.
The original post is here.
What do you do to take a break when you’re stuck at home?
Arguably so, I’ve always been terrible at setting aside time for breaks when working on my own. When working at a customer site, or in the office, things flowed a bit more naturally when grabbing a coffee, and having a chat. The reality of the past few months has been that I’ve been stuck behind my desk for hours on end, mostly being dragged into numerous Teams Meetings or Zoom Calls. I quickly realised that I needed to get this under control, to be able to last.
These days, my break times are mostly consumed by the doggo of the house, Pixie. She’s a nearly 2 years old Briard, who have a heritage as French shepherd dogs. Long story short, these dogs are incredibly active and fun to have around. Most days, I take her for a walk around the block before getting started. Then, during one of my coffee breaks, I go out in the garden and kick around some of the Jolly Balls I bought for her. At times like these, I can tell that she’s got some frustrations of her own to kill as well.
Playing with Pixie in the garden
But in the weekends, when I have some more time on my hands, we usually go out for some bigger walks of up to 10-12 in the woods near where I live. This gives me some more time to clear my head, and gives the doggo some direly needed attention. Especially with the weather being a bit colder and some more rain, it’s mostly her diving head first into the first puddle she sees, and then continuing to do so for the rest of the walk. All good fun, but a long haired dog takes a looooong time to dry off :).
Walking the dog at Drieboomkesberg
Pixie discovering some local water
Then, at evening times, I try to switch between doing some reading or studying for things I’m working on, or simply blowing up stuff in a video game. I’m keeping my sh*t together, but I’m frantically counting down the days for when I can go back to my regular activities to get some peace of mind.
In normal times, I’d have a Shin Kyokushin Karate training 2 – 3 times a week, depending on my schedule for that week. It’s a full contact sport, which means it’s physically demanding and exhausting, and I’ve never ever even had as much as a lost thought on stuff I was working on.
Ahhh, to be able to hit some people again 😃
If money was no issue, what would be your bucket list vacation?
I’d have to split it into two, and I’d be torn if I ever had to choose between those two.
I’ve always wanted to go to Japan to visit some of the heritage sites and the Honbu Dojo. Preferably in the same time span as the World Championship to be able to witness the insane atmosphere in the Tokyo Dome with 15000 spectators watching some of the greatest kumite matches our sport has to offer. Followed by a tour of some cities like Kyoto, Nagasaki, .. to make this a splendid trip with some of my karate friends.
Then, competely on the other end of the spectrum, and I’m doubtful that I’ll ever be able to do this. For years, we’ve always got together with some of my Chiro friends (compare it to Boy Scouts, to a certain extent), and do a weekend where we pull the same idiotic stunts we used to do when we were younger. We’re all a bit older now, and many of us settling in to work/life situations. Getting together isn’t as easy as it used to be. For that reason, I’d be thrilled if we were able to get away for a week or so, and go camping with the boys only. Pure nostalgia, to some of the most fond memories I have.
Conclusion
I’m managing to keep things afloat, but I’m ready for things to slowly get back to normal. Especially because I’ve not been able to go the practice 2-3 times a week, I’ve felt some built up frustrations that needed to get out.
Here’s to hoping we can all reconvene soon, and get ready for some more epic stories!
Stay safe, take care!