Busy times recently

Time seems short at the moment. I’m putting the finishing touches on a presentation for TechEd Australia 2008. I’m not on the list of speakers at the moment, but I will be when they’re next updated (there are a few blanks still). I’m giving a talk about T-SQL techniques, which should be a lot of fun. There was a similar talk given in the US this year, but this is very much my own. I’m going to be following a similar format as the US talk, but there’s remarkably little overlap in the two talks.

The US talk seemed very good. It was called “SQL Tricks: Insights from Microsoft IT”, but I’m not so big on tricks. Sure, I know plenty, but my talk is going to be focussed more on techniques that I use when writing or fixing T-SQL. Ok, some may be tricks, but the idea is to get you seeing some of the power in T-SQL. The talk will be called “Improving Your T-SQL Arsenal“, which points to the weaponry you have in T-SQL, but also gives a nod to my North London friends.

Most of the things in the talk are things that are just as relevant to SQL 2005 as SQL 2008, which seems odd to mention today, since SQL Server 2008 RTM has become available in the last 24 hours. When I reboot my laptop, the installation will be complete and I will be checking that all my scripts still work. This will include my entry in the Demos Happen Here competition.

The DHH competition is not something I’m expecting to win, but I have an entry in nonetheless – a demonstration of the Resource Governor. I think the Gov is a great feature to demonstrate, and I hope the judges see it this way too. But I also think a lot of Dave Gardiner‘s demo, and I actually hope he wins the SA final next week.

It’s been a busy month – my todo list is being stretched rather than shrunk – and I’m not sure when it’s due to ease off. I was asked to be in the US next week helping put the new SQL 2008 exams together, but my schedule is just too full. I haven’t even had time to look at the betas, although I was pleased to see that a blog has formed to announce beta exams. And of course, TechEd Australia is less than four weeks away. I’ll be assisting in the Hands On Labs area as well as presenting. I also want to be spending as much time as I can around the UNICEF project, which I think gives me about 20 seconds for toilet breaks. If anyone knows a way to put an extra several hours into a day (without inducing sleep deprivation), please let me know.