Back at the start of the year as a part of T-SQL Tuesday #14 I posted a few goals that I wanted to achieve this year.

A quarter of the way through the year I decided to throw out a quick post to see where I stand on those goals.

 

Certification

My plan was to get my Database Development MCTS in Q1 and follow up with getting the MCITP in Q3. Things actually went a lot better than I thought they would with this. I came out of the MCTS feeling good, even though my passing was a close thing.

I had heard that the MCITP for the development exam was easier, and as I had not used the second shot opportunity with the first I decided what the heck and signed up for that exam two weeks later.

The MCITP was a breeze compared to the MCTS and I passed that and left the test center holding both the MCITP: Database Administrator 2008 and MCITP: Database Development 2008 certifications.

Goal Status: Completed

 

Presenting

My goal was to present at four events this year and to submit a session to PASS.

I was picked to present at SQL Saturday #67 in Chicago. That was a couple of weeks ago and I thoroughly enjoyed myself there and blogged about the fun.

Upcoming is SQL Saturday #68 in Olympia, WA. I was not originally going to submit to this event however due to a change in circumstances I was not able to take the vacation I had originally planned. I was again lucky enough to get chosen to present, this will be my second of four (planned) for the year.

The call for speakers for PASS has not opened yet so I have not had the opportunity to submit my session.

Goal Status: 50% on presentation goal

 

Blogging

Blog frequently and include shorter posts just to say something quick.

I went through a job change at the beginning of March which really ate into my time and prevented me from writing posts, reading posts or following Twitter. Now I have a handle on the new position I have found a little more time and can refocus back on this. I’ve still managed to average a post a week this year so far so I’m ahead of last year.

Goal Status: Not bad, could be better. Need to refocus on shorter posts. No need to wax lyrical all the time.

 

Personal

Submit citizenship paperwork.

I need to still get a couple of pieces of paperwork for this. I should be able to pick those up this month and get the paperwork submitted.

Goal Status: Not there yet

 

Hidden Goals

One of my chief goals this year was to find myself a new job. I was sad, bored and unhappy in my old role. This is obviously one of those things that you can’t just stick out there on a blog when you are searching.

Happy to say that I found a position that was a good fit for me and that has a lot of things upcoming that I can leverage my existing experience in. There are also plenty of growth opportunities for me in the role and I will get to play with aspects of SQL Server that I would not have touched otherwise.

Goal Status: Oh so achieved!

 

New Goals

As the year progresses things need to be reassessed.

I’m not changing any of the goals that I already had set. I think they were smart and warranted. I have found myself in a place where I should be able to work towards more than I already had as such I am adding a couple of new goals:

• Take MCM written test before the end of Q3
• Get motorbike endorsement on my license
• Build decent home lab

 

I’m well ahead on my certification goal. Actually I achieved that goal. I questioned internally whether I could actually complete this goal. My confidence level was not high. Fortunately my girlfriend Cami (blog|twitter) has more belief in me than I do in myself and persuaded me that I could do it. Given that she didn’t steer me wrong with the certifications before and she has told me that I could get the MCM I’ve decided to work towards that end. I’m certainly not in the position to take the written at this point, however I feel I could knuckle down and study for a few months, leverage my experience and have a reasonable shot of being able to sit down and get a few of the questions right in the exam come September time.

Prior to moving to the US I had a license to ride motorcycles. When I moved here and took my drivers test to get a US license I did not go through the work to get the bike one at the same time. This has left me without one. Now I live in the Pacific northwest I look around at all the folks zipping around on their bikes and get jealous. I’ve been talking for the last two years about actually getting this endorsement, it’s time that I got off my rear and actually got it.

It’s frustrating when you want to try something out and you don’t have the space or horsepower on your laptop to try it. I’ve been wanting to build myself a home lab for a while now. I’ve even had chats with Sean McCown (blog|twitter) on the best path towards this. I believe that this is something that I can get done by the end of the year. I just need a box or two and a bunch of storage with some virtual machines. Heck I’ve done that on my laptop, I just need to scale it up. 

 

Next follow up on my goals to come the first week of July.