My title at work is “Principal Database Administrator.” My employer is looking for another one, to be my peer. Here is the job posting. I helped write it, and it did not get too badly garbled by the HR process. If you want the official view of what I do at work, this is it. If you have the relevant background, and are willing to work closely with me, feel free to apply.
More than two years ago I took an introductory class on the Oracle database management system. Oracle is used in my organization, but not nearly as much as SQL Server, which is where I had been spending almost all my time. My supervisor was an experienced Oracle DBA and handled such tasks as came up. However, she just left, to take a job in the private sector. I have inherited the role of Oracle DBA. She gave me a lot of information before she left, but there was only so much she could cover in the available time. So I have a lot to figure out on my own. Oracle is very different.
Oracle here at work runs on Linux (Red Hat and Suse). All the time I have spent working on Linux at home will now pay off. The Linux support team hers is small (three people), but very good. I am looking forward to working with them.
Don’t do anything just because the vendor says it’s a good idea. Here’s why.
Just because your company is paying them thousands of dollars does not mean they are competent. I have seen a quite a few cases like this in my own experience.
… if IBM is involved it will get even more complicated. That is the story of my weekend.
(Channeling Poul Anderson)
My job requires that I occasionally work on evenings and weekends, doing things that cannot be done in normal business hours. Fortunately, in most cases I can do the job remotely by logging on to the County network from home. That helps a lot. Also, in most cases the job is goes according to plan and does not take too long. Last night…well, I am glad the first was true. Continue reading
As mia_mcdavid wrote early Friday morning, we were extremely busy all last week. She left out a few things–notably all the meetings she had about our children, and my full week at work. There was nothing terrible that happened during the latter, but it there was a lot going on. The weekend was even busier.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 