Can you believe it is nearly September? As we head into Labor Day weekend here in the USA, I was thinking about August and realized that it is always a big month for me – especially this year. First and foremost, I can’t ignore the fact that the second anniversary of my friend Mike’s death just passed, so the end of August now has has a twinge of sadness.

It isn’t all melancholy, though. August also marks the anniversary of going independent. I got started in 2007, so I am entering year six of being self employed. Fingers crossed, it will be another sixty! Ben and I also just basically crossed two years here at SQLHA. Life is good.

I did an interview with Louis Davidson for his Why We Write blog series – read it here.

We’re slowly revamping a few things here at SQLHA.com (the Services section is next). The Training section just got its overhaul this week and now includes all the information about my 4-day Mission Critical SQL Server class with hands on labs. I’ll be delivering it in Australia in a few months in both Melbourne from October 29 – November 1 (click here for more information and to register) and Sydney from November 4 – 7 (click here for more information and to register). My first public US date in quite awhile is in Chicago from December 9 – 12 (click here for more information and to register). I know, I know – Chicago in winter. It won’t be bad. We’ll keep the place warm! More cities and dates for 2014 will hopefully be announced soon, including Dallas, Philadelphia, and London. Stay tuned! 2014’s calendar will be a lot of fun.

I also am celebrating my fifth anniversary as a Cluster MVP. While my renewal is in July, Microsoft just sent me the special disk to add to my award. I’m very humbled and honored because it’s a community-based award, which means I’m doing something right for the greater good.

 

5 year MVP disc

5 year MVP disc

I’m starting to prepare for PASS Summit 2013 (haven’t registered yet? why not?). Remember I’m doing a pre-conference session on Tuesday, October 15 entitled Plan and Deploy Successful Clustered Solutions for SQL Server in addition to my spotlight session Troubleshooting Clusters. I hope to see some of you at one or  both of those (especially the pre-con).

I’ve also got another 1-day event with Penton coming up on September 24 called SQL Server High Availability Foundations. The link just went live today.

Work is progressing on the new book. I’m a bit behind on getting the first chapters out to subscribers, but I’m almost there. I think you can tell I’ve had a lot going on. If you haven’t ordered your copy, remember that there’s currently a discount so take advantage of it!

Oh yeah, I even have a big band concert thsi upcoming Sunday and managed to get some time off for the first time all year earlier in August. So I do more than work, you know.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend if you’re in the USA.