PASSion
Many, many, many years ago, I wanted to change the world. Call it idealism or just plain naivete--but I really, honestly wanted to make a difference.
This text is from my high school yearbook. I think the guy who wrote this to describe me wanted to kiss my bacon. 
When he said four-digit IQ, he probably meant .0001. But seriously, back then, I really did want to make the world a better place. That this slowly became a cliche as I grew older is really sad and disappointing.
I'm not writing about the PASS election process. I'm too new in PASS to even have a strong opinion about it. I'm also not writing about Steve Jones. The only direct relationship I have with Steve Jones are his Voice of the DBA podcasts. However, I've been reading some articles about him in the past weeks...and, looks like Steve Jones is more than a podcast to a lot of people. These people are not happy about his exclusion from the Board of Directors election and what's awesome is, these people are speaking up about it. Passionately.
In the short time that I've been with the SQL community, I've seen passion so hot it burns. It reminds me of the days when I actually thought I could change the world.
I'm different now from the girl described above. I'm no longer desperate to make the world a better place. In the workplace, I've mastered the art of avoiding confrontations. It's just more...peaceful. But being part of a community where people stick their necks out for people and ideals despite the possibility of conflict is kinda inspiring. It makes me think it may be possible for me to change the world afterall. Peace can be overrated anyway; I think I can forego it once in awhile for the possibility of something as underrated as change.
Dumbing it down: Why you should verify backups
"Well, I just made a copy of the data files and the copy failed and now they're corrupt and the backups we have are not valid...and...and now I don't know what to do and..."
Of Wasabis
Wasabi chips. I bought this last weekend. As soon as I took my first bite...I stuck my tongue out and said--"Ugh! It tastes like wasabi!"
The package was labeled wasabi. It had a picture of a wasabi. Not sure really why I was so surprised. I guess it tasted too much like wasabi. Yeah, yeah...I know what you're thinking...how else was it supposed to taste like??? I know it doesn't make sense but the taste really DID overwhelm me. Just saying...
Of Bikinis
Three years ago, I copied a bunch of pictures to an external drive. I actually checked quickly if the transfer was a success after...keyword being quickly. I just looked at the thumbnails and all looked well so I deleted the original images from my laptop. When I opened the pictures last Saturday, half of the pictures looked like this:
I lost a set of pictures with my college friends, a set of pictures with my dogs, and ONE bikini picture (yes, I could actually fit in one a long, long, long time ago).
Of Database Backups
I think some people forget that backups are just operating system files--like my pictures are files, like PSTs are files, and like documents are files. And files behave like files--the same way wasabi chips taste like wasabi. When you move files or copy them or email them or write to them--anything can happen. Files can get corrupted. So when you find your unverified backup files to be corrupted or invalid, it's not really a question of why it happened--but why is it that you didn't verify them knowing that they're basically "just files"? This probably sounds so dumbed down but this is as non-technical as I can make it to be: backup files are files. How redundant, eh?
Instilling Paranoia
Be paranoid. Do verify your backups. Get started now. Because when you're the one in charge of the database, whether by accident or not, you just can't forget that there's more than a bikini picture at stake.
Now, really, all this talk about bikinis is making me want to skip these donuts. Next topic please.
More Information
Verifying Backups