Back in early 2002, my company sponsored a bunch of it's developers to get their MCSDs.  These were the days of VB6 and COM+.  After many evenings at a local college and 4 certification tests - we were MCSDs.  PrimMarily a web developer, I didn't get to put much of the COM+ to use, but the SQL Server 2000 Design & Implementation class proved extremely useful.  With my newly minted MCP & MCSD next to my name, I set out to upgrade my career.  Two of my next three jobs were made possible by interviewers who noted my credentials.  Although the credentials didn't get me the job, they got my resume the leg up it needed to get in the door.  For this, I am always grateful for having done the certification.

Over the following years, I passed the .Net solutions architechture certification but didn't do much after this.  Come 2007, I began wokring with BizTalk Server 2006.  Now anyone who has worked with this product knows it is huge.  There are numerous parts to this technology stack and each more complex than the next.  After some training and a book, we were off developing solutions.  I got the opportunity to attend Teched 2008 Developer in Orlando last year and used some of my down time to pass the Biztalk certification test.  I spent many hours in the lab doing test prep and reviewing the online test guide with some books.  I managed to pass on the first try despite the ridiculous number of social events I felt compelled to attend.  Returning to work I not only had a deeper knowledge for the core BizTalk development I was doing, but I also had a stronger understanding of the entire stack from BAM to BAS but also BRE and a few key points about orchestrations that always eluded me.

I am now sadly looking at my VB6 era MCSD and hoping to upgrade it.  I've used the online planner and have a good feel for what I need to do to reach MCPD - lots more tests.  The study room and being locked away from work at a conference center helps get things moving faster.  So regardless of wether I get to join the Bus, more certifications and visits to MS learning are in my future.  They have proven their worth to me both in job seeking and comprehensive study of the technology.

PS - Anybody reading this who doesn't know about the Get On The Bus Contest - Go here: http://blogs.technet.com/mslcommunity/archive/2009/04/09/another-chance-to-get-on-the-bus-or-fly-directly-to-teched.aspx

So, the wife's car is making noise and we need to locate the mechanic she usually goes to.  The car's been pretty reliable for the last 4 years so no need of repairs... until now.  What was the name of that shop we like (in this case, the name also changed).  Well, I don't know what its called so the usual yello page searches don't help.   But wait! I know where it is!  Google Earth time!

So there's the garage where I remember it.  What good does this do me?  Down to street view!

Problem Solved... P&J Auto in Melbourne, Florida.  Off to the yellow pages since it wasn't listed in Google's business listings.

I couldn't resist sharing this.  I spent a mid-size chunk of my life playing Half Life and its related properties.  It now appears to be bleeding out into the real world:

   http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/09/terrible-news-gordon-freeman-spotted-near-large-hadron-collider/

So Microsoft comes to the Orange County Convention Center for two weeks in June (aka TechEd).  They paid for the thing for two whole weeks.  The weekend between the IT Pro Week and the Dev Week is part of that two weeks and the aforementioned facility will be sitting idle.  What so you do?  Let the community have it...

Microsoft Commmunity Summit 2008

We had a lively evening last night (see our house in the picture above).  A brush fire in the preserve behind our home came very very close.  But the amazing response from all of the fire departments in Brevard County saved every home that was threatened.  An amazing job by these guys with special thanks to the Titusville unit who setup in our yard.  The strategy is apparently to let it burn all it wants to burn, but stop it short of the house.  The less fuel left means less work later. 

It was also an amazing night out to connect with neighbors and show support for each other.  I got to talk with atleast 20 of my neighbors at various times throughout the night.  An incredible example of community.

I got the word today that my manager would sign off on me attending TechEd this year!  Very excited!  I've attended VS Live in the past and am anxious to see how Tech Ed compares.  Just looking at the conference agenda makes me think I will be burning out by Day 4.  If anybody from the Space Coast .Net User Group is going, drop me a line so we can hook up.  I am on the Tech Ed community site as well.

http://www.sourcegear.com/TEM/TEMminions.html?id=74

Went out and had dinner with my brother and his girlfriend at Tenga.  An interesting Japanese Resatuarant of my brother's typical style.  Very odd, very low end but some delicious street food style cuisine.

Pablo arrived safely in the luggage and enjoyed a down day on Wednesday.  He mainly slept and watched TV.

The first day of training went well.  We got past the preliminary stuff that I already knew and started digging into the details.  Lokking forward tomorrow.  The facility is on 71 West 23rd and is pretty cool.  It's on the 5th floor of a Free Mason building.  The class size is very small so I am getting to really have a great dialogue with the instructor.  I think Pablo will be ocming to class with me tomorrow.

Space Coast .Net User Group

Sorry I missed last night's presentation, I am very curious about the Amazon Web Services.

BizTalk Bug

Still waiting on Microsoft to see if this blocking bug can be fixed with their patch.  It's taking longer than they expected for the hot fix.

New Data Warehouse project

Got to give have a technical proposal review with Harris' CIO this morning.  Went pretty well.  Had some excellent feedback and am looking forward to diving into my new HR Data Warehouse project!

SSIS Training in NY

Going to New York to get SSIS training on ETL for dimensional models.  The class is called Data Warehousing with SSIS (SQL Server 2005 Integration Services) and is offered by Symphic.  It promises to be a good class and I get to visit my brother in NYC at the same time.  I've brought my daughters Pablo stuffed animal with me and he'll be posing for pictures while Daddy's away on his trip.  Stay tuned....

Busy next couple of days.  Saturday is a double header of Orlando Code Camp then a birthday party for a co-worker (I am 3 years behind ya Paul!).  Later in the week on Tuesday is Scott Guthrie at Space Coast .Net User Group.

I spent the last year and a half working for a small company with 20+ employees in a 'get er done' coding frenzy of chaos.  My new employer is a Fortune 500 company with a more metered pace to the development process.  After getting my head above water with my new employer, I realized that I had failed to keep up with the new technologies coming from Microsoft.  I also realized that working in a small company, although exciting, can leave you with a lack of exposure to your peers and their ideas and best practices.  It is this that drove me headlong into the world of Blogs and Podcasts in an attempt to continue my growth as a professional software developer.  With a sizeable bloggroll and backlog of podcasts, I am beginnind to feel like the bull is going to let me think I am in control for a little while.

The purpose of my blog is multi-fold:

• Share valuable blog posts, articles and podcasts I come accross related to software development (both general and .Net specific)
• Help Promote the Space Coast Dot Net User Group
• A forum for my random thoughts and ramblings

Here we go...