On Saturday, March 17, 2007, I flew on Delta from Louisville KY to Las Vegas NV via a stop in Atlanta GA. At some magical moment between Atlanta and Las Vegas, Delta's flight records indicate that I have successfully flown more than 1,000,000 miles. For this great achievement, which, they say, "fewer than 1% of our frequent fliers ever achieve", I received a congratulatory letter, spiffy new luggage tags, lifetime silver medallion status, and my choice of a new piece of luggage. I am pleased to report that, as of 1,019,680 miles, this new luggage hasn't be lost yet - not even once.

1,000,000 miles seems like a good time to reflect upon one's life. At an average of 2,500 miles per trip, this suggests I've taken maybe 400 trips. With an average ticket price of $500 (certainly some have been much higher and others have been lower), perhaps I've put $200,000 into Delta's bank account. It is a nice piece of Hartman luggage which incidentally fits into the Size Wise carry-on tester...

Next month, in San Jose California, I will participate in my 19th consecutive IDUG North America conference. I've contributed to IDUG as a speaker every year since 1997 - making 10 years of presentations. Fortunately, I enjoy teaching and writing. And, of course, I'm flying Delta to get to SJC.

With so much travel, I'll tell you I'm struggling with Waist Management. The life of a road warrior can be very difficult on one's diet. I started the year at 205 LBS with a goal of dropping to 180 by year's end. Despite running three to four miles 3-5 times per week and "eating better" (when possible), today's weight is 198. I have more work to do. Interestingly, back when I flew my first mile with Delta, I probably weighed 160 LBS. Unfortunately, I can't blame the 40 LB gain entirely on airplane peanuts. There are simply just too many awesome restaurants across America and around the globe.

As for DBI, we'll be two years old this July 15th. Last year, 2006, was our first full year of operations. We achieved $3M revenue and profitability in 2006, a remarkable milestone for a young company. We'll have more exciting news and achievements coming in 2007 as we grow from two dozen employees towards 30-40.

That's it for today, I need to catch a Taxi to the Chicago ISACA Chapter Group meeting - roughly the 10th ISACA Chapter I've spoken to this year.

Cheers,
Scott

Have you seen this movie yet?

You never know when you are going to see you loved ones again. This is a movie about how one man tries to cope with the loss of his family after 9/11. I give the movie ten thumbs up.

Yesterday there was a horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech. There are now 33 families grieving unexpectedly, trying to cope with their loss.

So remember this: the next time you leave your home, try to have a pleasant, thoughtful, loving good-bye, good luck, and hugs and kisses if appropriate. The next time your spouse or family is leaving home, bid them a kind, loving farewell.

You just never know.

See the movie.

With kindest regards,
Scott

Hello readers,

Where has the time gone? I have to say I think about writing in my blog almost every day, but this is often a fleeting thought when there isn't a computer nearby. Things are extremely busy at DBI these days; we've got a lot going on. Still, this is no excuse for my shameful neglect of my blog. So, here I am at midnight on Tax day 2007, getting back up on the horse after my fall. Please pardon my absence.

We had to shut down the posting of comments to our blogs - it seems people promoting web sites of ill-repute will stop at nothing when it comes to advertising their filthy URLs. Well, we cleaned those up and will strive to maintain professionalism. If you do see something offensive here, our apologies in advance. Please Contact Us and we'll promptly remove the offensive content.

I think my younger daughter has grown about 5 inches since my last blog post. I should probably stop putting Miracle Gro in her milk. But as I watch her grow up so fast, I'm thinking a lot about values and finding ways to teach values. There are some values that I believe are particularly valuable and important, though I recognize and appreciate that everyone may have different priorities for their values.

We have a strong value system at DBI, too. In some of my future posts, I'll write about our values and why they are important.

And for the technical followers amongst you, yes, I suppose I'll write about DATABASES from time to time. IBM has a lot going on with DB2, as usual, and Larry over at Oracle is keeping us busy and entertained as well. It's a great time to be a database professional - everyone is doing it all over the world. In fact, the rush to become a database professional or Java programmer has quite possibly contributed to the shortage of tractor trailer truck drivers in the United States and global warming worldwide.

Now that I've finally picked up my keyboard to post a blog entry, I am feeling a rush of excitement just like when you do get back on a horse after falling off. Now, I want to ride and ride, but time is running short. It's time to say farewell for tonight, tomorrow is another day.

With best regards,
Scott