Brett H Perkins – Murfreesboro, Tennessee

My thoughts… My experiences… My life.

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    Brett Perkins
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Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Busy Mind, Busy Life :: Finding Balance

Posted by bretthperkins on January 11, 2010

As I figured… I didn’t even make it a full week before skipping a day of posting (3 actually… last post was on Thursday). With that, I have decided that I am going forget about trying to post every day. I think that it was a bit overkill, anyway. While I am sure that there is nothing anyone would rather do than read my amazing and adventure filled life of cleaning, coding, and working… with some song and dance thrown in just to keep it exciting, I am going back to my old ways: Update whenever I can, when sometime monumental or otherwise “noteworthy” occurs. So… here I am:

Carolyn –

Carolyn is getting better, which is good news indeed. But it is different this time because Dad actually called us all to tell us that she was there. It is, of course, not her first stint in the hospital. She has been there many times before with various “smoking-related” health problems. She is a smoker and over the last few years, it has all caught up with her. Usually, Dad just takes her to the hospital, they stay for a bit, she gets better, and they come home. Dad usually doesn’t even call us (my siblings and I), as I suppose he feels like it is not that serious (Although, I would prefer he call, regardless of severity, but that is another entry). This time, though, he did call, which leads me to believe that these visits are becoming more serious… and I don’t handle loss and death very well. I will not remark on fortune thus far in life, for good luck’s sake… I will just leave it at my dislike for loss. Anywho… back to now: She is doing better, after a scary Saturday night… Dad told me this morning that she may be able to come home on Thursday. :) He asked me to help get the house ready for her, and to get some things together to occupy her time and mind because this time, coming home also means no more smoking. He is settled and convicted to making sure that Carolyn actually QUITS smoking. NOW. To this effort, I pledge my support unconditionally. And for all those that read this, and have any direct interaction to Carolyn’s life, I am asking for your commitment as well. There are several smokers in the family, and it may be very easy to say “Okay” if Carolyn asks for a cigarette, or even just a puff. Please honor Dad’s wishes and say no, and accept my sincerest gratitude in advance. For the other smokers in the family… I am asking you to reconsider the choice to continue. I am SO grateful that my Mom decided to quit year ago. There is no way of knowing how things would have turned out had she not, but my belief is that things are better. :) I do not want to see another person for whom I care suffer they way Carolyn is now, and I can probably safely bet that everyone else feels the same way. I feel myself getting close to my “Stop-Smoking” soap-box, so I digress. We all know the outcome. I just pray that informed decisions are made.

Moving onto other things:

Sharp-Blogger: Is WELL underway. I created the database over the weekend and began the creation of the Stored Procedures to retrieve and send data to the Database. For those reading this with limited knowledge of Database Design, think of a Stored Procedure as a “door” and the database as a building with many rooms. To get into a building’s room, you have to use a door. Data is stored in the various “rooms” and “doors” must be built to every room in order to enter or exit. Once this is done, I will be able to build the actual content code to accept and display data from the Website. :) My goal is to complete the stored procedure creation by the week’s end. Then, I will take the weekend to build the code layers and content logic. Once that is done, I will begin the website design. :) I am SUPER-EXCITED about this site, although I am detecting more complexity than I anticipated. Luckily, the world today has a wealth of information on the Internet… and I am able to look up how people solve their problems and incorporate their solutions. Of course, the plan is to also document my methods as well, so I can afford the next developer the same privilege as my predecessors.

The Audition: for “Nashville in Harmony” is tomorrow at 7:40 P.M. and I am REALLY excited about that too. Of course, with Sharp-Blogger, I doubted if I should continue with the plans to join this musical group. I juggled it in my mind, and I decided that I should. There is something dangerous about having a hobby, Sharp-Blogger, that consumes too much time. I could potentially burn-out and/or lose interest… which puts the project at risk. This group will give me the time away from Sharp-Blogger that I anticipate I will need. Plus, I like to sing, and am very rewarded by that, as well as writing programs… so it is a win-win!

Balance: Like I said in the last paragraph, I just have to really make sure that I am keeping my ADHD-like mind hopping. So bouncing between movies with friend, Sharp-Blogger, Work, and Singing, I should be OK to NOT burn out. Just gotta keep the cycle going… and get BACK to the Gym!! :)

And, that is about all that is on my mind. Work continues to be a wash, so I keep learning and doing what I can. Maybe soon, I will be given more to do here, not that I am complaining.

-=brett=-

Posted in Diet, Family, Friends, Health, Technology, Thought, Work | Leave a Comment »

Hobbies :: Progress

Posted by bretthperkins on January 7, 2010

As you may or may not know, I have decided to write my own blogging database system. Since my job is actually 40 hours a week, I have time to really focus on hobbies. My hobbies include:

  • Singing
  • Writing Music
  • Writing in general
  • Technology Enthusiast
  • Software/Web Development

So… now that I have time, I am going to really start focusing on my hobbies!

Next Tuesday, I am going to audition for a musical group in Nashville named “Nashville in Harmony”. It is a choral group made up of men and women. It is an LGBT and LGBT Friendly group, so maybe I will be able to meet some more people in the LGBT community. :) I am also beginning to write music again. I did this for a while in college, and think that I can be really good at it, just need to work on it more. Unfortunately for that hobby, it is on the bottom of my list.

My number 1 hobby has been, and will likely be for some time, writing and developing software. And since I like writing, it makes sense for me to build a blogging system first. So I am. With that decision, though, came MUCH realization that I know VERY LITTLE. Okay… I know more than I thought, honestly, but there is SO much more out there to know that sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed. I just have to make sure that I take a minute each time I begin to stress and remind myself of two things: 1) This is a hobby, so don’t let it get to you and 2) It’s okay if it takes longer than you wanted. It’s a hobby! At least, though, I can chronicle what I have learned thus far in my research and development experience:

Stuff I already know:

  • Site Visual Design
    • CSS and HTML
    • Proper Layout Design
    • Java Script
    • JQuery
    • AJAX
    • Telerik
  • Site Functional Design
    • ASP.net Administration
    • Site Configuration
    • Membership and Roles (Access Restriction)
    • Database Connection
    • Interfaces
    • Objects
    • File System and Folder-level access
  • Site Code-behind
    • C#
    • VB.net
    • Database Connection
    • Database
    • Schema Design
    • Implementation
    • Connection to ASP.net and the Web
    • Using custom DB for Membership and Roles in ASP.net
  • Third Party API
    • Facebook (Still learning)

Stuff that I really still should learn prior to, and I guess realistically during, the development of the blogging site:

  • Site Visual Design
    • Flash
    • Silverlight
    • Browser Customization and Optimization
  • Site Functional Design
    • Database driven Site Mapping
    • Site-map based access rules
  • Database
    • Proper T-SQL/Stored Procedure Creation
    • Optimal Indexing
  • Third Party API
    • Twitter
    • Myspace
    • Anything else to which I can connect
  • Many things that I do not yet realize that I do not know.

So with that… Tonight, I believe that I will begin documenting the structure of the site. That structure should include:

  • Database Schema and Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
  • Object Definitions
  • Stored Procedure Definition
  • Data Flow Diagram
  • Draft UI (User Interface) Design
  • Development Controls to use
  • File System Mapping
  • Access Role and Rules

I think that I am going to start with the Database design. :) Maybe I’ll even get the database built tonight.

Sorry, this entry turned out to be more technical than I thought, but it was very helpful to write it out. Now I have a list from which I can work.

-=brett=-

Posted in Technology, Thought | Leave a Comment »

Woo! I Finally Got Work!

Posted by bretthperkins on December 28, 2009

Work work – OK…  so, I will admit:  I have LOVED doing things at my own pace for the last two weeks at Kroll.  I have read a lot and learned a lot, however, I am SO glad to actually begin working on the applications!  We are still in a bit of a lull, and to be frank, I believe that we will be for the next several weeks.  The good news is that we have time to prototype various bits of the UI (User Interface).  So we began working on that today.  It is not THAT major, but it is the little detailed stuff of which I absolutely love!!!  I was assigned two basic tasks:  1)  Re-design the header for the web-site and 2)  Begin building the site-map.  A site-map is basically what it sounds like…  It is a listing of all of the pages, in hierarchical order, and is used in navigation and security.  Right now, it is just a text file, it will eventually be a database table driven site-map with Active Directory Groups for permissions and access enforcement.  Anywho…  I got to actually work, and I was thrilled.

Mom work – After I left work, I headed to mom’s where she made some left-over turkey and we had some broccoli and cheese.  It was good.  I am back on my diet starting today.  I kinda cheated ALL of last week… but it was Christmas.  :)   I will likely cheat a little this week…  so I am going to prepare and allow for that.  But next week:  NO CHEATING!  kk.  Anywho, after dinner, we took down her Christmas stuff and packed it up.  I also played with the dog, Max.  Poor Max, though… he was playing outside the other day when his leash got caught around a bird bath, and the bird bath fell on his foot.  Staci, my sister, is going to take him to the vet tomorrow, I am sure he is fine, but he will NOT put his back paw on the ground, so he hobbles on 3 legs. It was cute when I came in, though, because Max was all happy, he grabbed his ball, and came to play, but then he remembered that he had a hurt foot, dropped the ball, and started whimpering.  :(   Anywho, Staci came by with her daughter and husband to grab Max, my mom was dog-sitting.  Then I came home.

Dad work – After that, I spent about an hour on the phone with my dad.  His printer stopped working after I upgraded his computer to Windows 7.  Anywho, that is about all.  Eric and I are watching Disney’s UP.  It is SUCH a great movie!!!  :)

On second thought… I think that I will go back to doing nothing… if only I could.  :)

-=brett=-

Posted in Family, Technology, Work | Leave a Comment »

 
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