I’m a SQL Server MVP and have been involved with SQL Server since 1995. I’ve also been working with multi-terabyte, high-transaction DBs since before they were popular. I'm a Contributing Editor and the sole database expert for InfoWorld Magazine which means I also touch DB2, Oracle, Sybase, and any other DB out there. I've also written for SQL Server Magazine, SQL Server Standard, SSWUG, and SQLServerCentral.com. At the magazine I concentrate on benchmarking vendor products, reviews, and industry analysis. I’m also the founder of ITBookworm.com and MidnightDBA.com. I'm a very prolific speaker and teacher in my community and my 3 main areas of teaching are backups, SSIS, and powershell, though I can teach on a myriad of subjects. I also live in Dallas with that majorly cute chick to my right and our 3 georgous kids. Our kids go to a French school and are growing up way smarter than us. I've taught Ed Parker's Kenpo for many years and I've been in martial arts in general for about 23yrs now. I hold black belts in both Kenpo and Tang Soo Do as well as significant rank in many other styles including Jujitsu, Aikido, Shaolin KungFu, and Pekiti Tirsia. And believe it or not, in a previous life I was a French chef for 10yrs. I traveled the world with a world-renowned French chef who did more than teach me the ropes; he taught me how to BE a chef. The training is grueling, long, hot, and nothing even remotely as sexy as you see in the movies. The public rewards are few and the burns, cuts, and swollen feet are plentiful. For a true artist though there's no other life. I ultimately had to quit because I've had a couple leg injuries in my karate career and I've shattered my feet and I have a lower back disk that's slowly saying good-bye. So I had to get off my feet. Chefs also move around a lot and I just to tired of never being able to stay in one place. So I hung up my chef coat and turned it in for a pocket protector. My mother was very disappointed in me for a few years because she said I was wasting my gift in the kitchen. It wasn't until I started working for the magazine that she took notice of my new career and now she can't stop bragging about me. So anyway, that's my story in a very small nutshell. I still cook all the time at home though I'm officially retired from catering and any other professional cooking.

I'm a SQL Server developer and DBA of over 10 years. I've worked for FedEx, Brinks, and Microsoft, and am currently having a lovely stint at AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group. My hobbies include code and database optimization, fixing other people's scripts, and long walks with an ice cream cone. I'm the co-designer and administrator of ITBookworm.com and MidnightDBA.com. I write book and product reviews for Bookworm, and make training videos, articles, and blogs for MidnightDBA. My SQL blog is syndicated through SQLServerPedia.com, where I'm a contributor. I live in Dallas with the MVP with the pretty eyes (oh yeah, I said it) and our three so-cute-you-could-eat-em kids. Sean's right: they're growing up way smarter than us. I'm only a lowly orange belt in Kenpo Karate, but on the other hand,I hold a learner's permit to fly a single engine aircraft, so there's that. If they ever come on the intercom and say, "Is there anyone on the plane with flying experience?", then I get to go up to the cockpit.