Ward Pond's SQL Server blog

This Space Is Closed -- at least for now

2010-10-13T19:15:00Z

(updated 14 October 2010 to include a pointer to my new SQL Server-related blog) Today I received the unhappy news that my current position at Microsoft has been eliminated, effective this Friday. This was not entirely unexpected, but I find that the anticipation of a sad day does precious little to ease its arrival. It’s been a great eleven years-plus working with our customers and the SQL Community. I’ve been part of some truly exciting efforts, including the first-ever...(read more)

More About Our Dad, Thomas Alexander Pond

2010-09-04T20:00:00Z

We've posted Dad's obituary online at my website . Please stop by and read it. He lived a remarkable life. -wp this copyrighted material was originally posted at http://blogs.technet.com/wardpond . the author and his employer are pleased to provide this content for you at that site, and via rss , free of charge and without advertising. the author welcomes and appreciates links to and citations of his work. however, if you are viewing the full text of this article at any other website...(read more)

RIP Thomas Alexander Pond: 1924-2010

2010-09-02T16:30:00Z

I’ve been down, but not like this before - Paul Barrere (Little Feat), All That You Dream It’s a very disturbing trend in one’s life when so much of one’s writing begins with the three letters which this entry does. It’s an even more disturbing event when the subject is one’s father. It’s my sad task to report that my father, Thomas Alexander Pond, passed away early Sunday. He was eighty-five. All, all that you dream Comes to shine in silver lining...(read more)

RIP Richie Hayward: 1946-2010

2010-08-12T23:45:00Z

Sad, sad news today from the worlds of music and friendship: Richie Hayward – founding member, drummer, writer, and singer in the seminal American rock and roll band Little Feat – lost his year-long battle with liver cancer today. He was only 64. I first became familiar with Richie and Little Feat when I was in the tenth grade. My neighbor and surrogate older brother, Erich Swartz, returned home for Thanksgiving and brought with him a copy of Time Loves a Hero. To say I was hooked was...(read more)

Two New Corners of the InterWebs -- and They’re Mine!

2010-07-20T03:00:00Z

A busy weekend here in central Florida, as I established two new personal domains: http://WardPond.net , my personal website, and http://pondsponderings.wordpress.com , my personal blog While you’ve been in no danger of being deluged by personal traffic here lately, there have been times in this blog’s history where that’s not been the case. It’s my hope that the differentiation which the new blog facilitates will better serve those who seek both types of insight. Please let me know if you have any...(read more)

Serving the SQL Server Blogosphere for a Twentieth of a Century!

2010-06-22T22:56:00Z

It’s been exactly five years since this blog went live with a questionable Admiral Stockdale reference, and despite an extended hiatus recently to due a confluence of personal and professional issues, your interest in my ponderings continues to a humbling extent. So, as energy, inspiration, time, and circumstances permit, this humble little corner of the InterNets will continue to provide a forum for discussion of safe and sane care and feeding of SQL Server databases. Thanks for being a part of...(read more)

Five Things About sp_.. (okay.. Four Things and a Closing Argument)

2010-06-22T01:30:00Z

Celebrating the first day of Summer with the first technical post on the blog since mid-Winter (apologies for my absence).. Jens has a great post regarding the internal behavior of various forms of sp_-named programmability objects. Some SQLRAP-related research led me to take a different tack, and I wanted to share the results of that research here as well. So here are five things about sp_ to be aware of. I’ve verified all of these behaviors on SQL Server 2000 and above (through SQL...(read more)

Happy Birthday, Mom v78.05

2010-06-17T23:15:00Z

Today would’ve been my mother’s 83rd birthday if we hadn’t lost her to emphysema on 4 November 2004. I wish I could call her today, but I can’t. Please find time soon, if you’re able, to call your mother and thank her for your life. Such precious opportunities grow rarer by the day. Please don’t squander as many as I did. Happy birthday, Mom. I love you, and I miss you every day. -wp this copyrighted material was originally posted at http://blogs.technet.com/wardpond . ...(read more)

MERGE, XML Access, and a CTE: Not So Fast

2010-02-07T00:45:00Z

A bit of old news, as I return to the blog in earnest after some time away.. Last summer, in the posts Database Programming: What I’ve Learned About SQL Server 2008 (with a little on SQL Server 2005 thrown in) and Database Programming: Why I Like MERGE , I commented that I’d been able to build a MERGE statement which included XML access within a CTE to perform our basic data maintenance in a new system we were building. Well, when we got around to performance testing this code, performance...(read more)

R.I.P. Robert B. Parker

2010-01-21T04:00:00Z

Sad news today from the world of letters with the passing of Robert B. Parker , author of over 50 books, including the thirty-seven which comprise the Spenser series of detective novels. I’ve been an unabashed fan of Parker’s since I read my first Spenser novel at the age of nineteen. I was even lucky enough to have him sign a few of my first editions at a cattle call of a book signing in Pasadena many years ago. Parker’s wit, irony, and strong moral center were very influential in the development...(read more)