Category Archives: Amtrak

Another Regret and Another Milestone

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I blogged a few weeks ago about a few regrets I’ve had since leaving behind being a DBA but I was reminded of another just over a week ago. It’s an event that combined two of my favorite things: SQL (or more accurately #SQLFamily) and trains! And that’s… SQL Train!

No, it’s not a new Microsoft product or something. It’s an event when a bunch of SQL DBAs and others take the train from Portland Oregon’s SQL Saturday event up to Seattle in prep for the PASS event. So you already know it’s a great group of people. And of course I love riding Amtrak and that’s one segment I haven’t ridden yet, so I would have enjoyed it. It’s something I have been meaning to do for years but never got around to it. That said, I’m sure if I showed up in a future year, I’d be welcomed by my SQL Family, it’s how they role.

That said, this weekend I did something new: I acted in a movie. Technically it’s not my first, but it’s by far the most involved I’ve been. A bit of acting, my daughter is in her senior year of film school and needed a “dad like person in their mid 50s” for a role. After not being able to find someone local to fill the role, she asked me. This involved me leaving work at 3:30 AM Friday after my shift ended, driving a bit, napping for several hours, getting gas, a bit more of a drive, napping again, driving, getting some food, I finally showed up on set. Total, I spent about 6 hours on set on Friday, and 10+ hours on Saturday and 8+ on Sunday.

I’ll admit between short notice (less than a week) and little time (5 12 hour shifts in that week) I wasn’t as prepared as I’d like, but I managed to get most of my lines right.

I’ll say this, as much fun as it was, I do hope I’m a better PA than I am actor! I’m not about to give up my night job.

And that’s it from here this week.

Connectivity

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So I’m sitting Amtrak train 280, headed to New York City and then on to Atlanta.  And I can tweet, blog, check email and do business.  This is one reason I like train travel. (Though I’ll admit taking the train to Atlanta from Albany is far from the quickest way of getting there.)

I’ve been able to access the Internet from the train for over a decade now thanks to Sprint.  This time though I’m posting through Amtrak’s on-board WiFi service.  Amtrak is slowly moving into the 21st Century.

Given the technical limitations Amtrak is facing, I have to say so far they’ve done an acceptable job.  They still require you to hit their proxy web page before you can get any connectivity, which stopped me for a bit since I was trying to do non-HTTP based work at first (dialing into my home VPN and a particular chat program I use.)  I understand their point (so they can put up their disclaimer and all) but it is annoying.

One nice feature, though I suspect not much used is that once you agree to their terms of service, it takes you to a page that shows a map with your current location.  This can be useful if you don’t have a GPS and are curious as to where you are.

And from all reports, they’ve done a decent job future-proofing the system.    Briefly, each car basically has a repeater that talks to the cafe car.  The cafe car has the antennas and cell-modems and is designed to be upgradeable as technology improves.

Well, I was going to add more, but my old laptop keeps crashing (time to upgrade, but have to get some business!).  So for now I’ll end with saying I’m on train 19 now, on my way to Atlanta.  Where, thanks to the modern technology I’m now aware there are tornadoes.  Wonder what that will do to my trip.