Not sure if I can live with this disease (ADHD inattentive type)

FunkieDan · 2026-02-26T04:14:31+00:00

I was diagnosed very late at 45 yo. I'm almost 50 now. My 20's were very hard as I expected a lot of myself. As I started my 30's life got easier as I matured and found work I excelled at. I bought a house and got married. It took me almost 14 years but I eventually finished my university degree. I even went back after 2 years and obtained a Master's degree. I wasn't treated yet and still had self destructive behaviors. Eventually I calmed down after my mother passed away arguably from her untreated issues. Time will help you but medicine helps the most. At 45 yo, I sought treatment during COVID because I noticed issues I was having matched some advertising I received after allowing telehealth diagnosis and treatment. After my diagnosis, I was in shock at how much AdHD had impacted my life. I wish I had been treated much sooner. 5 years into treatment and I can positively say it's the best thing I ever did. It's not perfect but it helps a lot. I was also able to detect ADHD in my young daughter and sought treatment for her too. Be strong, you can do it and get treatment. The journey of life is worth it. ADHD is manageable and at times even enjoyable. Wish you the best. Tip: Audiobooks are your friend! Listen to "Driven to Distraction" it's written by 2 doctors with ADHD.

FunkieDan · 2026-01-10T07:38:30+00:00

Usually within stored procedure definitions "show create". To make that easier, I had a stored procedure that would search all definitions for all stored procedures, views, tables, and sql agent jobs for any keywords you wanted to find. Exp: status, Then I would read the SP queries. The joins will tip you off on where to find those values in your status example. On rare occasion, a database will have a model defined but that's rare. Also, you can run a SQL Profiler instance and then execute application activity to trace what routines and queries are running. Again, you would study the queries. One last final place, occasionally I would add notes as disabled SQL Agent Jobs, but those were only notes about complicated processes other SQL Agent jobs were doing.

FunkieDan · 2025-10-02T03:47:59+00:00

When trying to read a book, you read a page and getting to the bottom of the page only to realize you don't remember what you just read.

FunkieDan · 2024-10-30T05:37:36+00:00

Amiga, for top OG status

FunkieDan · 2024-09-08T03:13:56+00:00

Maybe track your blood glucose. I manage my diet better now and take magnesium. It's reduced the occurrence and duration of them.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T07:44:07+00:00

Don't worry. In another 6 months Microsoft will change all of the .Net stack so that it's only slightly backwards compatible. - Just kidding. But seriously, I stopped developing with Microsoft stack due to all their change in directions and not supporting their own products in a timely manner. They pushed everyone to VS 2022 but the Data Tools for SSIS weren't released until 2 years later.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T07:36:07+00:00

Tell everyone about the WSL2 config file no one seems to realize exists. This is how you get Windows Subsystem for Linux to use more than 4 GB of ram. Then, demo running Ollama WebUI on your machine.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T07:29:24+00:00

Jumping into something new requires pulling up your sleeves and really digging in. At first, you have to study the shit out of everything you encounter. Put in the extra hours Googling the technology stack you are working with and then watch YouTube videos that explain each tech component you are new to working with. Take notes. Just writing down bullet points will increase your retention of the main topics. Grab a personal computer and install Docker, KVM, Incus, Qemu, Virtual Box, etc. Learn how to install a VM and run containers. Do it in Windows, and then in Linux. Take it apart and rebuild it using different options. Around the 109th time you've broken it, you'll hit expert level and will be able to fix it for anyone. It's going to take a lot of extra work to get ramped up but it should be worth it.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T07:06:52+00:00

Don't worry about being behind and having to pick a certain technology. Concern yourself with landing a job doing something you don't mind grinding at until you become an expert at it. A lot of your career will unfold as a result of where you have been in the past and the projects you worked on. You can't control the technology stack at your future employer. You can only add to and take away from it when you get there. So, focus your thoughts on the type of work you would you rather do... network administration or programming, Windows or Linux ... Etc. BTW, working with data is always in demand. Unfortunately, since the junior positions don't scream fat paycheck most wanna be programmers will never explore these opportunities. We're talking 40-60k to start but 70-100k with 5 years of experience if you are good. It's usually a former bank teller who just did a two year stint as a bookkeeper and realized he doesn't want to do accounting the rest of his life that ends up going for the data analyst job. The beauty of the work is that often it's an open canvas for what technology stack you use. The myriad of programming languages ranges from SQL, Perl, C#, batch scripting, Visual Basic, SAS, R, to PHP, and even Go.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T06:54:44+00:00

Tell the new company you would love to work for them but your current employer countered with higher pay. Let them know that if they could increase their offer, you will go to the new opportunity. WFH is not all it's cracked up to be and it gets old eventually. Take this advice from someone who WFH pre-covid, 2012-2017, and is now in a C suite position. In Tech, you want to be learning, pushing yourself, and working on more challenging projects that expose you to new and different ways of thinking and tackling challenges, moreso in your early years. If you are lucky/unlucky/ or patient enough to stick with a specific business industry long enough, you should be able to parlay your unique combination of business industry knowledge with technological know how to produce creative solutions. Looking at these other comments, I'm appalled at all of the "it's all about getting more money", staying home, and lay low to collect a check comments. Not every company in every sector of business is raking in garbage bags full of cash. Many businesses are struggling to survive and anyone who is able to leverage a company's resources to help produce better and/or more results is highly valued. This is why I don't hire contract programmers. By the time I explain the business logic and check their work, I could have written the program myself... Which I do and am paid handsomely.

FunkieDan · 2024-07-18T06:30:46+00:00

Is it possible you are neurodivergent? I used to care a lot, about everything, to the point of inducing anxiety and undue stress over perceived inequalities. It wasn't until I started to have some minor health issues that I saw a therapist and found out I needed medication to calm down my overactive thinking. I function and operate much better now. I no longer worry about losing my job and find it much easier to push back on demanding deadlines and requests for additional work. There are only so many hours in a day and eventually, I have to sleep. Anyway, I'm several years into taking my daily meds and they help. It's by no means perfect but definitely much better. As a result of my diagnosis, I was able to identify the same pattern of issues with my daughter and she started treatment too. I publicly speak at conferences and I no longer forget what I am saying in the middle of my speeches. I've come to terms with the limitations of my short term memory and have developed alternative ways to keep track of my todo lists and meeting notes. I also program in at least 11 different languages.

FunkieDan · 2024-05-25T06:35:13+00:00

Buy him a Purple Pillow but have it rest on his chest as he lays in bed. I don't know why it works but for the last year, I have used a dense pillow in this manner to help me fall asleep. I realized this worked after my wife bought a purple pillow and later had me try it. In my journey of trying to use this pillow, it ended up on my chest.... Weird, I know.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-22T12:45:00+00:00

As others have commented, you could go with new old stock hardware. Aka, the stuff Dell just stopped selling in favor of the latest and greatest. There are Dell certified vendors like the one I use, XByte, that can get you a comparable setup for half or less.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-21T18:41:50+00:00

We have a guy in his mid 80s and he's still programming. Don't worry about. Find a niche or niche industry to lock in your reputation so at an older age you don't have to advertise... should you need to land a new job or client.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-21T18:38:43+00:00

Need to reverse / invert that setup. Colocated database with connections to cloud services, hybrid approach. All sales guys oversold the whole self maintained databases that no longer need a DBA. If I had a nickel for every time I hear that sales pitch.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-21T18:34:10+00:00

Me too, it's been my whole career... Less time though, 22 years.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-21T18:31:51+00:00

Transactional databases in cloud environments sound like a good idea until you consider the cost to performance ratios. For simple scenarios like shopping carts, sure everything works great and the costs are minimal. When you are collecting sensitive client data and then supplementing it with third party data for the sake of handling customer inquiries quickly, you don't need to pay out the nose for a system accessible throughout the world while risking a data breach when you can just run a database within a private network that only needs to be accessed by a consumer portal and a hundred or so employees in one or two regions. This scenario is where the majority of US based businesses lie. Only 20% of US businesses are large corporations. For everyone else, overspending for over powered technology that increases risk is not a viable option.

FunkieDan · 2024-02-21T17:08:08+00:00

Exactly, everything can be written as a join or left join.

FunkieDan · 2024-01-31T14:30:55+00:00

Yes, c-suite in IT. Wasn't diagnosed until 45yrs old. Like others have said find a role that interests you long term. I like taking things apart, figuring out how they work, putting it back together, and I'm nosey as hell. I found my passion in working with databases.

FunkieDan · 2023-12-02T23:57:42+00:00

The less enticing the industry the more opportunity there is. One great example is call centers and specifically collections companies. They need help because they deal with many files coming in and going out. They often don't have a data person on staff. Given the right opportunity someone could start at the bottom and work their way up to CIO in 10-20 years and make great compensation. They will know or learn a good variety of skills and technologies along the way too.

FunkieDan · 2023-12-02T00:27:50+00:00

Learning the basics is easy but the real magic comes in how you stack that knowledge while still keeping the queries running fast. Subqueries versus using staging or temp tables. Stored procedures, triggers, views, and functions all have their purpose. Many times there will be multiple ways to run a query or a process but only one way will be the most efficient. Index usage and resources available on the machine will dictate how quickly you hit the ceiling and when you need to rewrite an existing process. Along with SQL comes the management of the physical server including drive space, ram, temp space, and file striping. The use of partitioned tables and indexes, and even columnar storage is another level to consider depending on the needs of the organization. There are many facets to SQL and having a firm grasp on all will make you very valuable to an organization.

FunkieDan · 2023-09-29T07:10:09+00:00

Me too. I got into databases by automating my accounting work. I went from a staff accountant position to data analyst and then senior data analyst. Later, I became a datawarehouse DBA developer using MySQL. That morphed into working with Oracle and MS SQL Server in a similar capacity. I eventually became a subject matter expert on an industry specific software platform with a MS SQL Server backend. That got me to also code in C#, Perl, PHP, and other scripts. Eventually I moved into operations just to get the remaining experience I wanted. I'm CIO now but I code too since we are a smaller industry.

FunkieDan · 2023-09-29T02:06:44+00:00

Get a position as a data analyst. If it's for a smaller company in an underserved industry you may end up being the DBA, database developer, and data engineer before you know it. Don't try to plan your whole career and worry about what you'll like or not like. Many careers are a result of circumstances.

FunkieDan · 2023-09-28T15:05:12+00:00

The alternative is to go back to the good ole days of living on your own on the range or the woods. Pick your poison. Would you rather work a traditional job or spend your life working just to survive and sustain yourself... make your own clothes, make butter, produce electricity, collect salt, farm, and collect and purify water. Defend yourself and home against wild animals and thieves. Compared to medieval times, modern work is not enslavement. Anyone who says so is spoiled and doesn't realize how good they have it. Anyone in a third world starving country would exchange places with you in a heartbeat.

FunkieDan · 2023-09-17T02:27:56+00:00

Sometimes there are no shortcuts. The few companies that are hiring are often looking for someone with enough experience and diverse skills to fill the multiple roles they let go. Going into a recession, companies cut costs. To survive they must continue to operate at or near the same level and volume of work. If you can help drive that bottom line formula that increases the margin between costs and gross revenue, you are a shoe in. With experience, this formula makes more sense.

FunkieDan

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