At Last….

…I have got some free time! I have finished a program just yesterday and I guess, I am free for next week. I guess I needed some rest since I have been out and traveling from last one month and have been handling some of the toughest clients and programs in this interval. There is an obvious physical tiredness which comes but more than that, there is mental tiredness which comes up. Fortunately, I have been handling different modules in all these weeks, except for the 2nd and 3rd week where I had the same module. But even that was a good thing since that particular module is the one which I want to handle as much as I can. There are several modules which I have decided for me and that particular module is one of the list. I shall be short since I am not feeling well and not having much strength to think, sit and write. Sorry but I really can’t help it!

The program which I did in last to last week, was among the best ever programs of mine. There are several reasons for it too. One, the program is considered to be one of the toughest ones in the entire course listing what’s out there for professionals who work with Oracle Database. There are so so many things which can be a real tough thing to discuss when you have delegates sitting in front of you having 10+ years of experience, handling terabytes of databases which are all mission-critical and any issues arising to any of those databases would lead to nothing but lay-off from the employment! Its really tough but on the same note, really good to discuss things with such kind of audience since they are not going to stop you when you are speaking really deep stuff and also, they are not going to ask you simple things. These kind of delegates ask you some of the toughest questions which make you step back, pause and think deep before you even can dare to speak one word too! I absolutely love this kind of session since I also learn a lot from these people who really know a lot more than I do! This batch was full of such people and it was also filled to the maximum number of people which are allowed in a batch. I had a real good time discussing things with the delegates and I must say, all were really knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Fortunately, there were couple of them in that batch, who attended a previous session of mine in an another city and went back home smiling. When they found me sitting at the instructor’s desk, they were really happy and so was I since I  remembered them so well too! Just for the record, I don’t forget things , people and anything that I say or is said to me! If you are going to say something to me, be assured that even if you are going to come and ask me after years too, I shall be remembering it as it was said yesterday and the same goes for things that I say too! This also holds true for the things that I observe and sense, its really tough that anything skips from my attention when I am really keen and looking and its rare that I shall forget about it. Anyways, enough of self-praise, its not a post about me and my skills right? So I was saying that there were few delegates whom I already knew very well and there were many new ones as well. It was a real good batch and we discussed lots of technical stuff. Its always so good to see that people are understanding what you are saying and also, are enjoying listening to you too! Finally, when the session got over, I was happy to see all having smile on their faces. Those whom I knew already , told me that they really did enjoy the whole session very much and would be proposing my name only in the forthcoming sessions for their company which is a very very big thing for me! One of the delegates did find out that I am an Oracle ACE and he asked for my autograph! If you are a regular here, you must be knowing that this was the 2nd time when someone asked for my autograph. The first incident happened when I attended an user group conference. I am really not at that level that I can be signing autographs and those who know me and are close me more than what world can see, they probably would say for sure, “huh, autograph and yours? “ :) . And its true too, I am not a celebrity, not Tom Cruise, nothing so I am not really not someone who should be given such a big respect! But, even when I won’t like it, I can’t be rude to those who do give me such respect and say no to them. So I gave my autograph to that delegate on his notebook on the page where he specially wrote my name and mentioned Oracle ACE with it! Thank you so much for your kind gesture! Almost all the delegates wrote some really kind words for me in the official rating for which I am really really thankful! Thanks a bunch guys, you have been very kind and I hope, we can meet in some other session soon! On that very good note, I said goodbye to them and started waiting for the 2nd week where I had a different set of challenge to take.

The 2nd week’s program was an overseas program but due to less number of students at that place, it was done through web-conferencing. There were lots of issues which started in the fist day, first hour of the program itself. We use a particular website to log in and start the session. Just before the program, that site stopped working for me! Well, you can imagine that if you are going to be the host of something and you, yourself can’t be there, it doesn’t leave a good impression on the people who would be attending that program isn’t it? Unfortunately, there was no apparent reason that me and my technical coordinator could find for the issue. After struggling for two hours, it got sorted out on its own, the darn site started working on its own and everything was surprisingly fine! The program got delayed by two hours but somehow, I managed to get the schedule back on the track. Since the program was happening for overseas delegates, the timing was really early for it to start. I had to drive to another place to do it and this is the reason I got fever too, thanks to the cold weather and me being stupid by not wearing any woolen/warmer/jacket while driving in that kind of weather. Anyways, after that stupid issue, things were almost fine and there was no real trouble that did come in the entire week. Yeah, I was not feeling well and that was a real trouble but for me only :) . The delegates mentioned several time in the sessions that all is going on very well, everything is very well organized and I am doing a very good job when explaining things so I believe, all was okay only :) . There were lots of discussions in this program as well and that does indicates that all was okay. We finished the program yesterday and though I couldn’t see the faces, I am quite hopeful that all were having that smile on their face which I always want to see to be there!

So that was about the last two weeks. I am really tired now and also not feeling well too. I guess, fever has come back again and I must eat something and take my medicine. Hope I shall be fine before my next tour because its a real tough thing to be sick and be on the road!