Blogging Safely Part II

Man, I just have too much time on my hands.

I've debated whether I should write about the specifics of my termination. Yes. No. Yes. No. Alright, no.

After counsel from a few fellow bloggers (how cool is that? A built in support group!), I've decided against it. If I were independently wealthy (read: not dependent on a salary), I might.

I am also trying to take the high-road, trying to have some class I guess.

The more I sit around the worse I feel about it too. It is/was a humbling experience.

Yes, I was ready (and looking) to leave. But to be walked out of the building is not fun (though many thought I was just playing another prank). I wish it had not happened that way.

I do have my own opinions and I will voice them, but when a decision is made, I usually just shut my mouth and either live with it or look for a new job (if I totally disagree). Many people view this as arrogance I believe. That I am not open to new ideas. That is most definitely not the case.

(can you say rambling?)

So, if you blog and haven't read my previous post on Blogging Safely, do it now. Something good must come out of this.

Discuss blogging with your employer. See if they have guidelines on blogging. If not, err on the side of caution.

Thanks to everyone for your support. It reminds me of the support I received last year at this time when my daughter fell ill. Now I have a virtual family!

Blogging Safely

Jake from AppsLab left a link in the comments to my previous post, Lessons Learned. The link was to an article about Mark Jen, who was fired from Google after 11 days for blogging.

It got me curious as to what was out there, so below is a list of links that point to either "safe blogging" articles or those that were fired for blogging about their company.

Lessons Learned From Google Blogger Who Got Fired - 5 lessons here. #5 is, "Don't make the same mistake twice."

Of Blogging and Unemployment - a former Microsoft employee gets the sack.

Delta employee fired over blog sues company

Fired simply for having a blog

Beware if your blog is related to work

Have a blog, lose your job?

Avoid getting fired for blogging

Warning: Your clever little blog could get you fired

How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)


Or you can just google it.

Back to lessons learned, I'll speak with management or HR at my next company to see if they have guidelines. If not, I'll err on the cautious side and not mention anything.

Lessons Learned

I was let go yesterday. Many thought that it was another one of my pranks...which was funny. Following are my lessons learned from my time there:

1. Get express written permission about what you can (if anything) and cannot blog about.
2. Not everyone is your friend.
3. Not everyone will like you...just because.
4. Some people will not hesitate to throw you under the bus.
5. Big companies might not be the place for me.
6. Big companies are full of many motivated and talented people.

I learned a great deal in the year and a half. My family and I moved from Gainesville to Tampa and it was the best decision we've made so far.

I was exposed to data warehousing which was a challenge to say the least. To spend a week trying to figure out the best way to move data was an interesting exercise.

I was exposed to big company politics which was fun.

Overall my experience there was positive. I learned a great deal both personally and professionally. I met and hope to retain many good friends and I will miss all of them dearly.

Multi Table INSERTs

I learned something new today! Multi Table INSERTs.

I was trying to capture the new records into a staging table using RETURNING BULK COLLECT INTO, but that doesn't work (yet).

I remembered reading about Multi Table INSERTs, but never had the need for using them, so never bothered to learn it.

CREATE TABLE t
(
  x NUMBER PRIMARY KEY,
  y NUMBER,
  z NUMBER
);

CREATE TABLE s
(
  x NUMBER PRIMARY KEY
);

INSERT ALL
  INTO t ( x, y, z )
  VALUES ( myrownum, ran1, ran2 )
  INTO s ( x )
  VALUES ( myrownum )
SELECT 
  rownum myrownum,
  dbms_random.value ran1,
  dbms_random.value ran2
FROM dual
  CONNECT BY LEVEL < 101;

CJUSTICE@ORA10GR2>SELECT COUNT(*) FROM t;

  COUNT(*)
----------
       100

1 row selected.

Elapsed: 00:00:00.01
CJUSTICE@ORA10GR2>SELECT COUNT(*) FROM s;

  COUNT(*)
----------
       100

1 row selected.

Elapsed: 00:00:00.02

Awesome!