This month’s TSQL Tuesday is hosted by Shane O’Neill (B/T). The challenge this month is to write about “Dipping back into the cookie jar” or using the memories of a past challenge or accomplishment to help you through a new issue.

I can think of two incidents right off the top of my mind. The first, happened during my SQL Saturday as a presenter, SQL Saturday 97, in Austin, TX on September 28, 2011. Things were going OK, but I realized I was halfway through my material about 15 minutes in! Since this was my first time in front of a crowd, outside of work, I made the rookie mistake of going way too fast. But then, to make things a little more interesting, I had a special guest for my session: a bored toddler! Yes, one of the attendees brought their child to the session. The angry toddler was enough of a “reset” for me that I managed to finish on time. After the session, I went up to the parent, who was upset, and mentioned that it was OK and how the small outburst actually helped me. Most of the evaluations made note of how I handled the situation without missing a beat! Little did they know!

The second situation that comes to mind is helping our CTO with a tricky TSQL query. From memory, I wrote a CTE to eliminate duplicates from his result set. Of course, I have a blog post where I have copy and pasted the code many, many times before. But, in his eyes, I was a miracle worker and some sort of TSQL wizard.

Though I can look back and smile now, I’m sure I was a sweaty mess during the first half of my presentation back in 2011. Since then, I’ve gone on to present at several other SQL Saturdays. I’ve also given full-day training classes to my coworkers, so I’m no stranger to being up in front of people. I like that I have the reputation of being cool under pressure. Until next time, happy coding!