There are countless things that I dislike about MySQL. One thing that’s impressing me is that in 4 hours, our MySQL server for one of our major customers has performed 700 million row reads. The interesting bit is that a full half-billion of those hits can be eliminated. Using the MySQL slow query log with a 1 second threshold and an enhanced version of the MySQL slow query log parser, combined with ‘mysqladmin extended-status’, I was able to track our database performance issues to an isolated set of 3 queries that are executed regularly and require full table scans. Adding 3 single column integer indexes on 150k-200k row tables should solve that and cut our reads at least in half.

“The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended…

geeks. You spend you weekdays writing code for a faceless corporation (“Cash”), then you spend your evening and weekends writing anarchic, weird computer games to amuse your techie friends with (“Sex”).”

Hugh uses this analogy to explain his suggestion for being creative, “Don’t quit your day job”. It’s interesting when we see key open source developers get hired by Google or JBoss to take their sexy side project and get paid for it. There’s a certain allure to getting paid for something you previously did purely out of passion. In my own life, I realize that I do side work in both arenas – I have a nicely paying contract doing some vanilla, cut-and-dry development, and some side projects that pay little more than potential for the future. Up to this point, each project is clearly for-hire or for-creativity.

As he mentions, there is a tension between the two that can be balanced, but it’s challenging. Pattern the employment relationship after a marriage, and the convergence of “sex” and “cash” is incidental. Of course, if you let the two become cause and effect, and it’s prostitution. Sound familiar?

Nothing like some contract work to force priorities around a bit. When I mentioned a few days ago that interesting opportunities were cropping up rapidly, I had no idea that this dilemma was about to grow. A former employer of mine contacted me out of the blue today, and asked if I’d be interested in putting in some work-from-home time as supplemental development help on a project they’re working on. By the end of the day, we’d agreed on a fair rate, and the info I needed started to roll in. After work, I met with someone who wants me to be their main technical resource on a company they want to launch. The app is fairly simple, and the market is ripe for the picking – if they can get the app out the door in time. And have I mentioned that all of this is outside of the day job, which is interesting work in database optimization (details/tips forthcoming), with co-workers I actually enjoy seeing away from the office.

It’s one thing to talk about how time is such a precious resource, it’s still easy to waste it. It’s quite another thing when any time you waste is time you could be billing. Suddenly, just vegetating and watching some show I don’t care about seems a lot more wasteful. Time spent on the other side tasks I’m working on is more intentional – if I’m going to spend time on a project that will pay off later rather than now, I want to make sure that time is focused, not interrupted by surfing Slashdot, reading game reviews, etc. It’s not about chasing money – rather the ability to switch tasks and bill time whenever I want in the evenings means that whatever I do, I’m more intentional about it. If I’m going to spend time relaxing, I’m going to really relax instead of just vegetating. Quality time with the wife means focusing on her instead of just being near her. It’s an unexpected extra load on my time, but it’s amazing how it is actually helping me use my leisure and extracurricular-work time more efficiently. Good work if you can find it.

It’s more blessing than curse, but lately the chances I have to do interesting work are through the roof. The day job is very engaging, and particularly the research I’m doing on the weaknesses of our current persistence approach and their remedies for the problems is very interesting. I’ll soon be gaining an equity stake in a company I’ve invested a lot of time in, building a framework for quickly deploying new web sites with reusable functionality, beyond simple search/message boards/shopping carts. One project for them is wrapping up (I’ll announce that site launch when it comes), and we’re preparing a quote for another group which will all but certainly be accepted.

There’s another opportunity on the table as well that came from my gym. I try to work out 3-5 times a week, and try to get my workout in as efficiently as possible. It’s not a social outlet, and I try and avoid wasting time in conversation there as much as possible. It’s not that I don’t like people, it’s that I don’t enjoy socializing in a gym. In spite of this, I was approached by a guy there because I was wearing a shirt from a former employer that made me seem technical. It seems that he has investment money and a product mostly built, but he’s a sales guy, and his programmer decided he wanted to backpack Europe or something. Good idea and a good guy, so I’m looking at an equity stake and possibly cash finishing some software for the medical field and expanding that product. I think the product is well-positioned, and could really catch fire.

Then there’s the side projects I’d love to get my hands on. There’s a product for music distribution that I think is unique with a huge potential market. There’s an interest in helping groups, particularly Christian groups, raise funds online. I had an idea like Zopa – an online debt exchange. If anything, their existence encourages me more than frightens me. The existence of other players in a market doesn’t mean that creating a competitor is bad.

It’s exciting, but I sure wish I had more time to spend making each of these things succeed. As things stand, though, it’s not bad – I have time to work on several of these things without any of it distracting from my day job. Not too shabby. More details to come as each opportunity takes shape.