I field the calls that are related to my company's ,main application and the supporting applications.  There is more working in depth with the SQL databases and writing .Net applications if the need arises.

Over the summer, my company sent me to SQL class.  I've had experience with queries in my dealings with MySql for sites I have scripted, but I wanted to get an idea of what the differences were with Microsoft SQL.  Turns, out there was not much.  Stored procedures and views were things I haven't dealt with, so that was helpful.  All in all, it was a week off to make sure I knew what I needed for work.

This class satisfied the C# .Net component -- at least the introduction of it.  I've had a rather sorted past with programming languages.  In high school (oh so many years ago), I learned basic and pascal, and it fueled my desire to enter college as a Computer Science major instead of Culinary Arts.  Once I entered college, it was something entirely different for me.  I couldn't grasp what came easily a few years ago.  I can't even blame wild partying for the reason.  Maybe there wasn't the guidance I needed.  I don't know.  There were other failed attempts over the years, so much so that I have said in interviews that I'm not a programmer, I'm a support tech.

Now, for this job I need to dive into the programming aspect.  I like scripting in PHP, so maybe I can get the hang of programming.  C# shouldn't be that difficult to grasp.

The class was remotely -- I was in a small training room, not much bigger than a closet, just me a speaker phone and two computers.  The fun was that I was able to have the phone muted, make my own comments and think out loud for the concepts the intstructor was teaching.  I enjoyed the concept, and I will do that again.

The content of the class itself was ok.  It was a Microsoft based course, so it was rather focused on the gee-wiz factors of Visual Studio.  The instructor would stray away from the class book when she felt it was necessary and I think it made it better.

Next week, I'll find out if any of what I learned will stick.  At the very least, I'll know what Object Oriented Programming is and will be able to sort out code for troubleshooting.