I work for a company that provides support (and design and many other things) for WebSphere Commerce environments. I’ve worked there since July of 2008, and worked with Commerce databases for about two years before that in a more limited role as a Physical DBA for IBM Global services. I was with IBM for about 7 years, as a Physical DBA for a number of different DB2 databases both internal to IBM and in support of IBM Global Services’ clients.

In my current role, I do most of the scripting of DBA scripts that my company uses. I also do a significant number of builds of new environments and support a number of clients with ongoing DB2 support. I spend time working with and training client DBAs of all different skill levels. I’m involved in everything from backup and recovery design and implementation to performance to a dozen other random topics.

I blog on topics related to DB2 and/or to WebSphere Commerce. I try to come up with both the big and the little topics that I wish I had been able to find better information on or that I think might help others. I’m always happy to get comments and suggestions, so if there’s a topic you’re looking for more information on, let me know.

I don’t make much direct money from blogging. February 2012 was the first month where my little ads managed to pay my most basic hosting costs (literally hosting provider costs, not counting domain registration, premium theme, plugin costs, etc).  I find time to blog on my lunch break and in the evenings, and really am enjoying doing it.

On a personal level, I am a mom to two wonderful young boys, and have been happily married for 13 years. My husband is also in a technical field, and is a great supporter. I live in Colorado. My hobbies include reading, sewing, bicycling, and skiing. Not long ago, my older son made a fortune-teller(we called them cootie catchers when I was in school), and the final fortune was “You will get 100 hits on your blog”. I wonder if I’ve been talking about blogging too much…

My current goal is to post 2-3 times a week. I frequently schedule posts ahead of time to make sure of this. My goal is also for at least one of those to be a deeply technical look at something, including syntax and so forth.

My LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ember-crooks/8/a9b/25a

My Twitter ID: @ember_crooks

I was on the db2Night Show on January 6th – Presenting my top 10 tips for e-commerce DB2 databases. A replay is available here:

http://www.dbisoftware.com/blog/db2nightshow.php?id=309

My first appearance in the DB2′s Got Talent competition was on February 24, and the replay is available here:

http://www.dbisoftware.com/blog/db2nightshow.php?id=336