Friday, December 18, 2020

A Dark and Dismal Exploration


As part of my annual evaluation at work, we are asked to set goals, one of which is a work related personal development goal.  Last year my development goal was to learn basic video editing, and I did, it has come in handy (audio editing also, audio is easier to edit.) This year I thought about what I was weak at, pulling out a calculator to check the math on a spreadsheet with messed up formulas I couldn't figure out how to fix, and I put down, complete basic training on Excel.  

I recently had a day I didn't have anything on my calendar, and frankly I didn't feel like working but I wanted to bill the hours, so I went down the dark hole that is exploring Excel. The cheerful virtual trainer chiped, "of course every formula starts with an "=" sign!" WHY, if all formulas or functions start that way, why do we need to put it in everytime? You need to be a math geek to have a clue, this is not an accounting program, it is an engineering project. The only reason anyone uses this nightmare is no one else has come up with a decent alternative, there is no other rational explanation. There I feel better for having said that. 

Oh well, I have completed module 1 of the 2 modules I set the goal of completing.  I will force myself through the other one sometime in the next ten days.  It will help me understand why finance people drink martinis at lunch (or for lunch.) 

Are you an Excel expert? 

22 comments:

  1. Of course I am.

    I excel at sinking three gin and tonics at lunch.

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    1. Doing you best work, before or after work?

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  2. Nowhere near an expert (although I knew some people who did amazing things with Excel), but I used the program a lot at work. I started with Lotus 1-2-3, but that program was sunk when MS brought out Excel.

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    1. Many intuitive programs have fallen by the wayside as behemoths that will do EVERYTHING have been developed.

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  3. Anonymous12/18/2020

    About ten years ago a friend gave us huge book manuals on Excel. We tried briefly and quickly gave up. We really had no need for it anyway. We just threw the books out a couple of weeks ago.

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    1. I bet the books made a satisfying thunk when they hit the trash.

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  4. No expert, but decent end user. Had the opportunity to take classes when I managed publications at UCSD. Came in handy at our hotel and with my own business. I got to the point where it actually made sense to me. Since I don’t use it as often as I used to — primarily for Chuck’s bowling scores — I’ve forgotten most of what I knew. Now I need to learn Lightroom, video editing, and how to use our fricking smart tv!

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    1. With the way my brain works, hands on training would be better than the online tutorials that are available. I-Movie is not as intuitive as one might hope, there are some YouTube videos that are good, but they are version specific. YouTube has a simple video editor that is not bad.

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  5. I learned how to build an Excel spreadsheet years ago. It seemed easy at the time. Now I think I would need a refresher course.
    You mentioned video and audio editing. I never really got a chance to do much with digital editing, but in the old days I would need to cobble together music and sound effects tapes for the college theater productions. Back then it was cutting three-quarter inch tape, splicing and taping with basically scotch tape. Good times!

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    1. Oh how sexy looking, were the 3/4 inch reel-to-real tape decks. The YouTube basic video editor is a great place to start, that is where I pieced together the Zeppelin Adventure linked on the right.

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  6. nope, no expert in excel. I know what it is, but I have no need for it.

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    1. I am facing probably a couple of years of needing to track finances in the office, the pain.

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  7. Carlos used it a lot while working outside the home, and uses it now for our banking ledger and his billing for translations and such,

    I have no idea how it works!

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    1. I know more than I wanted to know, but work with a bunch of people who live in it.

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  8. Absolutely not! I congratulate you for making the effort. I used to be a Word expert but Microsoft keeps moving things around and making them harder to find.

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    1. I had a day of really good training on Word, I was never into shortcuts, and have coped with things being moved fairly well. I wish they would realize if it isn't broke, don't break it.

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  9. No, not an Excel expert at all. My secretary taught me how to fill in the boxes but she did all the formatting and other technical stuff.

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    1. That I can do, but if I have to add a line, the functions and formulas go awry

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  10. I guess, compared to the other commenters, I may be closer to expert status, but by no means an expert. However, I love Excell. I use it at work and home and understand most basic functions and formulas, but I still have to Google how to do things.

    My personal comp is a Mac, so I have to use Numbers, which took me a while to learn, but I like Excel better.

    However, I’d give my left arm to meet an expert on Access...

    Sassybear
    Www.Idleeyesandadormy.Com

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    1. Different brains, work differently, if Excel works for you, how wonderful, it is not inutive for many. Some of the simple programs that came before it were much easier to use, but did less. I use to manage an Access database, I didn't know it still existed.

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  11. No I am not; Someone is hardy with Excel.
    I have never been asked for an annual review let alone what I want for personal growth. It sounds a funny question: what would I do/want?

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    1. The annual review is required in the large organization, I have tried to make it teaching this old dog, new tricks. Keep learning as long as we can, we are still alive.

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