What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

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OverTheTop said:
Just about to start a midnight zoom meeting :( . It is an international meeting covering time-zones all over the place. At least it is only once every five weeks.
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No sympathy. I have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to catch evening footy matches. The afternoon matches start about midnight.
 
Got a sinking feeling:
Boss: We need someone to check this spreadsheet from 14 years ago and update where rules have changed.
Me: I can do that
Boss: Thanks! [Former employee] developed a pretty involved spreadsheet using LOOKUP tables to check required loads. Hopefully it's intuitive for you.

I fear what I'm going to see when I open that bad boy up. 😬
 
So many database jobs are done in Excel, and a majority of them are "delicate". And there aren't even lines of code, so you can't be upset that the guy didn't comment it.
 
jqavins said:
So many database jobs are done in Excel, and a majority of them are "delicate". And there aren't even lines of code, so you can't be upset that the guy didn't comment it.
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This is a reasonable task to do in Excel--it's a structural calculation job. The lookup tables come in where the regulation set has tabular loads or multipliers based on boat length or speed. That can get hard to follow really fast.
 
Spent the first half of my day in the office. Apparently Microsoft updated and all my settings disappeared.... Getting everything back took over an hour and frazzled my brain. After a short break out by the lake watching golfers, I returned to the office and set up a bunch of files. Still couldn't get one mapping program to function properly, but I found a "work around" and completed my tasks.
 
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boatgeek said:
This is a reasonable task to do in Excel--it's a structural calculation job. The lookup tables come in where the regulation set has tabular loads or multipliers based on boat length or speed. That can get hard to follow really fast.
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We had someone fully document her spreadsheets for several tasks before she retired. I think she wanted to prevent us from calling her for help, but it does make things easier to follow.
 
It was Rage Against the Machine this morning. The State of Oklahoma decided to terminate my Medicaid without warning, and as far as I can tell, for no reason. So I hiked my rear down to the local office this morning. After waiting for an hour and a half, I was told they were running really behind, and would have to conduct the interview "virtually" - by phone. After sitting in an office for another thirty minutes, the phone rang - the girl doing the interview. Same questions I had answered a month ago. *Hopefully* everybody's happy now - I'm certainly not. I need medical care I can't afford. My left shoulder is in severe pain (keeps me from sleeping and doing much with that arm), and my right foot needs serious wound care before it gets infected again. If I could get the stupid foot to heal, I could start walking again. And I need to - A1C is trending back up.
 
Excel is a wonderful program. I have done some tricky stuff with it, including using pivot tables, interpolation and even some finite element analysis (currents/voltages). I have even used it for matrix mathematics. Trying to figure out what I have done later can be problematic, so I would hate to be anyone else trying to figure it out.

A while back we had a discussion around the question "If you could only have one piece of software for everything, what would it be". Excel won out because it is so flexible you can do text, calculations, and make databases.
 
Journaling...

Day 20. Slept until 11am. My sister doesn't get it... but it happens. Especially since it often takes an hour or more to get to sleep every time I wake up to toss or turn or Penny meows.

Gathered up all her medications and took them to a drop off location. Forgot the sharps... another day... someone said "That's a lot of drugs". And of course the wave hit.

Sister gathered up a full trash bin of expired mixes and sauces from a closet under the stairs. Not just a couple of years old, some like 10 years old. Still each and every one would have be a potential meal, or an idea for a meal, if she could have cooked as much as she wanted to. I tell you I'll have a lot of storage one of these days. Or more to the point, a lot of storage to point out to a potential buyer who also wants to live 1.5km, an easy walk, from the beach. Good God she made us a lot of cabinet space.

Took a couple of tubs of housewares to donate. Simple stuff today. Votive fixtures for walls. Bowls. There is a lot of baking things to sell or donate. If you are in the Los Angeles area and need baking paraphernalia, I may have it. She has a lot of nice clothes. I am gonna try and see if I can find a consignment store.

Everything else about Day 20 I have already written from Day 1. Just lather rinse and repeat. I have yet to give anything away or toss anything that does not make me choke up. I have yet to wake up and not have a wave of grief come over me. When you lose the most important thing in your life, well, that happens.

One foot in front of the other. Life... a meter at a time.
 
OverTheTop said:
Excel is a wonderful program. I have done some tricky stuff with it, including using pivot tables, interpolation and even some finite element analysis (currents/voltages). I have even used it for matrix mathematics. Trying to figure out what I have done later can be problematic, so I would hate to be anyone else trying to figure it out.

A while back we had a discussion around the question "If you could only have one piece of software for everything, what would it be". Excel won out because it is so flexible you can do text, calculations, and make databases.
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I don't disagree, but that very flexibility leads many people (Including me) to push it into territory that would be much better serced by a database program. Even MS Access, which I'm told be better people than I is pretty poor, would do much better at many tasks that people torture Excel into doing.
 
gdjsky01 said:
Everything else about Day 20 I have already written from Day 1. Just lather rinse and repeat. I have yet to give anything away or toss anything that does not make me choke up. I have yet to wake up and not have a wave of grief come over me. When you lose the most important thing in your life, well, that happens.

One foot in front of the other. Life... a meter at a time.
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If you'd like, tell us more about Kim. How did you meet? Where was she from? What sorts of endearing or aggravating quirks did she have? Talking about that will probably hurt, yet it might also help.
 
jqavins said:
I don't disagree, but that very flexibility leads many people (Including me) to push it into territory that would be much better serced by a database program. Even MS Access, which I'm told be better people than I is pretty poor, would do much better at many tasks that people torture Excel into doing.
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My winery/distillery data system is built in Excel - because 20 years ago Access was an extra $800.

But in my life as a chemist, my reputation is the Excel Hater. I can make Excel jump thru hoops - but sometimes you need to know when other tools are the answer. Even humble Access handles multiple users better. And I'm addicted to JMP for a lot of Excel-like tasks. JMP barely blinks at a 4 million row table.
 
On a happier subject, WTF, Australia?

I have a small bunch of miscellaneous foreign coins I don't remember acquiring. I noticed a rather large one today and looked to see what it is. An Australian 20 cent. It weighs 11.6 grams, for a 20 cent coin! Here in the States, our current version dollar coin weighs 8.1 grams. Before 1964, when we still had coins made of (90%) silver, 12.5 grams was a half dollar. 11.6 grams for one fifth of an Australian Peso? What the hell are you people smoking?
 
I shall not attempt to defend the dubious merits of the US paper currency. But, I mean, DANG, those coins must be designed for the express purpose of encouraging the use of different denominations.
 
I ordered 2 of the aluminum 5 spoke wheels to use on the rear of my outdoor powerchair. I'm using up the last of the money from selling my 5ft tall Mirage speakers. :confused: I've had the 2 new tires for over 3 years but never bought the wheels to mount them on.
 
jqavins said:
If you'd like, tell us more about Kim. How did you meet? Where was she from? What sorts of endearing or aggravating quirks did she have? Talking about that will probably hurt, yet it might also help.
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I would love to. I fear it would bring out the "Seriously? Get over it" crowd. I guess since I am a paying member, maybe TRF is ok with my words.
I'd love to. Oh my God... she gave me LIFE>
 
gdjsky01 said:
I would love to. I fear it would bring out the "Seriously? Get over it" crowd. I guess since I am a paying member, maybe TRF is ok with my words.
I'd love to. Oh my God... she gave me LIFE>
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If you'd be more comfortable, make it a new thread. I strongly suspect it be helpful for you to direct you focus in that bittersweet direction rather than dwelling on the bitter.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do or what not to do. If venting the bitter is what you need, keep doing it. Still, it seemed to me like a hopeful sign when you wrote about your wine education, and I suspect that more writing like that would be good for you.
 
Just signed contracts to replace siding on one side of the house that a recent storm ripped off, and to replace our central AC unit. The old unit was 15 years old, so not a bad run given the climate here. Went ahead and bit the bullet and got the super-efficient model to both reduce the electrical consumption (26 SEER versus old 15 SEER), but also to reduce the noise (furnace/condenser/blower is immediately above our master bedroom). Given our AC usage it should be about a 7-10 year payback versus the cheaper two stage option. For noise, the old unit was single stage and the new one is variable speed (including blower), so shouldn't need to run full blast (loud) often.

It was a very expensive morning.
 
Continued numismatic geekery. (I'm not a collector, or an expert, I just love geeking about them.)
jqavins said:
On a happier subject, WTF, Australia?

I have a small bunch of miscellaneous foreign coins I don't remember acquiring. I noticed a rather large one today and looked to see what it is. An Australian 20 cent. It weighs 11.6 grams, for a 20 cent coin! Here in the States, our current version dollar coin weighs 8.1 grams. Before 1964, when we still had coins made of (90%) silver, 12.5 grams was a half dollar. 11.6 grams for one fifth of an Australian Peso? What the hell are you people smoking?
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So, I made a graph. The mass, in grams, of one dollar/pound/euro in various coin denominations. I'm deliberately not considering exchange rates, just what a given country's coins weigh for that country's primary monetary unit. The first graph is for all coins currently produced in the six currencies listed. The second graph leaves out the 0.01 and 0.02 coins still minted in three of the six, since those are and have always been much heavier per value than higher denominations.

Note how much higher the 0.20 AUD coin's mass/value is than any other country's coins of 0.20 or 0.25 value. The 0.50 AUD is the highest of the bunch as well.
1683746385399.png
1683746403079.png
 
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the power chair service tech came and installed two new batteries in my latest indoor chair. This allowed me to take the ones that were in there and set them off to the side. I will use them when my outdoor chair batteries go bad, which are almost 6 years old and still doing strong.
 

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