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Proper tools are a good thing
Oct. 7th, 2008 | 05:13 am
Last week I almost finished the painting. There is just a bit still to do on the sunporch. Then it began to rain so I put off the painting. I could have done it since it was all undercover, but I didn't want to. Besides we (St. Andrews) were scheduled for a Bishop's Advisory Committee meeting after church on Sunday and I needed to do three months worth of treasurer's reports and the third-quarter report.
How long could it take?
I entered the check register for each of the three months into Excel and each month balanced back. Then I added the numbers together across each account and added in the number from the half-year report. It did not balance back. What the. . . ? I printed out what I had and took it to the kitchen table where I could run tapes with the calculator. It was just a matter of locating where the error was and then fixing it but I was working with pages of numbers. Lots of numbers. I began to be terribly frustrated with my printing calculator. I bought what I could afford but the keypad is too small for me to use properly. I have to poke in each number with the end of a pencil. Finally, in a fit of fury, I decided I was going to buy myself a printing calculator with a decent size key pad, damn the cost, full speed ahead! Neil and the dogs went with me for moral support and because it's more fun if the whole tribe goes. I'm glad they came along. We tried Walmart first. They just had handheld calculators. Bi-Mart had printing ones in two styles. One had a slightly bigger keypad, was a two-color printer and cost $9.00 more. I'd picked out the less expensive one but Neil thought I'd be happier with the bells and whistles and gave me a $10.00 bill to cover the difference. The dogs were very excited when we got back to the pickup with the Mega Fantastica Calculator and there was a general feeling that such a coup should be celebrated with french fries.
Back home and with french fry salt carefully brushed off my fingers, I reverently opened the box, removed the calculator and unfolded the instructions. Neil feels it's much more fun to see how far one can go without looking at the directions and kept suggesting things to do. He realized after several minutes that my personality really wants to complete Step 1A before going to Step 1B and he apologized and went off to read a book and let me savor my way through the instructions. Really, the only two things I needed to read them for was for setting the date and time (which you can print on the tape!) and pulling the little piece out that was keeping the battery from working. Nevertheless. . . .
It was so nice to run a finger down a column of numbers and enter them in the calculator without looking. In no time, I found the problems - there were several - and corrected them. Excel is a great program but when things don't balance back, it's probably because a formula is entered incorrectly and it's slow work checking each one.
(sigh of bliss) I love my new calculator.
How long could it take?
I entered the check register for each of the three months into Excel and each month balanced back. Then I added the numbers together across each account and added in the number from the half-year report. It did not balance back. What the. . . ? I printed out what I had and took it to the kitchen table where I could run tapes with the calculator. It was just a matter of locating where the error was and then fixing it but I was working with pages of numbers. Lots of numbers. I began to be terribly frustrated with my printing calculator. I bought what I could afford but the keypad is too small for me to use properly. I have to poke in each number with the end of a pencil. Finally, in a fit of fury, I decided I was going to buy myself a printing calculator with a decent size key pad, damn the cost, full speed ahead! Neil and the dogs went with me for moral support and because it's more fun if the whole tribe goes. I'm glad they came along. We tried Walmart first. They just had handheld calculators. Bi-Mart had printing ones in two styles. One had a slightly bigger keypad, was a two-color printer and cost $9.00 more. I'd picked out the less expensive one but Neil thought I'd be happier with the bells and whistles and gave me a $10.00 bill to cover the difference. The dogs were very excited when we got back to the pickup with the Mega Fantastica Calculator and there was a general feeling that such a coup should be celebrated with french fries.
Back home and with french fry salt carefully brushed off my fingers, I reverently opened the box, removed the calculator and unfolded the instructions. Neil feels it's much more fun to see how far one can go without looking at the directions and kept suggesting things to do. He realized after several minutes that my personality really wants to complete Step 1A before going to Step 1B and he apologized and went off to read a book and let me savor my way through the instructions. Really, the only two things I needed to read them for was for setting the date and time (which you can print on the tape!) and pulling the little piece out that was keeping the battery from working. Nevertheless. . . .
It was so nice to run a finger down a column of numbers and enter them in the calculator without looking. In no time, I found the problems - there were several - and corrected them. Excel is a great program but when things don't balance back, it's probably because a formula is entered incorrectly and it's slow work checking each one.
(sigh of bliss) I love my new calculator.