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...
On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 07:12:18 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:
wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 09:43:52 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/11/2019 1:51 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 10 Feb 2019 16:18:57 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/10/2019 3:08 PM, rbowman wrote:
I'll admit in the '80s I wasn't too sure what Joe Sixpack was going
to
do with a PC anyway. They were tools for me and what I was
developing
was for industrial or embedded applications. When I bought an
Osborne
I
it came with SuperCalc and I never figured out what you're supposed
to
do with it. 35 years later Excel still is a mystery. People do
impressive things with it but it reminds me of using a screwdriver
for
a
chisel.
The PC has many uses. For instance. instead of a $10 timer, you can
use
a $2000 PC to turn a light on and off.
Excel has many uses too. You can track your utility bills every
month
and eliminate the need for a pencil that has to be sharpened on
occasion.
I do use Quicken though. It really does make banking easier and more
accurate than the old checkbook.
My main contact with excel is the data I get on water quality from
DEP.
It is OK if all you want to do is re sort columns and such but if I
really want to crunch numbers I still export it as a CSV, stuff it
into a dBase file and write a script. I assume I could do that with
Excel but this dog is too old too learn a new trick for the little I
need it.
At work I used Excel quite a bit. With a macro it was easy to do
production reports, inventory changes, and the like.
At home, I only had one practical use. About 9 years ago I had a new,
higher efficiency boiler installed. The idea was the savings would pay
for it over time. I tracked oil use and degree days for two years with
the old boiler, then started tracking the new one. I used the same
weather station for degree days. In seven years, the cost of the boiler
was saved, then I started to come ahead. Then we sold the house anyway
so the new owner gets the majority of benefits.
There are Excel people who can do wonders with it but it is the tool
they know. I am the same way with dBase. I have done dBase tricks
like writing out a loan table and printing payment coupons that I
am sure would be better suited to Excel but I use what I know.
Makes more sense to know a variety of useful tools.
It would if I needed them and I can poke
around in Excel but I don't write excel scripts.
You don't need a script to do that.
I also don't really care about what it costs to drive to the
grocery store., I am going anyway and there is not much
I can do about but get the fuel as cheaply as possible.
It does show you that it makes no sense to do a special trip
for one of the specials when the cost of the trip is more than
you save. Ditto with one operation that has a 5% discount for
seniors only on Thursdays. I normally do the supermarket run
after the garage/yard sale run very early on Saturday morning.
And our local Aldi doesn't have a liquor license and I can
see if its worth going to the adjacent town whose Aldi
does have a liquor license and cheaper gasoline too.
I always use the 20% off gift cards from the grocery store and a 5
cent a gallon loyalty card from the oil company, Some time that
can be as high as 20 cents off with the right promotion going on.
Yeah, one of our gas stations has a discount for seniors of 4c/litre
which normally only saves me about $2 per tank full, but since its
the closest gas station anyway, might as well have that saving in
a total bill normally in the $40s when its gas price is a low as any.