I Finally Did It

Big Red, my laptop, no longer has Microsoft Office 2003.

Because of a Windows 10 update, the Excel software wasn’t working all that well. If I tried to do more than just enter one cell at a time (meaning I forgot to save it after entering the first cell), it would crash. If I tried to do anything like insert a line or copy a formula, it would crash. Very frustrating! I downloaded Libre Office (because it was free and I wasn’t willing—at the time—to upgrade Excel if that meant upgrading Word, too) and found out I didn’t like their spreadsheet software all that much. In fact, it had been keeping me from doing a lot of my work! Hubby still had the CD for Office 2007 (which he shockingly found amidst the mess in the study), so I begrudgingly upgraded Office.

Hmmm… Think I used enough adverbs there? Haha!

I’m sure I’ll be a grumpy-bump until I get used to it, but already I like Excel 2007 better than Libre Office, so there’s that. And it’s not like I’ve never used Word 2007 (was forced to at my last job-job). I just don’t care for the huge tool bar on top that I can never find what I want!

See? Bigger is not always BETTER. I miss my drop down lists.

I know 2007 is ALSO retired (they keep telling me!), but hey, it’s working on Windows 10 and that’s all that matters to me. I do not care if I have the latest and greatest. Sometimes the older versions could do so much more, or at least were simple enough to understand. I miss being able to set up the software how I want it (and if there’s a way to do that in 2007, I haven’t discovered it yet), but it is what it is.

At least I don’t have to click a button to find my word count anymore. Word 2007 keeps track of that at the bottom of the screen. Of course, if I only want a portion of the document counted, I don’t know how to do that…

Nevermind, I figured it out. J

Yeah, learning curve. I really hate learning new software. See? Grumpy-bump.

So… What would you hate to re-learn? And would it turn you into a grumpy-bump, too?

Happy Monday!

Stacy

Even Old People Can Learn a Lesson or Two

On Thursday, my hubby and I went to Kings Island, specifically the water park. Temp was in the 80s and, with school in session most places, attendance was low. It really was the perfect day. However, we realized some things on this trip.

THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T DO AT THE WATER PARK

1. If you're going to keep the car keys on your person, make sure to put them in a baggie.

We saw the sign - $12.00 for a small locker. Gee whiz, give me a break. It wasn't all that long ago when it cost $5.00. We decided not to bother with the locker. Who would steal our towels anyway? My husband put the keys in his pocket and forgot about them. We hit the wave pool first.

2. If you have your keys in a baggie, make sure they won't fall out of your pocket.

After spending 20 minutes (or so) in the wave pool, we decided to go on some of the other "rides". That's when he discovered he forgot to put the keys in the baggie, which also contained his driver's license, credit card, and our park passes. Trying to minimize the water damage, he placed the keys with the other items. But now it wouldn't fit in the secure pocket inside his suit. He put them in the big side pocket.

3. If you own a convertible, do not put the spare keys in the trunk.

After our second ride, he discovered the baggie was missing. We checked both rides and no one found any baggie containing a set of keys. We went to lost and found. No luck there, either. We called security. They could get us inside our car (and to his cell phone), but since it's a convertible, we keep the lever to the trunk locked. Called AAA. They couldn't get it unlocked either. Had to tow the car to Toyota (thank goodness it was still open!), where they promptly created a trunk key. I was able to get my purse, and the spare key, so we could drive home. That only took three hours!

Not exactly our idea of fun. And to think, we could have saved ourselves a lot of work (i.e. cancelling the credit card, replacing the driver's license, changing the locks to the house, and most likely having to buy another car key) if we had only paid the $12.00. At least we know how secure our car is. Of course, after all that, no one bothered to ask for our ID once we got inside the trunk. We could have been anybody! Kind of scary, if you ask me.

My hubby feels bad, though. I feel I'm just as much to blame (I didn't want to pay the $12.00, either). But I am glad I wasn't the one who lost the keys. I do enough stupid stuff already!

On Line Courses

Seems I can’t get away from on-line courses. The kind your employer makes you take.

At work, we’re getting a new sales aid. We’re currently using Salesforce and will be switching to ConnectWise. I’ve been assigned twenty classes to take. Twenty SALES classes. Oh, the agony!

I’ve already taken six of the courses and each time I start a class, the same thing happens. My eyes glaze over and I nod off to sleep. Not helpful when you’re tested at the end, let me tell you. And yes, I’m not only tested, I must pass at 80% or better. Considering there are 10 (or fewer) questions to each class, that’s crappy. If I don’t pass (which happened in one case already), I must take the class again. If I thought it was boring the first time around, you can imagine what I thought the second time.

So now I try to take notes. I’m usually a horrid note taker (and I tend to miss important stuff as I’m writing – but hey, if I’m asleep I’m missing it already), but it helps keep me awake and hopefully hit on key points that are used in the tests. It didn’t help as well as I thought. My 70% failure only went up to 80% passing. Which means instead of getting 3 questions wrong WITHOUT notes, I got 2 wrong WITH notes (see what I mean about note taking?).

I am not a sales person, but I work in sales. In fact, I support the sales department (with my brilliant Access and Excel Skills). I don’t do “sales” stuff. I don’t sell anything & I don’t take orders. I report data (which really isn’t all that different than when I was a cost accountant – I just reported different data). So far only one class I’ve taken has hit on anything I do. It was the one class I actually stayed awake for.

Still, I hate on-line classes. You know why? Because you don’t learn anything! At least in college, you had homework assignments that repeated what you learned in class. Sure, I passed these on-line classes, but I don’t think I could tell you what it was I learned. It never had enough time to sink in. If anything, they will only help me when we get the software and I can say “Yes, I remember seeing that icon, but I have absolutely no idea what it does!”

So, have you had to take on-line courses for work? Do you enjoy them? Hate them like I do? I’m curious. Am I the only one who feels this way about them?

I'm Afraid

I’m Afraid

On one of the many loops I’m a member of, one person commented that she was taking 17 classes. 17 classes! I’m assuming she doesn’t work full time. I just could never see me doing that.

One class is hard enough. Seven loops are hard enough. Keeping up with the e-mails is HARD.

So, why am I afraid? I’m afraid it could happen to me. I love the information I’m obtaining from my critique class. Classes through loops are really perfect for me. It gives me time to process the assignment; where in a classroom environment, the assignment must be done quickly. I’m not quick. No siree.

I could see me taking more classes. It’s certainly opened my eyes to what I’m doing wrong, and smile when I see I’ve been doing it right! But 17 at a time? I’d be hard pressed to do 2 at a time.  I'd like to have some time to actually WRITE!

Time, Wherefore Art Thou Time?

I think I’m going crazy. Or as I told my husband to call me: Loopy.

What was I thinking? Oh yeah: to LEARN.

What I failed to realize was that learning takes TIME.

I’m a member of SIX Yahoo! groups/loops and ONE non-Yahoo! group/loop. Granted, two of the loops are classes and will end when the class does (April & May).

When you mix that with a full-time job, and editing/revising, and paying SOME attention to my dear husband, it leaves little time for sleep. I force myself to go to bed at 11:00pm. 5:50am comes much too early in the morning!

But I love the critique class I’m taking. It’s making me take a good hard look at what I’ve written. The other class won’t occur until I go to the RT Convention in April.

Yeah – I actually signed up for a convention and I’m scared to death! But the loop is fun and interesting and I’m learning something there, too.

I never thought I’d utter the words, seeing how I hated college, but learning is fun! It’s fun when it’s something you WANT to learn. Somehow, accounting never did that for me – it just came easy (and I am always looking for the easy way).

So, now I’m doing something I love and it isn’t anywhere near easy! Maybe that was my problem all along. Of course, when I went to college, it was the hopes of learning a skill that paid better than being a clerk-typist (and it did). I don’t see writing ever doing that. I see writing as being a nice retirement job. I just want to retire NOW.