BobbyBluford.com

Mortgage Calculator

February 7, 2011 by bbluford Leave a comment

I have a lot of friends and friends of friends that are in real estate. More importantly, I have a lot of friends who are home owners or soon-to-be home owners. And I, too, am trying to navigate this grown-up stuff that includes providing a home for my family. So, it dawned on me the other day and I remembered one of Excel’s cool functions, Pmt(). Given the loan details— amount, interest rate, and term— the function returns the monthly payment.

So I decided to put together a simple Excel Sheet (form, really) that applies this function. It also highlights some of Excel’s other cool features, such as: Read more of this post

Filed under Application (Excel, Access) and Process Development, Business Stuff Tagged with Microsoft Excel, Mortgage Calculator, postaweek2011, scroll bar (form control)

The Brand Called You

February 4, 2011 by bbluford 1 Comment

Build and Protect The Brand Called 'You'

What comes to your mind when you hear Disney? What about Microsoft? Sony? Coke? The name DirecTV do anything for you? You don’t need to tell me, but I bet each of these conjures in you specific, even emotionally strong, thoughts and emotions. For Disney, you might picture happy children and a company that has, for years, provided beautiful, lifelong memories to adults and children alike. Microsoft? Well Bill Gates has made sure we’ve all equated the new computer age- technology advancement, in general, really- to the company he founded. With Sony, many of you may think of quality video and sound equipment such as televisions and stereos. Others may think of the efficiency with which the Japanese company is run, while still others may have negative feelings simply because it is not an American original. Coke- excuse me, Coca Cola- has been in our collective consciousness for so long that a whole brand category was created. Have you ever said “can I have a Coke”, when you really wanted a cola of any sort? I happen to prefer Pepsi, but still ask for “coke”, for some reason, when I eat out. Read more of this post

Filed under Deep Thoughts and Philosophy, Self Improvement & Motivation Tagged with Personal Brand, postaweek2011, Self Improvement & Motivation

Interval Training- even with Weights!

February 3, 2011 by bbluford Leave a comment

HIIT- Good for Weights, Too!

I really didn’t feel like being in the gym last night. It was a long day at work, I was late picking up the kids, and my body was still a little sore from playing basketball the day before. So on the way to the gym I decided I’d just do a quick workout. Now I preface that with the fact that my quick workouts have been known to last an hour or so.

But I was determined to keep my promise to myself. Luckily, I’d just installed this cool app on my Android phone. Called HIIT for “High Intensity Interval Training,” it allows me to feed it variables like prep time; rest/recover period; work/training period; and how many sets or rounds for each cycle-through. The cool thing is it beeps or buzzes when it’s time to switch exercises or downshift from work to recover. Read more of this post

Filed under Fitness Stuff Tagged with Abs, Build Muscle, Fitness, HIIT, Interval Trining, Mens Health, postaweek2011, Strength Training, Volume Training, Weight Lifting, Weight Loss

Pivot Tables..and now (finally)

February 2, 2011 by bbluford Leave a comment

Okay, now that we have come up with a slick way to quickly create some sample data to work with, we can finally get to the heart of the matter. Pivot Tables! Once you learn this and begin to play with it a little, you’ll be amazed at how much it can help you with analyzing data very, very quickly. You’ll also finally feel good about putting “Proficient in Excel” or “knowledge of Pivot Tables” on your resume. LOL.

PivotTableSalesData-Pt3

Filed under Application (Excel, Access) and Process Development, Business Stuff

Pivot Tables.. but first

February 1, 2011 by bbluford 4 Comments

I’ve been asked by many of you to put together something on Pivot Tables. In doing so, I found the hardest part was compiling sample data that allowed me to highlight some of the cool features that Pivot Tables have to offer. After searching the web for sample data to use and coming up empty, I decided to go the long route and just start typing. But as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a slick way or two to generate some useful data. Attached is that discovery in two parts. This is my first attempt at a video blog, so please provide any feedback, good or bad.
Part I