All-Pro and Abs Diet Endorsements

January 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

We have three or four months before spring is here.  90 to 120 days to shed those extra pounds before we’re forced to wear shorts and tee shirts or be uncomfortably hot.  It’s also one of the last chances I’ll have to train outdoors with my shirt off without embarrassing my children— or myself— but I’ll leave that for another day’s post.

The good news is that it was about this time last year that I read two books that helped me look as good as I had probably since my college football playing days:   The All Pro Diet by Tony Gonzalez, future Hall of Fame Tight End currently of the Atlanta Falcons; and The Abs Diet by Men’s Health Editor-in-Chief David ZincZenko. Read more of this post

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Slicing Data based on Multiple Criteria with SumProduct()

January 28, 2011 by 1 Comment

Excel’s SUMIF() Formula is a great tool.  It allows you to sum a column based on specific criteria (from another column).  But what if you want information filtered based on two (or more) criteria?

Enter SUMPRODUCT(). Read more of this post

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15 Easy Ways to Rev Up Your Metabolism

January 26, 2011 by Leave a comment

Maybe because when I was younger it wasn’t as important, but I’ve learned in the last few years that working out isn’t enough.  Not if I really want to look in great shape.  Diet, rest, and recovery are more important now that I am almost forty than ever before.  Whereas it was naturally high 15 or 20 years ago, my metabolism needs a kick in the butt these days.  Tips like the ones in today’s Men’s Health Article: 15 Easy Ways to Rev Up Your Metabolism provide useful guidance.

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Dirty Data

January 26, 2011 by Leave a comment

In the business world, we get data in all kinds of formats and ways.  Often times this data is what I call dirty and in need of cleaning.  The most common culprits can be easily fixed.  Below are some of them and my most oft-used remedies.

Weird space at the end (or beginning) of text in field
Sometimes I download data, copy and paste it from another source, or get it directly from a database.  And, for some reason,  there are fields or cells with spaces at the end.  My experience tells me that this is usually one of two things.  Either somehow (often data entry error) a person typed a space at the end or beginning on accident.  Or non printable characters (such as carriage returns or the tab key) have been appended.  The latter often happens when converting a tab delimited file. Read more of this post

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Family First

January 25, 2011 by Leave a comment

I can only remember two games that my parents missed.  That’s thirteen years of football, four or five of basketball, and about two playing baseball.  And if I’m not mistaken, they went to most, if not close to all, of my sister’s track meets, Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) tests, and speeches.

And it meant something.  I didn’t know it then and it’s hard to say why even now.  But it did. Read more of this post

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