Introduction

December 18, 2010 by Leave a comment

For the last several years, I’ve fought this struggle internally, wondering what my purpose is in this thing we call life.  I’m still trying to figure it out, but think I may have a better handle on it- better, at least today, than I had on it a year, a month, even a week ago.  The more I self-analyze, the more I seek out the counsel and guidance of those around me- professional, personal, and otherwise- the more I begin to peel away at the underlying dilemma that has been weighing heavily on me for what seems like an eternity. Read more of this post

Filed under Deep Thoughts and Philosophy

Toe Walks

December 15, 2010 by Leave a comment

Toe Walks

Toe Walks

Objective: Develop strength and flexibility in lower leg and calves.

In an upright position, simply walk forward on toes, extended as high as possible.

Note: Be sure to walk as slow as possible, keeping foot extended and flexed.

Filed under Fitness Stuff

Your Algebra Teacher Was Right :(

December 14, 2010 by Leave a comment

Who knew that grumpy lady was right?  The one you used to make fun of.  The one you drew less than complimentary pictures of.  When your Algebra teach would say “You’re going to need this stuff later in life” you’d mumble to your buddy in the seat next to you “Get over yourself.”  Well, time to eat some crow, my friend.  Because she was right.

Case in point: Sales Tax Calculation when “Tax is Included”

It’s always convenient to sell products in round, easy to hand-over, currency denominations, right?  Of course.  Asking a customer to fork over a five, ten, or twenty dollar bill makes life a lot easier for everyone.  But how do you calculate the sales tax when “it’s included?”

After thinking through it for a minute, I figured it out.  I was impressed that I’d actually remembered.  And I was humbled by the fact that Miss Jacobson actually taught me something when I gave her nothing but flack.  Working through the problem on my white board helped:

Known variables: Total of Sale (example $20); Tax Rate (example 9.25%)
Unknown variable (x): Product or Service Price before Tax

Equation and Work:
Step 1: x + .0925x = $20
Step 2: x (1 + .0925) = $20
Step 3: x = $20/(1 + .0925)
Step 4: x = $20/1.0925 = $18.31
Step 5: Tax = $18.31 * .0925 = $1.69

So it looks like she was right after all.  I am going to need some of what I learned in school.

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

Proper() Function

December 11, 2010 by 2 Comments

I was reminded of a common problem in the workplace.  Cleaning up Data.  Whether it’s a mailing or contact list, employee records in a spreadsheet or from some other database, often times no steps are taken to ensure that the data is entered correctly.  So while “Mary Kay” takes her grammar and writing very seriously, “MARK JOHNSON” works in Oracle where he has to use all caps and is too lazy to switch when he’s multi-tasking and filling out his order form for that new camera he wants.  And “john doe” is a teenager and of the mindset that lower caps and shortening of words is how the texting world operates.

Proper() Function

Excel's Proper Function

So now you want to send out Christmas cards and don’t want the greeting to read “Dear MARK”.  What to do? Well, while I’d like to say I discovered some fancy formula to solve this common problem (I thought about using a combination of the Left, Find, and Len functions, it suddenly dawned on me that Excel already has a built-in function for this: Proper. Like Upper(), which changes all letters to capital and Lower() which makes them all lowercase, Proper() changes the case of letters in a word.  But, it makes them correct.  Meaning that the first letter (even in the middle initial or name) is capitalized, with the remaining letters lowercase.

It’s proper usage: Proper(TextToBeConverted)

Filed under Business Stuff

Substitute()

December 11, 2010 by Leave a comment

Substitute() Function

Substitute Function

When we (collectively, I mean companies, in general) build user Internet forms, why don’t we always create validation rules for fields?  I don’t know- probably never will- but we (Finance, Sales, HR, Operations) are often left to work with it.

So, what do you do when some phone numbers come in as (888) 555-1234 and others as 888-555-1234?  Or when you get some Social Security Numbers in the form 123-45-6789, while other eliminate the dashes?  You probably just leave and do your best to work around it.  But, if you want to work with it (etc. mail merge) or confirm that you have accurate (or at least valid in length) numbers, here’s a good way.  The substitute formula.

It’s very simple: simply tell Excel which cell (b3) needs to be cleaned up, which character you are looking to replace (“-“), and with what character (“”) you’d like to replace it.

=SUBSTITUTE(B3,”-“,”“)

Filed under Business Stuff

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