I love when I figure out alarmingly simple and intuitive procedures on my technological devices.
Recently, I mentioned that I am working on writing my Downtown Dad book. My cousin had a great idea for a spreadsheet to match blog entries with themes.
My problem began when I began creating columns that ran off the screen, then rows that made it impossible to see the column headings. Drat! There must be a way I can make the column headings remain visible as I scroll down the spreadsheet!
None of the drop-down menus helped me. Curses! I thought and continues my research.
At some point, I had the spreadsheet at the very top. Bordering A1 was a shaded line. Hmmm, I wondered. What is that for? So I moused the arrow over that area when the arrow turned into a hand!
First, I moved the horizontal line down. Then the moment of truth: I used the wheel on the mouse to scroll down the page. The headings remain! I repeat, the headings remain!
Later, I realized that it would be helpful to keep the entry names visible when scrolling horizontally through the columns. Success again!
Two things to consider:
If you think you've had an original thought, you haven't read enough. (Citation needed.)
How that statement applies to this setting: if you want the technology to do something for you, it probably does because people a lot smarter than you developed the stuff.
Second, if you don't try to make things happen, then nothing will happen. Don't be afraid of mistakes. If I had been afraid of making a mistake, I may not have discovered my new friend, the ability to keep various columns and rows visible while scrolling to other parts of the spreadsheet.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Blocked
I've started my Downtown Dad book. However, I'm kind of blocked. Here are some reasons I think I'm having a hard time getting going.
First, I'm not sure how the book is going to move. I guess I've decided that it will move thematically, not chronologically. How do I choose the themes? Should I find one of the themes and just start writing about it and let the other themes just come to me?
Actually, that makes a lot of sense. I could start with the basics of being a parent and move from there.
Some of the themes I'm considering include marriage, being a guy in a traditionally female role, keeping the house, friendship dynamics, and child development.
I guess that's a start. Start writing about whatever. Keep separate files for each section, then put it all together later.
That's one of my problems - trying to attack a project all at once instead of a manageable amount at a time. For instance, I have a couple of projects pending: repainting the iron patio furniture and the side iron gates, washing the outside windows, and organizing and building shelving in the garage.
So far, I started the patio furniture. Bought the supplies. Scraped the chairs and table, then wiped them down. Then primed them. Wow, that took a lot longer than I thought! Painting each chair takes a long time! Ugh, the guy at the hardware store was way off how much paint I would need - need two more buckets! Oh, shit, it's going to rain tonight? And tomorrow? Then friends are coming from out-of-town? So now, there are chairs and a table upside-down on the back deck that have been sitting there for a week-and-a-half.
Hindsight tells me that I should have just started with one or two chairs at a time. It is a project that I've never done before, so I didn't really realize what the time frame would be. I suppose the two hours that I set aside for it was not nearly enough. C'est la vie. Actually, such is MY life.
And, going back to my project list, the longer it takes me to finish the patio furniture, the longer it will be until I get to the windows and the garage. Yikes! And it's not like that will be the end.
Back to writing. So I am going to start by opening a new page and just start writing about it. Who cares if it's a piece of shit. It's a start. I can always fix it or start fresh later. Running a marathon begins with the first step.
First, I'm not sure how the book is going to move. I guess I've decided that it will move thematically, not chronologically. How do I choose the themes? Should I find one of the themes and just start writing about it and let the other themes just come to me?
Actually, that makes a lot of sense. I could start with the basics of being a parent and move from there.
Some of the themes I'm considering include marriage, being a guy in a traditionally female role, keeping the house, friendship dynamics, and child development.
I guess that's a start. Start writing about whatever. Keep separate files for each section, then put it all together later.
That's one of my problems - trying to attack a project all at once instead of a manageable amount at a time. For instance, I have a couple of projects pending: repainting the iron patio furniture and the side iron gates, washing the outside windows, and organizing and building shelving in the garage.
So far, I started the patio furniture. Bought the supplies. Scraped the chairs and table, then wiped them down. Then primed them. Wow, that took a lot longer than I thought! Painting each chair takes a long time! Ugh, the guy at the hardware store was way off how much paint I would need - need two more buckets! Oh, shit, it's going to rain tonight? And tomorrow? Then friends are coming from out-of-town? So now, there are chairs and a table upside-down on the back deck that have been sitting there for a week-and-a-half.
Hindsight tells me that I should have just started with one or two chairs at a time. It is a project that I've never done before, so I didn't really realize what the time frame would be. I suppose the two hours that I set aside for it was not nearly enough. C'est la vie. Actually, such is MY life.
And, going back to my project list, the longer it takes me to finish the patio furniture, the longer it will be until I get to the windows and the garage. Yikes! And it's not like that will be the end.
Back to writing. So I am going to start by opening a new page and just start writing about it. Who cares if it's a piece of shit. It's a start. I can always fix it or start fresh later. Running a marathon begins with the first step.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Blackhawks Stanley Cup Rally, Revenue and Taxes
Today was the rally for the Chicago Blackhawks after winning the Stanley Cup. Thousands of people (estimated more than 100,000) gathered in Millennium Park to celebrate.
Some of the best parts of the celebration included the thousands of people who took public transportation, bringing much needed revenue to the CTA and Metra (probably an extra million dollars or so in a single day.) On top of that, many people patronized local restaurants and other businesses before and after the celebration. Taxis, retail, etc.
One of the bad aspects was the aftermath. Listening to the post-rally coverage on 670 AM The Score, they mentioned the thousands and thousands of empty water bottles left behind. One can only assume that other garbage was left behind. I should not be so shocked at the disconnect people have between tax money being wasted and their own actions.
Money for the children! For the homeless! For seniors! For roads! For infrastructure! For first responders!
When it comes to pitching in to save money by rolling up our sleeves, we city-folk prefer to keep our hands clean. After all, Duck Dynasty is on TV.
There are scheduled street cleaning days. You know why? First, because people litter. Second, because people in neighborhoods can't seem to take time out to sweep up the front of their house to the middle of the street once a month. Silly, isn't it?
Back to the rally. Thousands of bottles left behind. Let's start with public labor. Then there are the vehicles needed to get people and equipment to and from the park. Then there are the trash bags. Fortunately, once they take the bottles away, it all disappears. Wait, it doesn't? Hopefully, someone is making money recycling the stuff.
I'm happy the Blackhawks won. (Like, crazy happy.) I'm happy that tens of thousands of people came to my beloved city to celebrate with the team. I'm happy they gave the economy a little spike. Just pick up after yourselves, okay?
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Rockfish & Quinoa Salad
Made a yummy dinner tonight; wanted to share.
Got some rockfish on sale from whole foods, $8.99 per pound. Bought two fillets, one around ten ounces for me, one around six ounces for Wife.
Made quinoa salad. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/04/mediterranean-quinoa-salad.html
Changes: did not use Kalamata olives and added Feta on my own (Wife doesn't like olives.)
Rockfish preparation:
I knew that I wanted a white wine butter sauce, so I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on my fillet, then made the following: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/wine-sauce-for-seafood/
For next time, I will use only the juice from 1/2 lemon and add some capers.
For Wife, I made a spicy preparation that had a little less than 1/4t kosher salt, 1/8t fresh ground black pepper, dash each of paprika and ground red pepper. Wife said it was good, though a little on the salty side.
Next time I will use 1/8t of each ingredient, thought that may still be too much. We'll see!
Got some rockfish on sale from whole foods, $8.99 per pound. Bought two fillets, one around ten ounces for me, one around six ounces for Wife.
Made quinoa salad. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/04/mediterranean-quinoa-salad.html
Changes: did not use Kalamata olives and added Feta on my own (Wife doesn't like olives.)
Rockfish preparation:
I knew that I wanted a white wine butter sauce, so I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on my fillet, then made the following: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/wine-sauce-for-seafood/
For next time, I will use only the juice from 1/2 lemon and add some capers.
For Wife, I made a spicy preparation that had a little less than 1/4t kosher salt, 1/8t fresh ground black pepper, dash each of paprika and ground red pepper. Wife said it was good, though a little on the salty side.
Next time I will use 1/8t of each ingredient, thought that may still be too much. We'll see!
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