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okay, thanks! I got the internet back up.
...I used Excel to automate all the billing and tracking report process for the company I last worked for..
This totally streamlined the billing and data collection process for the client account I managed which when I took it over, was a haphazard and messy manual procedure that took almost a week at month's end to prepare the monthly billing reports (It was also prone to error)
With the automated process, preparing the final monthly reports rook less than two days.
To whom it may concern, the bad news is you are woefully inadequate.
The good news is, everybody else is too. So we’re all normal.
I am not high.
I get told this every time the cats & I cross gazes.
Regards,
Richard
Where is Mesopotamia? I can't find it on Google Maps...
Well heck, I can't find Babylon either. And where's Persia and Siam?
It is currently -7F base temp, -30F with the wind chill out there, and lower when it gusts. Had to go out to get the mail... amused myself that my reaction to temps 60 degrees below the point at which water freezes was "eh, could be worse."
Winter carnival in St. Paul starts Thursday. High for Friday (base temp) is -10F. Looks like we're getting back to the roots of the whole thing, which was basically a giant middle finger in response to a New York reporter writing that we were "another Siberia, unfit for habitation" in winter. A hundred and forty years later, we're still throwing a spite party every year. Because that's how we roll on the frozen tundra.
It's between a couple rivers.
Yet how many people who enjoy a land with lakes, forests, (bugs?), hunting, seasons, would enjoy a concrete jungle where you travel underground, avoid talking to people, and visit a manicured park for a touch of nature?
Me, I can't stand humid, hot climates after being stationed in a number of them. I will leave them to those who enjoy it.
Deserts, snow/cold, wild parks, and a variety of seasons I love.
But I will admit that walking Bugsy in snow to my knees in -17F before windchill was tough. A Spitz he loved it. I got bronchitis.
Never been that cold. I experienced -20C (-4F) when as a brat in W Germany, but never lower than that.
One day in our second house it was -15C (+5F) outside and -6C (16F) inside the warmest room in the house on one particularly cold day, but that's the worst I have felt. And the cat (my avatar) was noisily unhappy.
Regards,
Richard
Here are some references:
https://persian.religion.ucsb.edu/home/maps/ - there are more depending on the era for Persia's expansion.
https://timemaps.com/history/middle-east-3500bc/ - for a visual of Mesopotamia
Thailand, formerly known as Siam. - when I was little, our school books even in the 1950s still showed the country as Siam depending on how old they were.
Babylon - the seat of the Mesopotamian empire.
I thought Babylon was the capital of the Babylonian Empire, at least until they failed to adhere to the EULA for the sacred vessels.
They're languishing in the past on old maps. Try Wikipedia. Or ask an AI machine. Google does know but you have to ask its AI Mode
I use Ashampoo Calculate. It is compatible with Excel spreadsheets, but much less expensive. Doesn't do macros (VB for Excel these days), but don't really need that. Formulas, named cells and ranges, cell references, all works fine! Comes in Ashampoo Office, I think they're up to version 9 now. I have 8.
Chick-fil-A has strange tomatoes. It looks just like bacon. Actually that is a non compliant as I prefer bacon over tomatoes.
Non-complaints: 1.Husband got a 1TB (or maybe 2) external hard drive for his laptop. He says it should be big enough to share so I can do some art on it until we replace my laptop. 2. Next month hopefully we have some money coming from our old state's unclaimed funds office. It should enable us to pay off some debt & get me a computer. 3. Got my Switch set up and will be playing some games with Son this week. 4. The 2 puppers are helping keep the bedroom quite warm in this cold snap. (Supposed to be about 12°F tomorrow morning.)
Mixed feelings/messages: Snow forecast for Friday & Saturday.
Complaint: Work hours cut because we aren't busy this time of year.
Non-complaint; Hooray for the Weatherman: Finally, they were right. They promised 3(F) temperature here today, and it was. Kudos!
And I don't have to experience it. Decided not to have a mini-adventure uptown today. Couldn't justify the expense (already $140 over budget this month even after raiding a chunk of my savings to cover an expensive prescription) or the discomfort (arthritis in my fingers doesn't like cold), despite the opportunity to wear my new wool scarf.
There is frost on all the windows and it's glittering on everything outside. Ooh, pretty but at least it's outside.
Perhaps tomorrow. Clear sky and temps in the 30s(F), until snow after noon and through Friday. And tomorrow is also payday, so the expense excuse fades to ignorability.
Yay, a mini-adventure.
I think I'm gonna try for Chinese take-out again. I just have to find a way to waste two and a half hours, with a minimum of Uber rides until they open.
Complaint: Still have a big box sitting in my livingroom/office/lab.
Amount going into savings this payday will be much reduced.
Right now, my only crisis is that my dinner is cold. It is cold. My dinner is cold. Oh my! Not sure what to think when my major crisis tonight is that my dinner is cold.
My Dinner is Cold Complaint Thread.
Sung to the tune of "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush".
Non-complaint: Temperature here has been under 5(F) all day. Now it's 9:00PM and the temp has risen to 6(F) but will keep rising to 20(F) by tomorrow morning when I catch the bus uptown at 8:00AM. 'Twill be a balmy day.
Until it starts snowing at noon, for three days.
But things could be worse, I wouldn't want to be in Washington DC or Pittsburgh or Philadelphia this weekend. I remember what major snow does to Washington DC.
THE NEXT MORNING
Complaint: My bus was involved in an accident before it got to me (slid on ice). After waiting 30 minutes past time originally due, I called the dispatcher. Bus was OK, but delayed by an hour. However, when it did finally come I watched from my kitchen window and it turned the wrong way, forgetting me, for the 3rd time in 4 months.
I called dispatcher again and they came back to pick me up but it took another half hour.
Non-complaint: The bus driver who forgot me didn't charge me the $2 for the ride.
And since the bus was late, I had breakfast at the hole-in-the-wall diner in the decrepit mini-mall. Mmmm... Biscuit & Gravy, bacon, OJ, coffee. Starting an hour and a half or more late, by time I was done with breakfast at 10:30AM I was going to stretch it out in the diner 'till 11:00 when the Chinese takeout was advertised to open, but instead decided to toddle to the Tim Hortons for donuts, but before I got there I noticed the "OPEN" sign on the Chinese take out despite it being only 10:30.
So, I abandoned the donut trek and ordered my Szechuan Chicken Combo takeout. Then ubered to grocery.
Complaint: Got all I needed at the grocery and ordered an uber home, but the Uber App screwed up and sent the driver a mile away.
I fumbled with the app for 10 minutes to learn how to cancel a ride, accept the $5.70 cancel charge, and order a new ride from the correct address.
Non-complaint: I got home with my groceries and in the house at noon, and it immediately began snowing just like the weatherman said. So, I'm all set for another week of sketchy weather, beginning with still warm Szechuan Chicken for lunch.
Mmmm... Szechuan Chicken, fried rice, eggroll and hot cocoa watching it snow.
After 3 decades of buying American Home Sheild Insurance (an add on to regular home insurance) I can assure you it quates to buying shit in a box. Simply a waste of money. I am but one of 16k complaints in 3 years.
Please pardon a brief interruption.
<<<inarticulate scream into the void.>>>
We now return you to your regularly scheduled complaint thread.
Apparently the (maybe) snow we in Denver are looking forward to over Friday and Saturday is a monster that is going to slam from southern Colorado across Texas, the southern states, MidWest, and up the East Coast. (Rough description off the top of my head.) Sub-Zero Temps and all. If your local news hasn't been calling this out, please check your stations and weather apps for more details. There is still some disagreement in just what, where, and how bad this is supposed to be. I know many of you live in winter weather regions normally and know these by heart, but for those who don't, just remember what happened to Texas five years ago.
But the Axios newsletter gave a list of things you can do now to prepare:
A sprawling winter storm is set to hit half of the country this weekend, and millions of people are bracing for delays and dangerous conditions.
Zoom in: Here are some steps you can take to get ready and help others do the same — from buying supplies to donating blood.
Consider donating blood: America's blood supply is facing a critical shortage, and the storm could exacerbate the issue, Axios' April Rubin reports. The Red Cross said blood donations were down 35% nationally in the past month.
Buy the essential groceries: Stock up on a week's worth or more of bottled water and non-perishable items in addition to your normal groceries. Think beans, peanut butter, cereal and protein bars.
Lend a hand: If you have neighbors who are elderly or who have young kids, offer to pick up some groceries for them when you do your pre-storm run.
Get on the group chat: Collect neighbors' numbers if you don't already have them, and start a text chain to check in on folks throughout the weekend.
Prepare for power outages: Charge your devices and have extra batteries on hand in case you unexpectedly lose electricity during the storm.
Worthy of your time: Snow survival 101, with tips from Axios reporters across the country
That's really something you don't want to learn for two reasons. The first is that you're needing insurance in the first place, so something is wrong, and secondly finding out that your insurer is ripping you off which make whatever is wrong worse. How very frustrating (other words are available, but not forum friendly).
Best insurance is put aside in a savings account a certain amount of money for home repair (or vet bills, car repair) and protect it from poaching. Have on hand a list of reputable repair companies, estimated repair costs, and how long a home system will last. I do that for my car and it paid off the past few months when I heard a weird sound from the bottom of my van. I had the money to pay for the repair as well as new tires.
I realize this might be hard to do when money is tight, but even a small amount can add up over a long period of time.
In the UK you can't go without insurance except under a very limited condition (An exporter based outside the UK exporting the vehicle). Otherwise, in that one case, car insurance is not optional.
House insurance is optional unless required by a lender. But.. can you afford to have your house remains and then have it re-built? This is the worst case, but when this happens is when you need it most.
Regards,
Richard
Home Shield Insurance is not the same as Real Estate insurance. It's more like the extended warranty on your washing machine, or Car Shield insurance, etc. Real estate insurance is mandatory if you have a mortgage loan. Stupid to not have it even if you own it free and clear.
Ahh.
That's the sort of thing I have looked at, and never bought. My MIL has that sort of thing on her cooker, fridge etc, having a different policy for each bit of kit. The electric cooker has been most reliable, and as a result in the 30 years she's had it, she's paid the insuance company for 4 more and still got the slightly ropey original one and is paying a high premium because it's so old. In her case, with individual single appliance insurance, I think she'd have been better off doing something else. Anything else. But it does depend on individual circumstances and the appliances.
Regards,
Richard
Find a household major kitchen/laundry appliance made today that will last 10 years before its first repair.
My parents had an early 1950s Sears chest freezer, they had it for 25 years and it never needed repair, sold it for $25 to neighbors and it lasted at least 10 more years without repair before I lost track of its status.
Non-complaint: Mmmm..., leftover Szechuan Chicken for lunch.
Still happily watching snow pile up while sipping tea, munching pistachios and not preparing to go outside.
As a Side Note: I glossed over one point about my Szechuan Chicken, just to keep my blathering short, but what the heck... Here's the actual facts. Once I got home and opened my "Szechuan Chicken" it actually turned out to be Orange Beef.
Mmmm... Orange Beef.
So read all my above references for Szechuan Chicken to Orange Beef. Their mistake, my pleasure.
In addition to the storm prep above: if you're in an area with danger of losing power, think camping supplies for cooking if necessary: small portable propane burner set, for example.
I guess that's one good thing about our horrid winters up here in MN... we get some doozies, but it's not often it wipes out heat or power, and the roads are clear within a day of the snowfall ending. I feel for everyone in a state that isn't equipped for this sort of thing. (We're not expecting much in the way of precipitation... too cold.)