From:  starl
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On: 2010/04/15 13:16:08
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Wow! Just stopping by for a break.. grueling schedule with the publisher this month (Book #4!!!) - 350 pages in one month. And I am WAY behind. But I just can't get into the mood lately to write. I know - shouldn't wait to be in the mood, should just write, but man it's hard!!!
So going through my bookmarks and figured it's been forever since i stopped by so i'd see how everyone is doing. how many of you are still at EE? Honestly, the only time i stop by is if a link brings me there. Tho, the reason is mostly I don't have time for that stuff anymore and Excel experts are a dime a dozen...
so.. speak up!
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/15 13:50:17
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thank dog for Access 2007... Access experts were getting to be a dime a dozen too until M$ fvxhed it all up.
now i can actually find paying customers!
can i get an autographed copy of #4 when it comes out?
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/15 14:34:39
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access developers.. i've learned ppl label themselves that because they can create one table with a gazillion fields. and tie a userform to it.
that is NOT a proper database.
course.. you have the excel developers who create sheets full of formulas and can record a macro.. and consider themselves $100/hr programmers.
NOT
send me a book and i'll sign it. i only get a few versions of this one. not sure why they're stingy this time
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/15 17:11:29
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that's because they don't know VBA. i started in Q-Basic 3 on a Win 3.1 box. i wrote a program completely from The Waite Group's Q-Basic Bible, and designed tables from text files without ever taking a programming class. i still have never taken a programming class and have dozens of happy clients. (your dance club lady really missed out on a great program. i had that one totally laid out. it would have been very powerful)
i only have VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel that you wrote with Bill.
i'll send you that one.
when the new one comes out in august i'll get that one too. i confess i haven't read the first one yet. i bought it because i was applying for a job in a plant that was heavily laden with Excel workbooks (both of their IT guys were your "dime-a-dozen" types) and i wanted to get up to speed quick, but i was shot down in the second interview for not knowing anything about SharePoint Server. go figure. they bring me in because i'm a self-taught programmer, production manager, metallurgical technician, and production scheduler, and figure i can't learn a frikin' collaboration platform in a week or two. sheesh!
tell me how you write these things. is there a template that you fill in, or is it all free-wheeling? do you draw up the table of contents first and write out the chapters that you designed in the table of contents, or do you write the book first and then detail it in the table of contents?
and who writes the glossary?
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/15 17:45:24
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where to start.
Lessee - just finishing up the 3rd VBA book - covers 2010.
Currently writing a brand new Excel book - more of a reference for using Excel. Not as indepth as Bills special edition; not specialized like the VBA.
Lots of Excel MVPs don't know much about sharepoint - hell, who can afford one! So MS has taken a new route, a better one, far as I'm concerned - Office 2010 Web apps. all you need is a browser! Limited in what you can create online, but create it locally and upload it and *wow*
How do I write these.. fill in a template? I wish! it's all written from scratch.. which makes it really hard. You have to figure out good examples for people, that's always toughest. With the current book - which I'm writing 99.9% of, I put together a TOC for the publisher, but change it as I actually write, as I think of things I didn't consider originally. Glossary.. no glossary in my books, but really, all the text is the authors. I don't do the index, that's about it.
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From: coral47
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On: 2010/04/15 21:30:15
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Hey! Keep the noise down. Some of us are trying to sleep.
And congrats on the writing. ; )
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/16 04:39:06
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yea, index is what i meant to say. when i want to look up a term or formula, i'd look it up in the back of the book, then jump to it. in my opinion, it's so important, i decide if i'm going to buy a book based on the strength of the index.
the Waite Group's Q-Basic Bible had an AMAZING index. the whole book was built as a dictionary - alphabetical by function.
all books nowadays are built like stories... "first we make this little thing in chapter 1, then in chapter 2, we take that little thing and make it better using this new function, then in chapter 3, we take that better thing and make it even better with this trick..." so you have to read it from start to finish because if you only need to know how to do that third trick, you can't pick it up in the middle because the examples are built using previously installed functionality.
i really need books to be more compartmentalized. it's my ADD.
wake up coral!
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/16 07:03:07
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new book lets you jump to where you want - a reference book.
VBA book is a bit more linear, but then it's more of a teaching book.
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From: Huntress
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On: 2010/04/16 07:06:00
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You've really come a long way Tracy. How's it going otherwise? :-)
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/16 08:10:56
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What are the names of your books?
I know how to create a proper DB, but I get a little cornfused with the SQL and VBA bits sometimes.
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/16 17:14:22
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Otherwise? not sure last time I updated here, so I'll go back a little
May 2008 - My colt, Galen was born. Two years old now and tall!!! He's arabian/quarter horse mix. Palamino
March 2009 - finished the long awaited house extension.
Else.. still working from home, primarily as Bill's project manager - done some interesting projects. Two more books (making it 4 total this summer).
That's it.
Books 1-3 are VBA & Macros for Excel 2003, 2007, 2010
Book 4 is also Excel, of course, but publisher hasn't put out the details yet.
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/16 19:13:54
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yea, i think we decided you were going to name your new arabian colt "Mohammed", right? (hmmm, a Palamino named Mohammed? maybe not).
hi Sandy! fancy meeting you here. i think i was in colorado the last time i talked to you. my cell phone died and i lost your number. i got married and cut my hair off. how about you? still w/ muso? still got that stunning hair?
stone. call me if you're stuck. www.accessdbdevelopers.com
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From: Huntress
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On: 2010/04/16 22:32:22
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Hello my friend. No, muso dumped me about a year and a half ago for younger prospects. The hair has been shortened a bit but it's still beautiful. 
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/17 03:51:15
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ugh, sorry Sandy, that's shitty. next month i turn 50. i sure wish THAT wasn't happening. i do like being at this stage of life, though. i'm having lunch with my daughter today for her 27th birthday. as long as i stay healthy i'll be ok w/ it. it reminds me of a roller coaster ride... you know you're gonna have to get off eventually, but you just want to focus on enjoying the ride while it's fun.
i've had this same computer now for almost 8 years. it's a miracle the registry hive hasn't corrupted. i think that's about 160 in people years. it's a repository of everything i've ever looked at, worked on, or downloaded since 1992. i don't have the one pic of you when you were the expert of the month. wow your hair was absolutely stunning! i think that was in '99 or '00.
hey, i found Tracy's wedding picture thumbnail in a folder called \ee\experts\. Stone, i think i saw a pic of you at one point... you were promoting ITPowerSource.com. you can call anytime you want help with the coding.
oh crap, the nameservers for my website are defaulted to godaddy. i wonder how long that's been down. you can use www.evergreenaccessdesign.com
oh well, i get my most of clients from networking anyway. although a couple of months ago i got a call, out of the blue, from a financial adviser who found my resume online and wants a program for diversifying accounts based on several templates, and he just sent me a nice check for prepaid hours. now i have to find time to work for him... i'm taking an accelerated accounting class online and it's killing me... like sipping cool-aid through a fire hose! and who can learn all this in 5 weeks?
oh... sorry i high-jacked your thread, Tracy. it's good to catch up.
what did you get done to your house? and how's your family?
and Sandy how's your daughter? is she about 18 now?
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From: Huntress
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On: 2010/04/17 07:02:18
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Well the oldest (my son) turned 30 last month and we're getting along better than we have in years. The oldest daughter (who's 24) is pregnant with my third grandchild and the youngest daughter is going to be 19 in June. After 4 years of separation and living upstairs in my house, my (soon-to-be) ex finally moved out last week!!! The duaghter moved with him so now I have the long hard road of cleaning up the mess he's left behind. But it's all good. I'm alone for the first time in my life and it's not so bad. 
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/17 09:30:27
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feel free to hijaack - the updates are interesting.
Galen's official name is Shekinah Or-Chaim
horse naming is complex... there are traditions one should follow - so that's how he got is official name.
But we just call him Galen.
We expanded the house. Doubled the footage, actually. I got pics..
Here are some old ones:
http://picasawe...RgCMWT9Ma8ndXdHg&feat=directlink
Pushed the original house out 12 feet, then added 2 stories.
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From: Huntress
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On: 2010/04/17 09:34:58
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2 stories??? Amazing!
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/17 09:46:28
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bedrooms over a garage. a very TALL garage because we had to have the 2nd floor level with the rafters of the first floor of the original house, which was elevated 4 feet.
people always comment on how high our garage ceiling is, but it's sort of nice and spacious!
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/17 11:02:53
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Cool about the house.
Sorry to hear about Muso, but conga rats on the eviction of ex.
Conga rats on the horsie.
Note to Self: Learn to write books to get rich.
Updates on me:
Oldest kid moved out in October and I am in the process of making an office out of his old room. I painted it last w/e, pulled up nasty carpet Thursday afternoon (trash day is Friday) and found out the hard wood floor underneath is in decent shape. I rented a floor sander yesterday and just finished (literally)sanding what that machine could reach. Still a fair amount of work left but it is looking nice.
I had a leak in bathroom that weakened the floor by the toilet and it is now sagging. Despite the supposed poor economy I can't get anyone out to do shit, not even give me a damn estimate, 3 months of calling at least a dozen people, 2 have come out and 1 has given me an estimate, unfortunately it was fucking outrageous. $5400 to pull a toilet out, replace subfloor and retile an 8 x 10 bathroom.
I tried to get a loan but told I was SOL, so trying now to take some cash out of my 403b since I have another retirement and that one is tied to market and I have made like $60 on it in 10 years.
I need to find someone to fix toilet area for about $2K, which I think I should be able to get bathtub (source of leak) replaced too for that, but it seems no one wants the work.
Work is good other than wage freeze and tight assedness on POs.
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/17 11:11:39
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Almost forgot, still playing badger at TOS and went to SLO for all expense paid (by them) conference where I crammed through some ideas about improving site, got really shitfaced (along with about 80% of the antendees) while butchering pop & rock songs in a sing-along then chatted up some hot young female interns and tried pick a fight with Dan Rollins (or he tried to pick one with me, it is still pretty fuzzy). Other than that bit of drunken stupidity it was great, especially the Humvee rides in the dunes of Pismo. Well the airline part of it sucked too, but that was to be expected.
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/17 11:23:23
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you don't get rich writing tech books..unless that's all you do and you have LOTS. I ain't givin' up the day job. But the income is a nice little bit of padding. Especially when the economy slowed down and didn't have projects. Royalties helped keep our heads above water.
Works is slowly getting back to normal. Enough that I'm looking for Excel programmers again...
stone - SLO?
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/17 11:44:12
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SLO - San Luis Obispo, CA
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/17 13:10:28
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TOS has conferences? dang.. times have changed.
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/17 13:45:32
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They have had 2 so far, somehow or another I got invited to both. Must be my good looks or something.
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From: Huntress
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On: 2010/04/17 14:12:15
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I can fix your toilet for round trip ticket from Michigan and back and it would cost you less than $2K LOL
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/17 15:39:11
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If I have to wait too much long I might take you up on the offer. =o)
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From: mac
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On: 2010/04/18 19:35:05
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Looks like Tracy can use some work, Sandy. Ever visit South Dakota?
She even has a spare room or 12.
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/18 20:05:52
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I can use some work???
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From: stone5150
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On: 2010/04/18 22:29:48
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I could use some high paying work on the side, I do need to fix my toilet.
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From: starl
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On: 2010/04/19 15:20:42
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Here's the link to the latest book!
http://www.amaz...F8&s=books&qid=1271678073&sr=1-1
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