Let’s take one trivial example. I am tasked with creating an automated calculation in Excel that computes the number of days waiting for a job to get reviewed. The existing table had the start and end dates that are manually typed by the user.

Simple enough.

Like I always say, anything worth doing is worth over doing. How can I over do something like this?

How about showing a blank cell if there is no start date? Clean.

How about automatically calculating the days waiting if there is a start date but no end date yet? Cool.

Hey, why not subtract weekends and paid holidays? Sweet.

Let’s color code the cells so that if the response is within 1 day, it is green. In 2 days, it goes to yellow. When we hit 3 or more days, we go red. Nice.

And take it one step further. If what is typed in the cell is not a date, then show a blank cell instead of an error message. Damn.

The equation is simple enough. It is:

=IF(ISBLANK(A4),”",IF(ISBLANK(B4),NETWORKDAYS(A4,TODAY(),Holiday)-1,IF(ISTEXT(A4),”",IF(ISERROR(A4),”",(NETWORKDAYS(A4,B4,Holiday)-1)))))

The A4 is the date out cell, B4 is the date in cell, and Holiday pulls from a list of dates. Click here to download an example (is an 2007 Excel file).

So, where does the drama start? I work with a guy that told me straight up that he does not want me working with him and all that. It could be anyone in the seat. He is just insecure. I don’t like dealing with insecure, irrational people. But, that is part of the game.

Well, my new buddy proudly announces today that he does not use the date in /out thing anymore since I added the calculation to it.

Not that I really give two shits, but it does make the “trying to get along” thing difficult. Perplexing to me, it is, when intelligent people behave like children.

Scratch that. My 8 year old was more respectful and mature when he was 2.

I digress.

Bottom line is I still have alot of game left in me. I may not be as fast or sharp as I was 20 years ago, but I have more experience than most in their 60s.

My goal is simple: I want to be on a championship caliber team. Plain and simple.

I have the skills, knowledge, and experience to take any die group to the highest levels. But, somehow, I keep finding myself in these situations where politics and psychology seem to take precedence over profit and prosperity.

I totally get why Brett Favre changes his mind about playing football about as much as I change mine about being in this business. It is tough getting older.

I am certainly not getting any younger. I may have mellowed some, but my tolerance for babies and bullshit still hovers around zero.

I love gravatar. I am amazed that more people do not use them, so I thought I would give them a plug.

A gravatar is a globally-recognized avatar that works at any blog you comment at. Your gravatar is associated to your email address. All you have to is type in your email at the blog comment screen and your gravatar will automagically appear.

Of course, gravatar only works at gravatar-enabled sites. This is convenient because most blogs are gravatar-enabled today.

Click here to create your own gravatar. It is free!

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