Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Thank you @Honeysucklelou2, it was part of the big transition to not being the hosting generation, but was all a positive experience, thus proving that big changes can also be nice changes.  

Today started sunny and beautiful but now can't make up its mind. DH has had his 24 hours on the heart monitor and returned it to base. He now has to wait to see if anything showed up, but at least he's had no further symptoms. He's now trying to sort out some software on his laptop, en route to updating the tenancy agreement for the flat he manages. He's also taken a bag of bits to the charity shop.

I discovered two empty drawers in DS2's old room the other day so am putting some of my stuff and the family Christmas stockings in there. It's not as effective a clearing solution as getting things out of the house, but it makes it neater and easier to control.

I've also started to work through the medication cupboard and collect anything out of date to go to the pharmacy for disposal. It's amazing how things sneakily get too old to use while I'm not looking.

Cherryfudge

The medication cabinet is now up to date - including getting rid of a 2017 b0njela that had evaded previous purges. DH has also kindly taken spent batteries and pens to be recycled, and I got the bags of wrapping paper in from the car and decided to separate recyclables from non-recyclables. It's as well I did, as I found part of a new toy of DGD1's. Apparently another part is also missing, but I've not cleared the whole bag yet so it may turn up.

We had a short walk, but mutually decided it was too windy and muddy to go far.

My lunch was soup, yogurt and Christmas cake (as it will be tomorrow). DH had his usual tuna sandwich, cake and fruit. He made chicken pie for dinner and says he's used up the chicken. As always, I told him I'll feed an army on the bits left over when he's finished!

I meant to test smoke detector and CO detector batteries but it's a bit late at night now.

This evening I've put the months finances into my spreadsheet up to a couple of days ago. It looks as though we spent £300 on presents, including a couple of birthdays. That's leaving out the birthday and Christmas presents for two people I won't see for a while, and I'd bought quite a few bits before December. I can see there are a few high-spending food days, too, and a few meals out, though none of those was expensive. I'm very glad of the family Secret Santa, which has undoubtedly saved a fortune. I'm also aware that my love of giving stockings must account for quite a lot of the cost. As always, I resolve to rein it in - next time.

It also doesn't account for postage, but that was under £10, and I need to remind DH that he and his sister agreed to make a charity donation in lieu of each other's presents. I can't see where that happened!  

And a thought - it doesn't take any account of DH's credit card spending. More will most definitely have gone out of there as he's paid off another £300+ mid-month.

I am proud of myself as it occurred to me that I could try putting a set of numbers into a cell with an = before (thanks, @WelshmansDaughter) and some + signs in between, then hit 'enter'. It worked, so now I can trace what I've put in a  cell and not risking putting something in twice or missing it. It's a darn sight better than trying to use the calculator on my phone.

I've not spent anything today: DH has but I don't know what.

badmemory

Does your spreadsheet have an autosum function as that is really easy to use & may help.  It saves doing the =A1+a2 thing.

WelshmansDaughter

It's so she can see the list of numbers badmemory. If you use the sum function it gives you the cell name.
Thank you, I didn't realize I actually knew stuff about spreadsheets (even though I have worked with them for over a decade). 
I have found that most spreadsheet courses miss out bits or explain it as though it's obvious. 

Cherryfudge

badmemory said:

Does your spreadsheet have an autosum function as that is really easy to use & may help.  It saves doing the =A1+a2 thing.

It does, thanks. I didn't think of using it on a single cell. I just put amounts in (=SUM1.95+2.99 sort of thing) and hit 'enter' to add the contents of a cell. I've used autosum for columns and rows: it's very useful.

I have a suspicion that things I find out by playing with the spreadsheet may not be the way I'll be taught when I do the course, but I think it's like a spoken language, where there's more than one way of doing most things, and as long as you can show the correct version when tested, the goal is to communicate so other ways are acceptable.

This reminds me: I read this article recently which, though about practising drawing, made me think about practice as a way of increasing skills in general. What I got from it is more along the lines of 'the light on the journey' - the joy of doing something for its own sake, rather than because I feel I should do half an hour of piano every day. The author of the article found a meditative peace from sketching, rather than battling to hone their skills. That not only got me thinking 'Maybe I need to draw more', but it actually got me back p[laying the piano yesterday. DH plays often: he can't read music but plays 'pub piano' style by ear and it's a treat to hear. I read music and I've spent hundreds on lessons, but I'm one of those people who finds music difficult to read, despite at one point studying around grade 8 theory. There are certain notes my brain won't process properly. Anyway I sat down and played some easy carols, and where I couldn't manage both hands, I just enjoyed the sound of one.

Come to think of it, I've learnt a few skills by just enjoying doing the thing: rattling away on a computer keyboard, for instance, or making cakes. I hope much of learning Excel will be similar: by playing, I learn. Watching DGD learn when she doesn't know she's learning is very illuminating. She doesn't miss a thing, and the reactions, physical skills and mental processes she's taking on board are all part of the store cupboard for later.

So it's back to the piano for me, I think. I stopped lessons when I broke my arm, and stopped playing during lockdown, but there's no reason I shouldn't play for fun.

WelshmansDaughter

but I'm one of those people who finds music difficult to read, despite at one point studying around grade 8 theory. 

I'm the same. I was just reading an autistic memoir where she said it was related to not having the mathematical ability. 

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

It's so she can see the list of numbers badmemory. If you use the sum function it gives you the cell name.
Thank you, I didn't realize I actually knew stuff about spreadsheets (even though I have worked with them for over a decade). 
I have found that most spreadsheet courses miss out bits or explain it as though it's obvious. 

I cross posted with you, sorry.

Yes, it's because I can see the list of numbers - so if I then find a receipt, I can see if I've already included it in our spending. It also means I can add up, say, grocery shopping from four places without having to use the side of the spreadsheet or a calculator, and I can check for typos. Most of the time categories don't need this, so maybe I spent £1.99 on a book (charity shop buy!) or £3.50 on a coffee, simples, but when there are multiple spends in the same category, it gets messy.

You must know things about spreadsheets, because you explain them in a way that helps me understand.  

Now please can you explain how the sum function gives the cell a name?  

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

but I'm one of those people who finds music difficult to read, despite at one point studying around grade 8 theory. 

I'm the same. I was just reading an autistic memoir where she said it was related to not having the mathematical ability. 

Interesting. I'm definitely limited in Maths, yet I have a friend who I'm convinced is autistic, who's very strong in both Maths and music. I think it's something in the visual processing with me, as I don't have trouble with understanding how the timings fit together in music. Neurodiversity being diverse again, I suppose.  

WelshmansDaughter

Lol, sorry. Cells are called by the horizontal letter and vertical number so a cell name is just A2 or B7. When you use a formula it just tells you the list of cells in the range rather than the actual numbers in the cells. Thats what I meant.

When I used to record numbers I did it in a database style and let the spreadsheet calculate it for me. 
When you get more familiar with spreadsheets that might be something useful 

Cherryfudge

I think I get that, thanks @WelshmansDaughter! At least the first bit, and probably the second bit.

Actually it's probably as well spreadsheets weren't around when I was at school because they are something I need to discover for myself rather than assuming I don't understand.