Sitting in the bowels of (spreadsheet) hell

So I suppose I will spew some words here and take a break from circular reference formulas, countif and sumif statements, macros and algorithms - along with pretty colors.

Pretty colors being used in case a formula fails  – my motto -

“If it smells good and looks good.  Well, it must be good”

I heard there is a research dept at UB working on transforming smell into a digital format.  Yes, folks, I am excited and already planning the day when I am able to add the scratch and sniff application to my spreadsheets. 

Upon first opening my spreadsheets I would opt for the smell of gardenias.  Follow instructions – roses.  Actually saving the (email) attachment prior to inputing data and attempting to send on -  well, that my friends is worthy of an entire English garden (butterflies included)

Ignore the drop down for data validation and enter your own text?  Forget the error message, your computer monitor will permeate the smell of poo until you follow instructions.

They weren’t joking about a war zone in Buffalo

I think the gods must not like me much.  Buffalo seems to get crazy, abnomal weather when I am around.

Airline and hockey tickets already purchased to arrive in Buffalo 1 week after the massive storm. 

We enjoyed no electricity for 3 of the 5 days we were there.  Luckily there was a generator that provided heat and a couple of lights (not that I need lights, but heat is my friend).

The city was expecting cleanup to take up to several months.  There were caravans of oversized trucks on all the highways….coming in droves of 6 or 7 trucks at a time; riding between clean up sites and dump sites.  This street wasn’t nearly as bad as most we saw.

One problem I imagine is snow removal.  Curbs are non-existent in Buffalo.  This is so the plows can push the massive amounts of snow off the road into people’s yards.  Tree limbs piled 7 feet high along the roads, means to place to push the snow.

The amount of mulch is another issue.  Will Buffalo been known as the mulch capital of the country?

 

We stayed with friends….this is their backyard. 

Here is their side yard

 

Something to be said about a treeless small lot to put your house on!

Sometimes I scream like a girl!

Time to clean up the yard (again!).   Living in the South is nice for a brown thumber (which I am) to grow plants and flowers.  Plop it in the Georgia clay and it usually grows….the downside is EVERYTHING grows; and fast.

I decided to clean up the weeds and overgrown whatevers yesterday.  I really got into it….clip, clip, clip.  So much so that I found myself in the middle of a spider community…….

I like these spiders.  They eat bugs, they look really cool and they aren’t harmful – but STILL.   When I find myself wrapped in its web and staring at one  (eye to eye) I have no choice but to run screaming like a girl!

Who woulda thunk (Friday the 13th)

Imagine a very Hungarian accent and this voicemail (in essence)

“It is 4:20 on Friday the 13th…I will try to call when cell service is up again.  We are out of power until the middle of next week and they are about to shut off water.

Trees are down, power lines are down and there is a driving ban in Amherst, actually everywhere.  We are okay, though.  Your mother is a wreck!  ::chuckle::”

Oh hell, just listen to the damn voicemail…..I am a goob and can’t seem to get the html coding to work (where are you Doug?).  So, click on the first link and hit the play.  There you have it!

 <embed src=”http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/evocaPlayer.swf?id=22009&teu=http://www.evoca.com/” wmode=”transparent” allowscriptaccess=”never” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer” height=”85″ width=”90″>

Was my last post about Buffalo blizzards some weird curse ?  The 2 years I lived in Buffalo there were record snow falls.  7′ (yes, feet) in 24 hours, 96″ in one month (the average for an entire season), I-90 shut down and for days…more rain than we have ever seen.  These were just some of the stats I hear in my 2 years.

By golly- do I really have to get on a plane in 6 days and head there FOR VACATION? 

Keep you darn yellow snow – please do not throw at me – I may be stuck in some igloo like living quarters while on vacation.

Where did I put my snow shoes?!

Picture of the pool in (one of the) 2000 snow storms.  This is a 4′ fence

 

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 3:16 p.m. ET Oct 13, 2006

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A rare early October snowstorm that buried parts of the Great Lakes region under as much as 2 feet of snow

The wet, heavy snow downed tree limbs and toppled power lines, leaving 380,000 homes and businesses without electricity

This is the earliest lake effect snowstorm that we’ve seen here and I’ve been here for 25 years,”

Friday the 13th beats out Halloween …….

….especially when it happens in October!

But dang is it getting cold here!  Temperatures in the 60’s this week.

But before those who have already gotten snow flakes start to throw yellow snow at me…… We are going to Buffalo next week. 

Home of the blizzards (and DQ has no hand in these).  

The only place I know that adults boot  kids off sleds to drag gas cans home for the snowblower.

If the weather keeps up like this, we may need to get the kids in costume a little early – can’t be puttin’ the winter coats over the costumes now!

Where in the hell is toto? 

With the price of pumpkins following our recent skyrocketing gas prices, bet this guy just gets a plain old dried up gord this year

 

 

The turtle is by far my favorite! 

I wonder if you could do this with fish, too?

Then our kids. 

I couldn’t find the needle on a sewing machine if I had to…

so, our kids get whatever XXXXXXX-LG costumes we can find at Target.

But in our ‘hood, 15-year old kids piled in a shopping cart constitutes a costume.  So I suppose our dogs ain’t lookin’ all that bad!

Where did the sun go?

Fall always takes me by surprise!  The sun just keeps creeping further and further behind (this side of) the earth. 

At 5:30 it looks like it should be 7:00.  Dinner will no longer be served at 9:30 pm but possbily 8pm.  Now that darkness is setting in, the feeling of “time to cook” moves closer to my usual “I suppose I should eat lunch” time I am excited that Halloween is soon upon us! 

The crisp air (and not the colorado snow), kids with makeshift costumes ringing bells for free candy and really, just knowing that the earth is moving and seasons will change soon makes me smile. 

Dark at 6pm.  I want to get cozy in front of a fire with some good wool socks! I would like to work out my (Halloween) costume this year.  A prosthetic preggie belly, a cigarette and stiff drink.  Just enough to piss of the righteous!  But I don’t see that happening….I suppose maybe we should start with the first year of buying candy for the kids..maybe some lights. 

 Halloween is so much more fun when you have a real job (as an adult).  There are parties, reasons to be scary, reasons to scare others.  hmmmm… excuses, I suppose.

 But I digress.  My notice of light (and lack of) in our yard certainly has something to do with the lack of structure next to us.

Summer 2005

Spring 2006

 

Summer 2006

 

 Fall 2006

 

 This Week

A tribute to Barbie…..

Well, maybe not a tribute.

Creators of Barbie, fashion magazines, models and all that crap that usually just makes us feel critical of ourself for one reason or another…..well, may you grow a nipple for a head and have spikes for nipples!

 This one is for you Aud!  Chin up my friend.  Life is good.  Sometimes you just gotta’ dig a little deeper in the mud to find it

I have no words….okay, maybe I do

Farting around today on the computer and enjoying my daily fix of Fresh Air I was blown away by the interview I heard.

 Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International.   

I quickly started the internet search to learn more.  I do not believe organization of people through religion has an overall positive impact on all humans.  The goal to convert and spread a belief or translation of something intangible has always appeared to me as preying on someone’s fear.  But then, I don’t quite get the “god” thing, either.

Sometimes I am amazed at how difficult it is for some people to just exist and be at peace with themselves.  Why people aren’t willing to just support someone struggling with (anything).  How important it is for an organization to change people from who they are to what the organization perceives to be the proper person.

Not a believer in God - my time in this vehicle of water, flesh and bone is what I get- no pearlies testing me when this over.  To go an entire life fighting off something tangible inside oneself in the name of religion is profound to me.  Now if we were talking about  religion really saving/helping someone- making society more harmoneous, say someone who through religion is able to really become a better person - I say pray away!   But to say that what someone feels -that is perfectly harmless - is against God’s will….. ::shaking my head::

I suppose just continuing to discard science and calling homosexuality a “condition” that can be healed is par for the course…and it will only be a matter of time before “Focus on Your (own dang) Family” will attempt a black and white decorated float in the Atlanta Pride Parade. 

Picture from Pride 2006- moments before the monsoon hit 

  http://www.exodus-international.org/ - yikes!

What is Exodus?

Exodus is a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization promoting the message of Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.
Our member ministries provide support for individuals who want to recover from homosexuality, as well as provide support for their family (parents, spouses, children, relatives) and friends.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6225402

1 for Anita…..

After we spoke, I couldn’t help but pull out the pictures.The black and whites from the hike to Ptarmigan Lake – I think that is you and Ken hiking.  

 

And that stupid tree trunk I adopted as my dinosaur. I hiked the trail a couple of years ago and looked for the dinosaur….but apparently there was a lot of childish creative mind juices at work back then – cuz they all just looked like a bunch of tree stumps  

 

Of course the stranded trip – I wonder if John was drinking that coffee wondering what kind of trouble he could get himself in.

 

 I will never forget when BV search and rescue showed up and Mom was feeding everyone pea soup. She was determined to eat well, even if we were stuck in the middle of the Rockies

I

couldn’t pass this one up And last but never least the all ladies camping trips
I am going to work on getting down to see you in the next 30 days or so…..so consider yourself warned

Okay and after publishing my first post, I see I have some editing to perfect here.  Hopefully my post layouts will improve (a LOT)