Strick’s Ramblings

WoW!!! I actually own a blog! Forgot about this. I'll have to start writing in this thing again. HAPPY 2010...

I am excited… just got a new computer. Since my old desktop was Ancient (AMD 3400+), I had to get a new computer. I had some extra cash, so I got me an AMD Phenom™ 9750 Quad Core processor. Stuck it in an ASUS motherboard, stuck 4 gigs of Corsair ram in it, a 1 TB SATA drive, SATA DVD+/- RW. The case is beautiful… with blue LEDs lighting up the… well… underneath my desk.

Thus far, I put windows 7 on it, but will probably dual boot linux at some point. Not sure yet. I’m kind of liking windows 7. I still have a linux box (my old desktop), which I run as a file server, serving up my movies, photo’s, and other various files. I’m running Sabayon Linux as the server OS.

I'll stick a picture of it up later.

Stumbled upon this cartoon:

Thought this was hilarious!!!  Of course, since I'm not much of a C++ programmer, I would do something like this:

Sub airplanes()
 
Range("A1").Value = "I will not throw paper airplanes in class"
Range("A1").Copy
Range("A2:A500").PasteSpecial
 
End Sub

throw this in a spreadsheet then email it to the teacher!!! Ok, so this method wouldn't be as cool as the pic, but it would work and save time! Wonder how you could do this in BASH...

Greetings readers...

The weather here in Virginia is starting to cool down, as the Summer highway quickly comes to an end.  Fall is now upon us, with a nice cool Atlantic breeze blowing across my patio.  The sweltering summer days are finally over.   Labor Day is a matter of hours away.  The stores are already starting to sell Halloween supplies.  Shortly thereafter Thanksgiving and Christmas supplies will be in the mix as well.  Pretty much the remainder of the year is the last of the sand in an hour glass.

With the change of seasons, comes the York Counties first day of school.  Along with that comes quiet throughout the neighborhoods and throughout the house as well.  A much needed rest for my wife, I'm sure.  My oldest Daughter will start 1st grade, then Matthew will start 4th grade, then John will start 7th grade... Advanced I might add, taking 2 highschool courses.  I'm so proud.

Work... well... I think I should refrain from posting things about work at this time.

Recently I purchased a used metal detector from Craigslist.  It is notEnou a Whites detector, but a Bounty Hunter.  It's a cheaper model, probably around $100, but will do until I get my new Whites XLT or whatever model I decided.  This will happen next month, and I can't wait.

Think I close this entry up now, I'm sitting out on my back patio enjoying the cool breeze; as the sun eases across the horizon and darkness falls upon us... another day will come, and with it comes more challenges.  Approach each challenge wisely!

Finally we're starting to get settled in, here in Hampton Roads.  Yesterday our house hold goods finally arrived from Japan.  It's funny how much stuff a family accumilates over a number of years.  We still have boxes of stuff we haven't unpacked yet.  More clothes than I can count, and countless nick-nacks as well.  We only have one more shipment to arrive, and that is our Storage shipment, this is going to be like Christmas, because this is all the stuff that we haven't seen since we left florida.  Included in shipment will be my badly missed tools, air compressor, and other manly stuff.

since it's late, must go to bed...

We moved to Virginia.  From Japan, we got here on July 4th.  Finally  moved in our house, finally got CABLE & Internet.  More later... I almost forgot I even had a blog.

Greetings fellow reader(s):

I hope all everyone has  had a wonderful Christmas, regardless of what religious background you claim.  I had a great Christmas with my Family this year.  Of course, any Christmas one spends with thier family would certainly be a great Christmas.  Eventhough this Christmas didn't have the living room floor covered in presents like it did in past years.  The economy hits home here in Japan, perhaps not as hard as it has hit in the Untied States, but we certainly feel it as well.

Other than being with Family, another highlight would be the Wii the kids got for Christmas.  When the kids opened it, I couldn't wait to play it.  Of course, I was the first one playing on it.

Yet another year has passed.  The Year 2009 will certainly be a memorable year for Americans and the world.  A new President who I hope restores the way the world views the Americans.  Someone who loves to travel the world, I don't really want to be viewed as a "Bully," which is how many countries of the world views us.  When I visit certain countries, I actually tell people I'm Canadian.

Enough for now, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!  Stay safe and take care of yourself and your Family.

Greetings all...

It has been quite a while since I've written. Since my last posting, I have been TDY to Qatar. It is late, and I'm tired, I'll have to write something more later.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all!

-James

Remember when you could fill your car up and only use a $20 bill? Well, I have accepted that we have passed that years ago. Remember when you could take the change out of the console of your vehicle and fill your lawnmower up? I certainly do. I think that the days of filling anything up for less than $5 are over. The days of taking $5 to the store to fill your lawnmower up and buying a coke are over.

Here’s what sparked this. I went to the store to fill my 1 gallon gas can up so I can mow the grass (Ok, so my two sons can mow the grass). After filling the gas can up, I only got back 10 cents from a $5 bill. I mean, I didn’t fill up a 5 gallon gas can… this was a small 1 gallon can. I think the lawnmower holds ½ gallon. So, that’s $2.50 per lawnmower “fill-up.” This is ridiculous. I have two cars, both run on Gasoline. Now, to fill both cars up, will take a $100 bill.

Of course, when I was a wee little lad, around the age of 10, I could also remember purchasing an ICE cold Coca Cola Classic, 16 ounce glass bottle for 35 cents. Then, when I was done drinking it, I could return the bottle and I would get 10 cents back. Return 10 bottles, and I would receive an entire dollar, to do with what I please. Of course, in the 80’s, a dollar would get you a bit farther that it does now. My Grandmother would always send me to the store down the road. Mr. Garlands store as it was called. This store was located on prime Highway 27 frontage. The price was gas was around $1.00 per gallon. The winters were colder… just seems that life was easier for a 10 year old. No Nintendo DS games, no Playstations, no XBOX… only Hot wheel cars, BB gun, army men, and my bicycle and cousins and friends to play with. Enough for now…

Trying to AutoFormat an Excel Spreadsheet...

Sub OLVIMS_REPORT()
'======================================================
' CLOSED 868 REPORT AUTO FORMAT SCRIPT/MACRO
'======================================================
 
    Columns("A:B").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlToLeft
    Range("H1").Select
    Cells.Replace What:="END OF REPORT", Replacement:="", LookAt:=xlPart, _
        SearchOrder:=xlByRows, MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False, _
        ReplaceFormat:=False
    Range("A2").Select
    Columns("H:H").EntireColumn.AutoFit
    Columns("I:I").EntireColumn.AutoFit
    Columns("C:C").EntireColumn.AutoFit
    Columns("B:B").EntireColumn.AutoFit
    Range("A2:I2").Select
    Selection.Cut Destination:=Range("H1:P1")
    Range("A4:I4").Select
    Selection.Cut Destination:=Range("H3:P3")
' the rest was cut out
    '
    ' Delete Blank Rows Macro
    '
    On Error Resume Next
 
    Columns("I:I").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).EntireRow.Delete
 
    '
    ' auto_width Macro
    '
    '
    Columns("A:Z").EntireColumn.AutoFit
 
'
' COLOR Macro
'
'
  Application.ScreenUpdating = False
  Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual   'pre XL97 xlManual
  Dim Rng As Range, ix As Long
  Set Rng = Intersect(Range("P:P"), ActiveSheet.UsedRange)
  For ix = Rng.Count To 1 Step -1
      If Trim(Replace(Rng.Item(ix).Text, Chr(160), Chr(32))) = "" Then
        Rng.Item(ix).ClearContents
      End If
  Next
done:
  Application.Calculation = xlCalculationAutomatic
  Application.ScreenUpdating = True
 
    Columns("H:H").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).Select
    With Selection.Interior
        .Pattern = xlSolid
        .PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
        .COLOR = 65535
        .TintAndShade = 0
        .PatternTintAndShade = 0
    End With
    Columns("P:P").Select
    Columns("P:P").SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).Select
    With Selection.Interior
        .Pattern = xlSolid
        .PatternColorIndex = xlAutomatic
        .COLOR = 65535
        .TintAndShade = 0
        .PatternTintAndShade = 0
    End With
 
End Sub

Here is the full code, in txt format.