Narangba Community

Bread is my Monday night, it is what i head out at 4pm to get and what I usually end up with at home by 7pm. Lately there hasn’t been a lot of bread coming from the bakery and I have been having to make the hard choice of which family to call and apologise to for having no bread. There has only been one Monday in the last few months where i haven’t had to call anyone, and that was the time our church asked for bread and then we had an abundance, more then enough for everyone.

Tonight was the smallest load ever. I visited 2 families for a tiny drop off at each, had my eldest take a cob loaf to each of the houses in our street and we were left over with something to accompany dinner tonight.

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it, as it is a 3 hr block of time out of my day when I could be doing other stuff. Admittedly it includes a trip to our mail box which is a 20minute drive, one way.

I know it helps people, and there are families who need it, otherwise why would they be receiving the bread? I also know that they appreciate it, and the little chats we get to have. It is one of my socialisation times, plus it is building relationships with people, it’s not just about the bread, and I guess that is what makes it worth it in the end. But gee, I would just like to get a load which could do everyone, like the good old days, 2 years ago.

I received this question on the website from Eric regarding conditional formatting:

Hi,

I have the same problem as a few people above but I don't think you got the point of the problem,

In xl2003 if you select A3:A9 and enter conditional format =B3 then select any other cell in the range it will show the conditional format for that cell e.g. A7 will show =B7

In xl2007 after following the same steps it will apply the correct formatting but if you select cell A7 to view the conditional format it will show as =B3. You get the same when checking any cell in range A3:A9.

This makes it near impossible to edit or amend or debug conditional formatting once entered.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Eric.

I started to post my answer and realised that i would be better off writing the whole thing as a blog post with some images to explain.

Hi Eric
i understand the problem and the first answer is that you cannot apply the same sort of logic between the two versions. The new versions (including 2010) manage conditional formatting completely differently, though some of the same concepts apply.
First of all your conditional format formula should be =A3=B3. This will apply the conditional format when the cell in A3 contains the same value as the cell in B3, and this will be relative - eg. when A7=B7 the cell in A7 will have the format applied. So you can see that the relative approach is correct in the conditional format manager in Excel 2007/2010
Second the problem you mentioned. When you look at the relative formula in cell B7 in excel 2003 it showed you just that formula. that is actually harder to debug if you think about it in Excel 2003 than in 2007/2010 as there is no way to see what other cells it also applies to. In Excel 2007/2010 the conditional format manager allows you to see the formula - and the range it is applied to and the little range box (circled in the image below) allows you to view this
The manager allows you to confine the selection to be evaluated to the selected cell(s), the current worksheet or other worksheets in the same workbook. If you then understand the relative / absolute nature of the formula you created then you can debug very successfully. I actually preferred this once I got a hang of using the manager to create sets of conditional formats than can be applied to multiple ranges simultaneously.

I just had to write of some of the awesome things that have been happening around here. This blog has been a little empty of late - and that's partly because of the new business taking up time, the photography business kicking along and just the sheer business of life. But some things have been happening that are connected in ways that are amazing giving me cause to write this article. The photo here was taken Sunday afternoon as a planned shoot for a connected human or a cyborg theme. In this case the two people are totally connected and entangled in the cables and trappings of computer hardware. It was a very interesting concept to put together and shoot and the whole team had a great amount of fun doing it.

Lets start with Sunday - the beginning of the week. For just over a year now our church has been searching for a new pastor after the leaving of the last one. Sunday the search ended with the pastor the search committee and the leadership recommended being accepted by the church. At the conclusion of that meeting we had a BBQ lunch and I was able to share with the church first the little miracle that took place where god miraculously provided the two trays of sliced bread we needed for that lunch. I used that as an example to show how Gods care for us in even the little things is an example of his absolute care for us in all things. Stressing and having anxiety over things in our life is wrong, hurtful and unhealthy.

Monday night home group I was sharing with the guys about this along with some other things from 1 John 2:1-11 and we were talking about how God makes his ways known to us in the most bizarre of circumstances, and how can we know that? By understanding the truth from this little verse, one of my favourites James 1:17 which says in part that God is the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. In other words - he doesn't change his mind, his attitude, his disposition towards us, his morals, his love etc. The actual quote James uses is from a very interesting passage in Numbers 23:19 where Balaam is being asked by Balak to curse the Israelites and he makes this very interesting statement - as a direct word from God:

“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Now that's a cool passage - read the whole story - very interesting - it even includes the only recorded instance of an animal talking to a human.

Too often we apply human attributes and traits to God, and that is false. He is not like a man who changes his mind like his dirty shirt. He says and He does.

Fast forward to Friday morning when I am writing this. This week has been about looking for new accommodation as the current place we are living in is going to be sold and we have been given two months to find a new place. As we are looking at places and the clock is ticking inexorably on there is the sense of rising panic - of increasing anxiety - and that is the natural human response. The great thing is finding the peace to pass that whole problem over to God to manage and then resting in the faith and hope that he will manage. if he could supply two trays of sliced bread ahead of time when needed then he can supply a house. Period.

Exciting times!

Sometimes I worry a little too much but then I usually find peace, or an outlet of some sort.

We have had a lot going on lately, well one major thing anyhow. Our lease is coming up for renewal and the owner has decided to sell, so therefore we have not had our lease renewed (probably for the best now that I think of it). With this comes trying to find a place that suits our needs, with a little bit of wants thrown in, and it isn’t hard to find a place that suits our needs, just not our wants. The house we are currently in (for another 6 weeks or less) is big enough that we have room to move and spread out, especially since we work at home, school at home, and live at home.

Hubby needs an office to work in, somewhere he can take the occasional client and staff member, to work. The kids need a space to do their school work and I need a space to set up my creative corner. (My creative corner is where I draw and sew). We want a media room and a yard big enough that the kids are content to stay and play in.  Lots of things to consider.

Apart from this I am laid up from running at the moment due to a sore knee which means I don’t have my usual, and reliable, outlet (and all those feel good endorphins that come with it).

Sometimes I wish things were different, sometimes I am happy with the way they are. Sometimes I wonder how life would have been different if I had one less child, or none at all. If I had gone to uni instead of Tafe (community college), but in the end I am happy with how things have turned out because my life is rich and I have experienced much. I am glad of the friends I have, and wouldn’t change them, for the family I have and the things that have happened (good and bad) in my life. They have all made me who I am.

This was another of the great runs put on by TRAQ (trail running association of QLD). The run we did this time was the 24km loop which was 6km then the 30km we did in May. The time we set for ourselves on this run was 4hrs, and we made close to the mark finishing in 4hrs 17min. I am happy with that time.

For the run itself, we chose the earlier start of 8am, so that we could make it back in time for lunch and wouldn’t spend all day out there. I am so glad we did.

The track itself held a wide variety of differing terrains. Some of those were rock covered in moss, sand, and normal dirt tracks. There were a few puddles around that we needed to go around, as well as a few fallen trees that needed climbing over/going around. There were long grasses almost obscuring the track from site and a steep hill section which I fondly call ‘the steps’, there were branches that whipped you as you ran past and deep crevasses in the ground. There was a lot to keep your mind occupied with.

We ran past mountains, macadamia farms, bee hives and were run past by other competitors. Almost everyone who went past would say hello, ask how we were going and were general pleasant to be around. Some even stopped for a chat.

Overall it was a great run, and I am happy with my time, and now it is time to put up my feet and rest them. Maybe after I find something to eat.

Outlook 2010 has some pretty sweet features. Here are some of the new ones.

Use the Outlook Social Connector with Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Windows Live

Today, we are announcing that you can use the Outlook Social Connector with Facebook and Windows Live. Our partners LinkedIn and MySpace are also releasing updates for their providers. All of the latest providers appear on the provider page.

Download the social connector software

Download each of the social connectors

           

Choosing the right communication modality with the contact card

There has been lots and lots of rumours, speculation and conjecture on just what the new release of Windows Live was going to contain. The LiveSide website has been the source of plenty of leaked screenshots, links to downloads and other information on the way.

Download links available at LiveSide

Now that is released into the wild, and people are using it I thought I would write up a quick review of some of the new features – and there are plenty.

Live Messenger

• A whole new communicator window, with integration with Facebook and MySpace accounts – means all your contacts, status updates and commenting can be done in one place, along with access to media like photos and videos. Note the Facebook chat feature has not been enabled in the public beta yet but will come later. (Image from LiveSide)
• A new tabbed conversation window – at last!. No longer do you need to have 75 windows open of all your current messaging sessions, they are now contained in one window with tabs at the top. This is a major improvement.

Live Photo Gallery

• Built in upload to FaceBook,. YouTube, Flickr, Skydrive and Live Spaces.
• Much better face recognition.
• Ribbon interface.
• Way cool!

Live Writer

The ribbon interface is cool. Much better access to menu functions with the Ribbon.

Live Synch

• Warning – do not install the new Live Synch Beta if you have live mesh installed. I have phased out live mesh on some clients in order to setup Live Synch instead given that Live Mesh will be discontinued in favour of Live Synch later this year.
• Live synch allows only 2Gb of Skydrive space, even though a user has 25Gb in their Skydrive. It also allows unlimited (we assume) P2P synching.
• Live Synch allows you to synch folders between machines – and also add users. I noticed some issues with this. When synching public folders from windows 7 – only the users who had a logged in account that had been shared to the machine could see the synched files as other users did not have permission even though they could see public folders. This could be problematic in an Active Directory environment and I haven’t tested that yet.

Live Mail

• I only use Live Mail with my Gmail account – purely for testing purposes. However i have also installed it on clients machines. It certainly seems to work much more smoothly and quickly than the previous version and the new ribbon interface is once again now so much more intuitive than the old menu system.

Summary

I cant wait for it to go live – except for the fact that Live Synch doesn't work the same as Live Mesh.

I had a reader request some help with Conditional Formatting in Excel 2007.

Hi

Baffled in trying to get to grips with conditional formating in 2007

Scenario :

Column A = Actual Result
Column B = Target
Column C = Needs to show
1) If Actual result is less than 90% of target turn font colour RED
2) If Actual result is >90% of target and is <100% of target turn font colour AMBER
3) If Actual result is >= 100% of target turn font colour GREEN

If column C meets criteria 1 use character "R", criteria 2 = "A" and criteria 3 = "G"

I can acheive 1 and 3 with =IF(a1b1,"G")) and then conditional format so that if contents of cell = R or G then colour font accordingly </B1,"R",IF(A1>

I`m stumped with the % factor and also think there might be a better way of doing it

Any help would be appreciated :)

Here is a solution to this problem.

We formatted two columns to give two examples as to how it could be done.

The actual column determines the percentage as part of the conditional format and formats in that way.

The result column formats on the “R”, “A”, and “G”.

The formula in Column C1 is =IF(A2/B2<1,IF(A2/B2<0.9,"R","A"),"G") and this can be copied down.

Here are the rules for Column A

And here are the rules for Column C

 

Thanks to Nick who works for me for developing this solution for me.

Our photography business is starting to take off now. Dreamcoat Photography is the website.

A mixture of family portraits, weddings, bands, commercial and glamour shoots are happening. We are taking bookings – check the calendar for availability.

Some of the photos are displayed on the site. Here are some recent ones including a family photo as well.

I got this in an email from Microsoft today – © 2010 Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft Office 2010 has been officially released. This latest version offers flexible and powerful new ways to deliver your best work—at the office, at home, or at school.
With Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 you get four great tools for family projects and schoolwork: Microsoft Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, and OneNote 2010 — all with new features! Buy it now.

How to articles, tips and more

Download: Keep track of the World Cup with this template
Having trouble keeping track of your favorite team in the World Cup? Use this handy Excel template to follow all the standings in the 2010 World Cup.

Best practices for writing great emails
Follow these dos and don'ts to help you create emails that look professional and get your message across.

Tips for giving better presentations
Follow these tips to better educate or persuade people in a professional setting.

Find the data you need
See how to use the Excel HLookup and VLookup functions as well as other tips and tricks to find multiple search results.

Find out how to create headers and footers in Word 2007
Take this free online course and learn to create the headers and footers you want — including the page number, date, title, author, and any other information you want to appear on every page.

Hot products at cool prices from the Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store has the stuff you need to help you make your Office documents and presentations even better. Whether it's a pocket-sized FlipCam to put hi-def video into PowerPoint, or Streets and Trips to insert a map into a Word document, we've got what you need to add a high-tech touch to your summer projects.

Review our office 2010 articles for lots more hints and tips

The day started early, at 4.15am actually. It was still dark and would be that way for about the next hour or so. There were four of us heading up to try and ‘race the rattler’. The Rattler being an old steam train at Gympie.

We arrived early (fortunately), scored a good park and signed in. In our registration bag we each received a shirt (in memory of the event), water bottle and a few other bits and pieces. The early arrival saw us able to check things out before the crowds came in, and gave us the opportunity to score a good seat, also, on the train.

We rode the train to the beginning of the race, 18km away, and took different buses to our own individual stops (I took changeover 1). I didn’t have a too long wait for our first runner came in, and then I was off. There was about 20m of downhill before it turned a corner and went up, and up. The hill wasn’t too bad but it was the angle of the road that was. I was constantly running along a slope and it took it’s toll on my calves (and shins), forcing me to walk before my time was up. The air was crisp so my throat was a little sore as well. Those two factors made it a difficult track/road to run.

Being last, or among the last runners, has it’s benefits. You don’t need to wait around for others, you get plenty of alone time, and you get the loudest cheers and encouragements. There were quite a few spectators set up at various points along my section of the track and they always cheered and encouraged me on. It was great.

The worst part of the whole experience was being asked to remove my race number because they had to open the road to traffic. I had two options, continue on without my race number and without the safety net of ambulance and police, or pull out and get a lift to the next changeover point. I chose to finish my run. I was only 1.5km from my finish line, and only 500m from hoping off the road to the cross country section. I know this was a disappointment to not only myself but others who were pulled out of the race because they couldn’t finish before the roads were reopened.  (It happened to another one of my team mates also and she felt like I did)

But, on the positive side, our last runner (and first) finished their leg of the race strongly and we did finish the race. We also had a nice, and filling, lunch at the local RSL, great company and no real time constraints.

I think it is something we should aim at doing again, but this time with a little more hill training beforehand.

This is my latest creation in dolls. This one was for a swap I did. The recipient had a Scottish background with an Irish dancing daughter so I did my best to incorporate the two factors, along with their chosen colour scheme, into a suitable doll. I crocheted some Irish dancing slippers, gave her a fancy head band and long flowing locks. She also wears a kilt, matching scarf, white lace bolero jacket and lace top. She was also a mini poppet so that meant she was about 3/4 the size of a normal doll.

I really enjoyed making this one as it seemed to go quickly and get character pretty early on. She was different from anything I had made previously also.

Her swap should turn up later this week, and that will be exciting. I only hope I get to photograph her before my girls try to take off with her.

The Ribbon and Backstage

Ok not everybody's favourite feature first time they switch from Office 2003. It does take some getting used to – and I still use keyboard short cuts for things. However the contextually sensitive ribbon has some major advantages over the old system. I honestly prefer the ribbon now especially in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. In Office 2010 the ribbon can also be personalised.

The backstage view (access from the File menu now places in one easy place all file management tasks such as save, share and print. All the similar commands are grouped together. No more going to 3-4 different places to set print settings for an excel file.

Here's the best way to think about the Ribbon and Backstage.

• The Ribbon is for everything you want to do in a document – insert stuff, format stuff, change stuff.
• The Backstage area is for everything you want to do with a document – print it, save it , share it etc.

Sparklines and Pivot Tables

If you thought pivot tables were cool ways to play with (analyse) data before than wait until you play with the sexy new pivot tables in Excel 2010.

And sparklines (inline in cell micro charts) are an excellent way of demonstrating trends in a small space. I can’t wait to start incorporating some of these features for some of our clients when they upgrade.

Check this pivot table taken from timesheet data. I added the pivot chart and sparklines in about 3 minutes flat.

Table Formatting

Easy table creation – similar to tables in Word. Format with alternate lines shaded, header and total contrast columns, built in range names for formula creation and built in filtering.

When using a table formulas added to a column are automatically repeated all the way down. This is great when creating data tables for consistency. Little green cell flags appear where formulas are different or have been edited.

Data can be exported to a SharePoint list or an Visio Pivot diagram.

Security

One of the major changes in the office 2010 suite over 2007 and certainly over 2003 is the way it handles potential security issues and advises you the user.

Different coloured bars (yellow for warning and red for major security threat) now appear at the top of the application when opening documents from un-trusted locations or with potential threats in them. The options for dealing with these questions are much clearer now as well.

Microsoft have hardened security in a number of key areas to deal with the traditional threats of virus and malware, and the newer more prevalent threat of fuzzing. The following slide (taken from a Microsoft Presentation) shows how now the user is protected by a sandbox environment when opening attachments from email, the web and un-trusted network and disk locations.

Summary

I have only mentioned a very few things here, but suffice to say I am really enjoying working in Office 2010. These key features are already making my life easier and more productive. I hope you enjoy them as well.

I should add to the title that I am buying this family utensil with my birthday money.

I am not a person who really gets excited about jewellery, pretty stuff or stuff just for me. Where is the fun if you can’t share.

A few years back I bought a mini donut maker with some birthday money I was given. Not long after I got it home I was swiftly told off for purchasing something that wasn’t ‘just for myself’. So I returned that purchase and bought some art supplies instead. I have plenty of art supplies (can you ever have too much though?) and what I bought wasn’t truly something I wanted either. (I was restricted to where I purchased due to the money being on a gift card). Anyhow, I am over that and it was probably the right choice to return the donut maker, after all, my woodles the waffle maker sits unused most of the year and I sure it would have ended up just taking up precious cupboard space.

What does this have to do with a slow cooker? Everything and nothing.

I have been researching/asking questions about slow cookers for a while now and watching the prices of those in the shops, so when my dad sent me some birthday money I decided it was time to buy one for us to use. And it will get used. Between running and bread run it will be used at least twice a week. It is something that is not going to gather dust and will take up precious bench space instead!

With this purchase I am risking being told that I need to buy something for myself, but I know that won’t make me happy, and I will get more pleasure out of buying something I can share. I am not saying that if you buy something for yourself that you are selfish, or that I am just an unselfish person. I have my things that I do, and I buy, and I don’t like to share. I have my ice tea cordial, the soft teddy I won in a mother’s day raffle, my art and craft supplies, among other things. But they are small (just don’t look at my material and yarn stash though).

I want to be able to use and share this gift, a gift that will keep giving (yummy meals).

Oh, and I am not sharing my sports gel/goodies I got for my birthday either! Now where can I find some decent tights for running through the cooler weather (will have a little $$ left over after buying the slow cooker).

This write up is a little bit late, but, better late then never hey!

Cook’s Tour was a fun event. We (Audrey, Le-anne and myself) did the 30km event. We completed it in 5hrs 30 min (approx). It was nice up on the track, staying together and just enjoying the event. It was not an always easy 30km, but there were plenty of laughs along the way. There were also a few large puddles we had to work out how to get through dry and unmuddy. I ended up the muddiest of the trio, but it was all fun.

This event was a well catered, rewarding and fun experience. I am signing up for the 24km in July!