Retired, but still in demand

@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
March 27, 2017 4:12pm CST
It is almost 3 years since I retired from work, yet today I received a telephone call from an ex colleague. We had a few minutes general chat to catch up, after which he asked if I could do him a favour. Naturally the answer was yes. Since I have long been a lover of Microsoft Excel, several work colleagues would approach me if they required assistance with a spreadsheet. Apparently Steve had an old Excel spreadsheet that I created for him some years ago, which now needed amending since the company was dealing with a new supplier who requested further information. I had forgotten exactly what I had created until he sent it to me, at which time I realised his problem. The formula that I had used was a combination of functions nested inside each other and encompassing IF, ISERROR, VLOOKUP and CONCATENATE. Since he did not fully understand why the formula worked, he was unable to extend it. It proved to be good fun because he had now expanded the table from which I was drawing the data. This required the formula to be amended to include COLUMNS as well as a range reference because otherwise the second column would always be read. This was the best hour’s entertainment that I have had for some time now. It is also good to know that I am still of some use.
26 people like this
28 responses
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
27 Mar 17
I can imagine that you felt good about this. I wouldn't want to go back to teaching pupils, though.
4 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
I actually enjoy using Excel, so it was quite a welcome task.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (214286)
• Chile
27 Mar 17
Congratulations! I hope that now, after I finish my period of getting well, I´ll try to get something useful to do.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
It did not last very long, but it was a great change to the usual routine.
3 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
@marguicha I would not want to find a job, even part time. I value my freedom too much these days.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (214286)
• Chile
27 Mar 17
@Asylum I think, sometimes, maybe if I tried, I would find something to do. I have friends my age who are still working.
1 person likes this
@Nawsheen (28644)
• Mauritius
28 Mar 17
They are still in need of you. It seems you are very skilled at excel. Good to know that you had fun
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
My familiarity with Excel is born from a love of the program.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@Nawsheen I have never any use for pivot tables.
1 person likes this
@Nawsheen (28644)
• Mauritius
28 Mar 17
@Asylum that's great. I am finding it hard to learn about pivot tables. I am not really a fan of excel. Just kidding. Your company since needs you. Shows how important you and your knowledge both are
1 person likes this
@rebelann (110754)
• El Paso, Texas
27 Mar 17
I'd forgotten all about that aspect of Excel, I'd used concatenate before but never the others. Now I have no reason to use any of them, anymore I simply use Excel to do my budget and of course to play around with my photos.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
I enjoy using a variety of features.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
@rebelann I have been known to create spreadsheets just for the fun of it.
2 people like this
@rebelann (110754)
• El Paso, Texas
27 Mar 17
I used to @Asylum but since I've retired I haven't had any projects where those kinds of formulas were needed.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Mar 17
Congratulations on figuring out this problem after being away from it so long. Usually it's "Use it or lose it!" Perhaps you can hire out as a consultant since you found it fun!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
I still use Excel despite not working. If I did not have a computer, Excel would be what I would miss the most.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@Jeanniemaries Creating one is always more fun, at least it is to me.
1 person likes this
• United States
28 Mar 17
@Asylum I'm not sure what I might need a spreadsheet for, but in any case I learned to use it, but someone else did the actual work so I would have to relearn it.
1 person likes this
@manasamanu (3746)
• Bangalore, India
28 Mar 17
Old is gold you know. You must be happy now, back on the work and still in demand. I am still learning Excel and I am not so good at it. I hope one day I will be like you.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
Everyone is still learning Excel. It is such a widely versatile tool that being totally familiar with every aspect is seriously unlikely.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@manasamanu There will be several people working in that department at Microsoft who have to ask at times.
1 person likes this
• Bangalore, India
28 Mar 17
@Asylum Yes even the creator of it cannot.
1 person likes this
@dodo19 (47034)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
28 Mar 17
It can still be nice to know that we're still needed. It's a good feeling.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Mar 17
It came as a pleasant surprise.
1 person likes this
@dodo19 (47034)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
29 Mar 17
@Asylum I'm sure it did.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Mar 17
That is always good to learn. And a fun hour for you. Nice.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
It made a pleasant change, plus made me realise that I was still appreciated.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@celticeagle It is also rare for me.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Mar 17
@Asylum .....That's always nice isn't it?
1 person likes this
@connierebel (1557)
• United States
28 Mar 17
Excel seems so complicated to me! I didn't understand half of what you wrote here. :)
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Mar 17
I remember the very first spreadsheet that I ever created. All I wanted to do was monitor my bank account, which was simply previous balance minus cash out plus cash in equals new balance. It took me hours to get it right.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Mar 17
@connierebel It gets constantly easier as time passes and also more enjoyable.
• United States
29 Mar 17
@Asylum You've come a long way since then!
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45671)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
i used excel early this month and it took a while for me to remember how to sort columns. being presented by little short-term challenges to retrieve what you used to be good at is fun.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
I must have created many spreadsheets over the years that I would initially struggle with now.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Mar 17
@hereandthere This is very true. The more difficult the task seems and the more satisfying success becomes.
1 person likes this
• United States
28 Mar 17
See, people still need you LOL. When we first moved to TN 16 years ago we met a couple who were starting their own cabin management business. She was keeping track of information by hand on paper. I told her I could set up a spreadsheet for her. It had all kinds of info such as deposit paid, balance due, dates, on and on - all info she needed to keep up with her business. The last time we spoke she was still using that spreadsheet and had added a few things to it.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
I can imagine just how delighted she was initially because using a spreadsheet is a vast improvement on a paper record.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@AbbyGreenhill That is what Excel spreadsheets are for. The one that I originally made for my ex work colleague was set up to emulate the form required to be submitted to the pallet supplier. Each depot throughout Britain has a different receiving vocation code, which is required on the form. Looking up the data manually is very laborious, so I used a VLOOKUP formula against the chart to enter such data. Now the new supplier also requires Street, Postcode and City.
• United States
28 Mar 17
@Asylum She was very happy and I made is simple for her in more ways than one.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 17
It is always good to feel useful. I am sure he was glad you were there to help.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
Steve is not bad at Excel, but has still approached me several times for assistance.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
@JamesHxstatic It is much easier once you learn the functions.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 17
@Asylum It is definitely Greek to me.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
27 Mar 17
So nice of you to still help them with that.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
It would be so wrong not to help if I can.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
27 Mar 17
@Asylum that's right but not everyone would. Glad you chose wisely
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
27 Mar 17
@nottoooldtowrite To me it is always the only choice.
1 person likes this
@ShifaLk (17817)
• India
28 Mar 17
Oh great. old people work better than the new generation, my mom told me that...which she experienced at her job
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
It may be reasonable to consider that in general, but obviously cannot be treated as universal.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Mar 17
@ShifaLk That is a valid point.
1 person likes this
@ShifaLk (17817)
• India
29 Mar 17
@Asylum umm yeah.. But still I think that it can be possible to some extent... Because new generation is busy with mobile more than the work
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28613)
• United States
28 Mar 17
That's good you still get some people that want help doing things and you enjoy helping them. I use excel at work all the time and some days it can be frustrating but other times it works well.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
It is not uncommon to encounter what appears to be almost impossible to do with Excel, but with a little imagination most things can be achieved.
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28613)
• United States
29 Mar 17
@Asylum yes that is true
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130088)
• India
27 Mar 17
That must have put a spring in your step.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
It certainly did brighten up my day.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130088)
• India
28 Mar 17
@Asylum Hope you get many more such happy moments.
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
It only proves you are still indispensable. It's still you who have best ability on that . Maybe you should consider being their consultant already ?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
I am quite happy with the occasional request.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
31 Mar 17
Isn't it nice that people still need you to help them do their work?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
31 Mar 17
It does prove that I am not completely useless yet, although I must be rather close to it.
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
3 Apr 17
sometimes an ex-ell spread sheet and columns changing data can prove to be entertainment of the hard kind. Its always nice when people need your help or advice.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
3 Apr 17
Especially when they ask for something that you enjoy doing.
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28650)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
The feeling of being needed and useful is one of man's basic needs as a person :)
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
28 Mar 17
It made a great difference to my day.
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28650)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
@Asylum Sure it did, my friend, and as you implied, it gave you a great feeling :)
1 person likes this