Retired, but still in demand
By Koalemos
@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.
25 people like this
27 responses
@marguicha (228944)
• 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
@marguicha (228944)
• 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
@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
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
28 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
@Jeanniemaries Creating one is always more fun, at least it is to me.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• 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 (3797)
• 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
@manasamanu There will be several people working in that department at Microsoft who have to ask at times.
1 person likes this
@manasamanu (3797)
• Bangalore, India
28 Mar 17
@Asylum Yes even the creator of it cannot.
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28611)
• 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
@celticeagle (181339)
• 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
28 Mar 17
@celticeagle It is also rare for me.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (181339)
• Boise, Idaho
27 Mar 17
@Asylum .....That's always nice isn't it?
1 person likes this
@connierebel (1557)
• United States
29 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
@connierebel It gets constantly easier as time passes and also more enjoyable.
@connierebel (1557)
• United States
29 Mar 17
@Asylum You've come a long way since then!
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• 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
29 Mar 17
@hereandthere This is very true. The more difficult the task seems and the more satisfying success becomes.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• 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
@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.
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• 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
@JamesHxstatic (29411)
• 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
@JamesHxstatic It is much easier once you learn the functions.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29411)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 17
@Asylum It is definitely Greek to me.
1 person likes this
@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• 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
@nottoooldtowrite To me it is always the only choice.
1 person likes this
@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• Philippines
27 Mar 17
@Asylum that's right but not everyone would. Glad you chose wisely 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (154166)
• India
28 Mar 17
That must have put a spring in your step.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• 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
@garymarsh6 (23828)
• United Kingdom
28 Mar 17
Good lord three years. Time has flown by. I call it exhell I can not get my head around it at all I am useless at it. I could not set up a spread sheet if my life depended on it and yet I got a distinction in my exhell exams. Gawd knows how!
1 person likes this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• 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
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
28 Mar 17
@Asylum Sure it did, my friend, and as you implied, it gave you a great feeling :)
1 person likes this
