"Failing to Excel"

Got a phone call today regarding a Data Analyst job - sounded promising ... until I was told that I would have to take an "online assessment" of my Excel spreadsheet skills first ...

Now I've NEVER been a fan of spreadsheets - to me they are a licence to fiddle, cheat and lie. I always reckoned one of the reasons that Simon Carves started to go "down the pan" was because we were forever being asked - nay ordered - to export data from the main databases (i.e. safe, solid "controlled" data) into a spreadsheet format, "because we need to manipulate the data". Manipulate my *rse - more like fiddle the data and then present it to management/client to show that all was well - when of course it wasn't ... I know that spreadsheets are widely used in the financial sector as well - wonder if that's why the GB economy also started to go "belly up" ?!?

Yes - you've guessed it ... I failed to get to the required standard - another job opportunity bites the dust ...

Off to Salford College in an hour or so - Parents Evening - see how bad small boy has been (!) - and hopefully back home in time to catch a bit of the Stalybridge/Fleetwood game later. Mrs Smiffy is away on a conference down in Welsh Wales at moment - now there's another story ... took her to catch the 1244 Trans-Pennine Express from Stalybridge to Manchester Piccadilly this lunchtime - she then had a 25 minute wait @ Piccadilly for the train to Wales. HOWEVER ... the 1244 showed up on the screens as 18 minutes late - and we all know how trustworthy those multi-million pound screens are - it would only have got later - and later ...

Yes - you've guessed it - I drove her into Manchester ... just to make sure she got the connection. So, well done Trans-Pennine - you too failed to excel !!

Pretty poor day so far then ... apart from the £20 sale on EBay ... all proceeds into the PayPal account towards a nice Canon 85mm f1.8 lens - still a long long way to go yet (more dusty boxes to empty etc etc) ...
.