Excel – Cranky Driver

If I Had My Rutters

On March 4, 2019

Years ago my sister told me what a “rutter” was after she had read James Clavell’s Shōgun. A rutter was what the pilots and navigators used as guides as they sailed around the world. Countries such as Portugal guarded these rutters (roteiros) as national secrets to prevent others from finding their trade routes.

Inspired by these rutters (but not by the colonialism that accompanied them), I decided to keep a roteiro for my own journeys. I think in old-timey English this translates to “trip logbook.”

The Weight Is Over

By EMan

On October 20, 2018

In Random

I’ve had many flimsy excuses over the years as to why I’ve had a writing hiatus on this blog. Typical ones include being lazy, tired, or stressed. My new excuse is dieting, which makes me lazy, tired, and stressed.

Traces of My Life, Part 3

By EMan

On February 25, 2018

In Random

A few years ago I posted about three of my cars hitting 148,300 miles at about the same time, something which took 15.3 years of random planning. That led me to look at my driving mileage at different points of my life. I’m doing that again here, but this time looking at my annual mileage. That just makes it easier to see the difference between being single and being married.

It’s All My Dad’s Fault

By EMan

On June 26, 2017

In Ruminations

My family was government cheese and peanut butter poor when I was growing up1. But our family of seven had a roof over our heads and a car for getting to work. And if something went wrong, we never called anyone to fix it. My dad would roll up his sleeves, grab what few tools he had, and tell me to go help him.2

150,000 Is the New 100,000

By EMan

On August 8, 2015

In Random

I’ve always had a fascination for numbers. Some numbers have always been more pleasing to me, like ‘3,’ ‘12,’ or ‘Seven of Nine.’ This is, of course, very odd, so I’ve had to resort to extremes to hide it, like becoming an engineer, or pretending to use Excel to make pictures.

iPhone vs the Automobile

By EMan

On June 19, 2015

In Random

One of the world’s most successful company right now is Apple. With yearly profits of around $30 billion, it is the most profitable company, earning more money than even oil companies like ExxonMobile.^[1]

A big reason for its success is the iPhone, generating more than half of its revenues. The iPhone is a technological marvel, full of magic and made from the tears of rainbow unicorns. With seemingly an App for everything, there’s almost nothing that it can’t do. It spawned a revolution in smart phones. Billions of iPhones and Android smart phones have been sold in the last few years.

DFCO One

By EMan

On June 11, 2015

In Random

Things escalated recently. Technical jargons were thrown, tests conducted, graphs plotted, and favorite measurement units disparaged (“MPG or die!” “Viva le liters/100km!”). Yes, things can get ugly with engineers during lunch-time discussions, especially if one of them can speak French.

Gas Mileage – The Numbers Game

By EMan

On April 26, 2015

In Random

When I bought my Subaru STI a few years ago, I had big plans for it. I would drive it in track events and I would modify it for asphalt-kicking horsepower (insert grunting noises here). Unfortunately, Reality had other plans for my car.

Tracing Further Back in Time

By EMan

On April 4, 2015

In Random

Well, Son of a Wampa. My Buick Skyhawk does exist.

I’m not only fortunate enough to be an obsessive data taker, but I’m also a compulsive data hoarder. Bonus!

Traces of My Life

By EMan

On April 3, 2015

In Random

I was playing around with Excel the other day, as engineers who obsessively collect data are wont to do. I had plotted an interesting convergence—three of my cars (if I count my wife’s) had almost the same mileage last week.

The mileage of my Honda Civic was overtaken by my wife’s Subaru Legacy, which was later overtaken by my Subaru STI. This took over 148,300 miles and 15.3 years of meticulous planning to achieve (note: no actually planning conducted).

Trying to Make the Driving World a Little Less Annoying

Tag: Excel Page 1 of 2

If I Had My Rutters

The Weight Is Over

Traces of My Life, Part 3

It’s All My Dad’s Fault

150,000 Is the New 100,000

iPhone vs the Automobile

DFCO One

Gas Mileage – The Numbers Game

Tracing Further Back in Time

Traces of My Life