Can You Believe
That I started this blog four years ago. I can’t. It seems more like six and a half. Here’s some stats:
That’s about 26 posts per month and about 8 comments per day. I’m no Nick Hodge, but hey.
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As is my wont, I’ll be having an anniversary give-away. I just like to give back to all the people who read, comment, and click on the advertisements. This year you get a choice between RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon and Excel PivotTables Recipes. To enter
- Send me an email with a link to your favorite non-Excel blog, which book you prefer, and a subject of “Four More Years”.
- If you use a different subject or your email doesn’t contain a link or you don’t pick a prize, you’re out.
- I must receive the email by 12:00AM Central Daylight Time, April 7th, 2008.
- You must send the email from the same email account with which you registered on this site. If you’re not registered, you can’t win. If you used a fake email to register, just include that fake email address in your message so I can confirm you’re registered.
- This list of eligible entrants will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet, a random number will be entered next to his name, and the list will be sorted on the random number. Whoever is at the top, wins.
- I’ll probably list some of the more interesting blogs, but I won’t associate them with your name, so don’t be afraid to send in ParisHiltonWatch.com
- One email per registered reader.
- The winner will get to choose between a copy of RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon or Excel PivotTables Recipes.
- To be eligible, the entrant must live in a place that Amazon.com will ship to and where the shipping will be less than the cost of the book.
- Any other rules that make this contest less of a burden on me or that I may choose to enact retroactively or otherwise makes the give-away legal and easy are hereby included.
Thanks for reading!
jkpieterse:
Congrats Dick!
Time flies when you’re having fun.
1 April 2008, 4:26 amI started my Excel business 4.5 years ago. Seems like yesterday.
Jon Peltier:
I had been doing some low level freelance programming when I was laid off from my engineering job four years ago tomorrow (2 April 2004). I took the opportunity to ramp up the business, which I’d wanted to do, but you can’t just quit your job when there are expenses to cover.
I got on the plane two days later to go to the MVP Summit, which was a nice punctuation mark for that point of my life.
Running my own business has been great. I’m a rotten businessman and not very good at program management. I am good at Excel and VBA, though, and also at getting into the needs of a solution (having been subjected to so many non-solutions during my engineering career). And I like working for myself, as opposed to being a cog in the corporation. So I’m doing okay.
1 April 2008, 5:43 amMichael:
Good job, Dick -
I check your blog daily. I’ll enter for sure.
Off topic, I know, but can you believe XlDynamic is gone? I just sent some one there for SUMPRODUCT() info, and the name is expired.
…Michael
1 April 2008, 6:29 amChris:
“You must send the email from the same email account with which you registered on this site. If you’re not registered, you can’t win. If you used a fake email to register, just include that fake email address in your message so I can confirm you’re registered.”
Dick, I’ve been coming here nearly every day for half a year … and I didn’t know that you COULD register on this site .. what’s that about?
1 April 2008, 7:23 amMatthew Pfluger:
@ Jon and Jan Karel,
I hope to follow in your footsteps someday. Although for the time being, I also have expenses, and I’m perfectly satisfied letting the corporation pay for my training for the time being!
@Dick,
1 April 2008, 7:33 amI, too, was not aware that you could register. How does one do that?
jkpieterse:
I think you get registered as soon as you enter your first comment. Just above the comment box you can see your registration name, which can be clicked.
1 April 2008, 8:00 amDoug Glancy:
There’s a “register” link way down at the bottom of the home page (at least that’s where it is in Firefox). I asked Dick a few years back about the benefits of registration and I don’t think there were (m)any. But hey, free books, I’m signing up.
Thanks for a great site Dick!
1 April 2008, 9:43 amDick Kusleika:
I never realized that the Register link is only on the main page. Odd. I make you register for the contest so that I can sell your email address to Russian spammers. Just kidding. I’ll tell you why I do it when I announce the winner.
1 April 2008, 10:05 amAlex J:
Instead of trying to remember my login, I think I’ just buy Pivot Table Recipes.
1 April 2008, 10:42 amRick Williams:
Hey, fancy that! Registration!
This is great - now I have a whole dashboard page full of links to admin pages for which I “do not have sufficient privedges to access”! That will come in handy
Glad to help you out Dick, and congratulations on 4 great years of Excel information.
1 April 2008, 4:37 pmJim Cone:
I purchased a new copy of Pivot Table Recipes last year for $2.31 plus shipping of $3.99 for a total of $6.30.
1 April 2008, 6:06 pmDid your Australia trip expenses come out of prize budget?
I think I will wait until you offer the “MS Excess” program as a prize before I enter.
Dick Kusleika:
Six bucks? It’s $23 on Amazon. I just wanted to give a good non-developer option.
I think the “big” advantage to registering is that you don’t have to fill out your name when you post a comment. Although I’ve never not been registered, so I’m not sure about that.
1 April 2008, 8:53 pmJim Cone:
At Amazon, you have to click the link just to the right of the item. (”Used and New). Currently they have New “Pivot Table…” books starting at $4.92 plus shipping.
The outfit I bought it from, “Barone Books”, no longer has a listing there.
Just to clarify, the “grin” symbols in my earlier post got dropped somehow.
1 April 2008, 10:07 pmMatthew Pfluger:
Dick,
I am also having trouble finding your email address. Could you point me to it? Thanks!
2 April 2008, 9:52 pmdoco:
I have your page as one of my home page tabs and visit often. While I am not of the calibre of the least among those coming here I have learned a great many useful things from this site over the past couple years. Thank you for taking the time and expending the effort - it has been much appreciated.
3 April 2008, 5:24 amDick Kusleika:
dkusleika@gmail.com
3 April 2008, 6:48 am