Excel Excess

Today's post comes live from my Control4 training course, via my MacBook Pro.  Obvs, this' a MSExcel blog, but today i'm using Apple's Numbers.  We'll see how it turns out, as i have little to no faith in Mac's approximation of MSOffice.  All the nerdery of being surrounded by fellow home-automators has got me playing my favorite browser-based, multiplayer RPG, KoL. Me! While completing the Me and My Nemesis quest in The Secret Tropical Island Volcano Lair, it became necessary for me to decode the Rave Disco Combos in order to make the ravers drop equipment (rave visors, baggy rave pants, pacifier necklaces, etc.) which would increase my Raveosity. The Secret Island Volcano Lair These combos consist of three discrete steps (Break it on Down, Pop and Lock It, and Run Like the Wind), and are randomized per player per ascension.  Since there're three steps, and each combo consists of each of the three, the total number of potential combinations is

These are a few of my favorite things. As we all know, the goal of beer-drinking is to get drunk.  But here in America, people are sometimes so preoccupied with not getting fatter, that it gets in the way of their beer-drinking.  Supposedly, this is why light beers were invented. However, it is my belief that light beer, since it is typically lower in alcohol, defeats it's own purpose by requiring you to drink more of it to get drunk.  For this reason, i have collected the above data.  The table includes some of my favorite beers, in addition to all the shitty "frat beers" that people waste their time drinking.  The beers are sorted in descending alcohol to calorie ratio, i.e. drunk to fat ratio. The results are kind of upsetting, but telling.  I've also been trying to collect the data necessary to compile a alcohol to cost component (i.e. drunk to poor ratio), but this is more difficult with the fluctuating and varying costs of beer.  If anyone knows where

I'm up to four graphs. Guess how long it takes me to go grocery shopping. Guess how i spend my Friday nights. But guess where i'm going to buy eggs!

This is me. Crafting is a large part of KoL (Kingdom of Loathing, a delightful browser-based, multiplayer role-playing game).  As a disco bandit, i am skilled at the art of cocktailcrafting.  There are many discoveries i've yet to make, so i need to keep track of what ingredients i need to acquire to make new drinks. The left column denotes the type of item i hope to discover. I've also got a Chef-in-the-Box which helps me cook fancy dishes. Green cells denote items i already have. Below is some of the equipment i possess, organized by type.  The "Handed" column refers to the number of hands required to wield a weapon.  Note that some weapons require three hands. Meat is the currency of the Kingdom of Loathing. If you combine some meat, you can make meat paste.  With meat paste, you can glue other items together, creating familiars, gear, usables, etc. The parenthetical statements following some of the items describe the quests, locations, or requ

Now with more grocery stores!   Who wants to go on my grocery (s)tour? Three graphs!

I have friends that i would like to visit. It is important to know the difference between the amount of money i spend on gas to get to the Austin and San Antonio airports, so that this price can be factored into the total cost of tickets. Fun trips are (hopefully) fun. I flew my mother and three little sisters here for their Spring Break. Someday, i will fly my brothers here, and we will rage.

Green rows are completed seasons. Franchise Key OG = Original (Gangsta') SVU = Special Victims Unit CI = Criminal Intent TBJ = Trial by Jury UK = United Kingdom LA = Los Angeles Facts when all the rows are green, denoting i've watched every episode in existence, i clear the table and start over there are Parisian and Russian adaptations of Law & Order as well, but so far, the internet has not yielded them to me this table is not up to date--i have actually watched many more episodes, but the table is primarily important when i am downloading mass quantities of L&O and i easily get lost in the as yet unorganized, mid-download folders in addition to the five Law & Order -titled series that comprise the franchise proper, other American TV series have been established as taking place in the same fictional universe as the franchise--consequently, i sometimes watch episodes of Homicide:  Life on the Streets

In this game, one has a stupid zombie staff that one gets to serve disgusting meals to idiotic customers.  Naturally, it was my favorite. Once a zombie chef finishes preparing a meal, they place the serving dish on a counter.  From there, zombie waiters can obtain one serving of a meal to deliver to a seated customer.  Since the amount of time it takes for a single customer to be served has a trickle down effect on the entire restaurant (quickly serving customers yields higher tips, rapid turnover increases profit and prevents customers from leaving angrily due to inadequate seating, extended service times increase the overall number of waiters needed to serve a steady flow of customers, etc.), obviously it is crucial to optimize this factor of game play. One element of the serving process that greatly affects service time is the location of the serving dish, since this modulates the amount of time for a stupid zombie waiter to obtain a disgusting dish, bring it to an idiot cus

Gift cards available to be bid on on eBay, and their respective values. Research on average discounts received from winning bids on various establishments' cards.  As you can see, Walmart gift cards don't yield a high discount. How many Fajita Poppers, Jose Cuervo™ Nacho Blasters, and Xtreme Celery "Fries" would $32.88 buy me? Ultimately, i bid on absolutely none of these, but i very much enjoyed obtaining and organizing the data.

I'm collecting more data and refining these graphs!  Featured above are the items generally priced above one dollar per unit. This graph showcases those items which typically cost less than one dollar per unit. Above and below are data tables, featuring item descriptions and sale expiration dates. The above tables streamline the data for the graphs.  The databases below are used in formulas within the cells of the above tables to reference the appropriate values from the more detailed tables farther above and populate the appropriate cells.

Compares sales prices for 16 items i like to eat across six local grocery stores.  Prices are in dollars, though units vary from item to item, i.e. dollars per egg, dollars per each bag of frozen potatoes, or dollars per fluid ounce of milk.  I chose to go with a two dimensional clustered column graph because i am awesome.