Back after a while & 3 announcements
Hello awesome folks. It has been a while since I posted on Chandoo.org. And there is a reason for that. As you may know, recently (on October 12th) a category 3 cyclone (hurricane) passed thru our city devastating trees, power lines, cellular towers, old houses & roads on its way. This means our family was left without power, water, telephone and internet for almost 10 days. Early last week we got power & water. Then slowly the internet started working too. (more on this here)
I am swimming thru heaps of email & backlog work. Thanks to everyone who emailed me with kind thoughts, prayers and love. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for having you in my life.
I am really glad to be back online, sharing my stories, knowledge & tips with you all.
As it has been a while, I want to share a few quick announcements first.
CP023: My experience with Hudhud Cyclone [personal story]
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In the 23rd session of Chandoo.org podcast, lets talk about my experience with Hudhud cyclone.
Note: This podcast session has no Excel tips. It is a story of how our family is surviving the effects & aftermath of destructing Hudhud cyclone that recently (on 12th October) passed thru our city. Hopefully, you still find it interesting & inspiring. If you are expecting some Excel tips, check again next week.
What is in this session?
Growing up, I lived all my childhood in coastal cities. So cyclones & severe storms are not new to me. But first time, I have experienced anything as severe, destructive & long as Cyclone Hudhud. After the cyclone, we (our family and 1000s of other families in Vizag, our city) had to endure days with no power, water, cellular signals and access to essential supplies. Fortunately, great progress has been made in the last few days and things are restoring to normalcy. We (our locality) is expecting to have power & regular water supply by this Sunday (19th of October).
Thank you, Houston meetup & Bonus tip
My mom will be very unhappy with this post. She always told me to focus on one thing at a time. But in this post we are talking about 3 things, not one. Sorry mom.
1. Thank you
I want to thank you for visiting chandoo.org & supporting us.
As I am about to leave to USA for attending Excelapalooza conference, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how much you have given me & my family. Almost 4.5 years ago, when I left my plush corporate job to work full time on Chandoo.org, I had no clue how the future will unfold. Today my heart is full of happiness, my family is secure, my site has grown by heaps and our community (especially you) is awesome.
Without your enthusiasm to learn and keen desire to become awesome, I would not have a job (of running this website). You inspire me to learn new things everyday so that I can share them with you.
Thank you for all the visits, clicks, comments, emails, tweets, likes, signups, purchases & love.
Thank you.
Story of my first ever 200KM bike ride (plus an Excel dashboard with ride stats)
Ok people. Let me tell you that this post is almost not about Excel. It is about how one Excel blogger’s (yours truly) dream of long distance cycling came true. So sit back, grab your favorite drink and read between sips.
So what is this all about?
Last Sunday (27th July) & Monday (28th), I finished my first ever 200KM bicycle ride. I rode for a little more than 12 hours, burned 5,179 calories & rode 206 kilometers.
It is definitely one of the most memorable, tiresome & uplifting experiences in my life. So naturally, I want to share the story with you.
A quick Excel tip for you while on a long bike trip…,
Hi friends,
I have a surprise for you. Between the late night world-cup matches & my reinvigorated thirst for biking, I have difficulty finding time to write a long & detailed article for you. So I thought why not say hello to you and share an Excel tip while I am on a biking trip.
Go ahead and check it out. Its just 4 minutes.
Watch it below or on our YouTube channel.
What is your passion? [weekend poll]
This weekend, lets get passionate 😉
Few days ago, Cheryl, one of our forum members asked this question:
How do you know Excel is your passion? Or is it?
I am searching for my passion, you know that thing that makes my heart sing. I mean I am listening for the pitter-patter in my ticker. So how do I know if Excel is it? Or anything for that matter. I am looking for that thing that will make me turn my tv off. (TV is my crack, I am truly addicted). I thought it was database development and honestly I am not altogether sure that it isn’t. Excel may be a substitute. A more attainable passion.
Give me some insight peeps. Some thoughts, musings, ideas.
As usual, many of our forum members chipped in with words of wisdom. Hopefully Cheryl saw their replies, if she ever managed to turn off that tv.
That gave me an idea for this week’s poll.
What are you passionate about?
How to become an MVP in Excel [case study]
This is the story of Vijay Agarwal, who received MVP Award from Microsoft on 1st of April.
Some of you know that I am a recipient Microsoft MVP award. It is an award Microsoft gives to software community leaders & contributors. Often people ask me, “Chandoo, how do I become an MVP?”. So today I want to tell you how you can become an MVP.
Around first week of April, I got an email from Vijay,
Hi Chandoo,
My self Vijay Agarwal from Delhi and I am a big fan of your site/articles. With blessing of God and inspiration from legends like you, I am pleased to inform you that yesterday evening I have been awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award by Microsoft for my contributions in Excel.
I congratulated him immediately. It is always a pleasure to see people succeed and get recognition for their efforts. I also asked him if he can share his MVP journey to inspire all of us at Chandoo.org. Vijay being an awesome guy, wrote and send it promptly. So here we go.