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Category Archives: Reading, Watching, and Learning

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – A Deadly Influence, Timeline (YouTube), MS Excel (Udemy)

02 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

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A Deadly Influence, Black History Month, Expanding Your Mind, Kyle Pew, Learning, MS Excel, Officenewb, Timeline, Udemy, YouTube

A Deadly Influence is about the police trying to find a kidnapped boy, a religious cult, and multiple murders. I’m getting close to the end of the book, and it is a great read. As a part of Black History Month, I’m going to find a non-fiction book on an African American that has had a great impact on our society in some way. I’ll begin my search for that person today. I’ll keep you posted.

I discovered a great History series called Timeline on YouTube. Here’s a link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/@TimelineChannel/playlists

If you are interested in learning more about MS Office, here’s a great link for you: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?src=ukw&q=kyle+pew This link will take you to all the courses Kyle Pew teaches. I would recommend MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. He’s a great instructor and he provides a great deal of volume in his courses. For around $12 when it’s on sale, you can’t beat it. I’ve been taking his course in MS Excel, since 2021. I’m still going. It’s just a great course!

Well, that’s all I got for today. Have a great one, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Blackbirch 3, Crash Course World History, and MS Excel

26 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Cliffhanger, Crash Course World History, Curiosity Stream, K.M. Allan, Kyle Pew, MS Excel, Office Newb, YouTube

Well, folks, I finished Blackbirch 3 yesterday. Wow is all I can say. The book ended with a cliffhanger of sorts, and man, I can’t wait for book 4. Well done, K.M. Allan!

I also finished Crash Course World History. I have now moved onto Crash Course World History 2. John Green is still the narrator, and he is very entertaining. You can find these courses on YouTube or Curiosity Stream.

I’m still taking the MS Excel course on Udemy. We are learning some neat tricks with VBA, the recorder, and various things that are related to macros. This is a really great course and will be over very soon. I’m on the final project of the course. What a great ride!

I started a new book, called A Deadly Influence. It falls in the thriller/action genre. It’s about a cop who is trying to locate a kidnapped boy. The story takes right off and boy, is it good so far.

As mentioned, I’m starting Crash Course World History 2 today. My next course will be with the same instructor, Kyle Pew. I’m going to take his MS Word course, next. I really enjoy how he puts courses together and shows you all the neat shortcuts that are available to us and also how to apply what we learn to real-world projects.

This is all about reading and learning for me. These both fall into Covey’s Mental realm. I always want to be learning something new, whether it is about a topic I am interested in, or something that can improve my game play in Call of Duty or other games.

Well, folks. I hope you have a great Thursday. We got a bunch of snow yesterday and are scheduled to get more. I love waking up to white! It’s so beautiful to see the trees coated with snow! Well, I’m off to my first cup of coffee of the day and will watch the sunrise.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Blackbirch 3, Crash Course History, and MS Excel

19 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Books, Crash Course History, Curiosity.com, documentary, MS Excel, Office Newb, Reading, VBA

Many of you may be wondering why I tell you what I am telling you this each Thursday. It’s simple. I want to document what I’m doing publicly, so I have a record to go back to. Yeah, I know I could put all this in a journal, but there’s something about broadcasting it to others that helps me stay focused and accountable to myself. Anyway, that’s my reasoning.

Blackbirch is really exciting. I won’t divulge anything here, but have to say, it’s a great third book in the series. The reason I say this is that many “series” dry up and become really redundant, telling you what happened a book or two ago and rehashing what’s already taken place. I guess this is because they want each book to be independent of another in the series. This doesn’t work with me, however. If you’re going to write a series, explain to your readers that you need to read these books in order. If they still ignore that advice, it’s not your fault they don’t know what happened. Anyway, that my thought on that. The Blackbirch series is anything but that. It has been a wonderful ride and the author has indicated on her blog that book 4 is in the works. Hurray!

Crash Course History covered WWI, WWII, and now is addressing the Cold War. These 20-minute bites are terrific because they discuss many things about many topics, but continuously slip in information that is unique. The narrator is also hilarious. You can check them out on Youtube. If you’d like a more understandable format, you’ll have to watch them on Curiosity Stream, which will run you $19 a year. It’s well worth it, if you are a documentary geek like me.

Finally, MS Excel. We are working on a loop for a sum function that knows how to sum a column in a worksheet and will span multiple worksheets to total up the same column on each one. It’s really cool to learn how to logically work through a problem like this. It is also really time consuming. For those of you who would like to learn more about Microsoft Office, I highly recommend this guy’s courses on Udemy. Just do a search for Office Newb and you’ll see all of his courses, which are fantastic.

I love learning new things and I really enjoy reading fiction. I did not used to be a big fiction fan but have adopted it as a form of entertainment. I wanted to read fiction to improve my creativity, learn how others write their stories, and to improve my dreams. You got it right–dreams. When you have to engage your imagination to become part of a story, those muscles also improve the dream recall you will have–at least that is what has happened to me. Ever since I began fiction reading, my dreams are more clear, understandable, and more story-like. They are no longer broken pieces or a collage of images and sounds.

Learning is one of the key items I hit on each day. I love it. There is no purpose behind it, other than I am curious about things and like finding these little treasures on YouTube, TedED, and Curiosity Stream. I also keep my eye open for any good documentaries on Netflix and Amazon. Being curious and learning new things is a great way to stay engaged. I’ll be 60 this year, and never want to lose the child-like curiosity I have. I love waking up each day and looking forward to what I will learn.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Blackbirch, Crash Course, and MS Excel

12 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

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Tags

Blackbirch, Crash Course, Curiosity.com, Learning, MS Excel, Reading, Udemy, Watching

A really nice twist hit the plot in Blackbirch 3 this week. I won’t divulge, but the story has really engaged me at this point. I can’t wait to find out what happens.

I’ve been watching a documentary called Crash Course World History on Curiosity.com. We just addressed WWII. I like this series, the host, John Green is hilarious. I think you can find this on YouTube, so check them out–they are really entertaining and informative.

I’m working through the VBA portion of the MS Excel course. This week, we are looking at working with multiple sheets and the logic involving working with various column ranges so your code can handle any length of ranges. It’s really cool.

These three things are very entertaining. I love a good story, watching documentaries, and learning new things. If any of you are looking to spread your wings a bit, reply in the comments and I can help you find what you might be looking for. I’ve utilized multiple educational platforms, read quite extensively, and enjoy the action and science fiction genres.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Happy Thursday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Blackbirch 3, Documentaries, and MS Excel

05 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

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Tags

Blackbirch, Documentaries, Learning, Readng, Thursday, Watchng

Hello all!

I’m focusing my reading efforts on a book my friend in Australia wrote and published last year. It is the third in a series of books. What a story! I don’t want to provide any spoilers, but this is a great story. It falls within the YA category and is just terrific. The town, characters, and plot are all engaging.

I love documentaries and there were too many I watched in December to cover here. That being said, I’ll be telling you about the ones I watch weekly, going forward.

I’m still working on the MS Excel course. It is quite extensive. I’m on lesson 243 and there’s still more to go. I got this course on Udemy and started it a year ago. I paid a measly $9.00 for it and it has been well worth the money.

Well, I hope all of you are having a great start to 2023. We are here in our home. Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Deep Mind, A Deadly Influence, Call of Duty MW2, and MS Excel, Discord, and Canva

17 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Deadly Influence, Call of Duty, Canva, Deep Mind, Discord, MS Excel, Streamers, Udemy, YouTube

Deep Time has the crew of America has caught some type of virus the medical AI could not detect, and they are quarantined until they can find out what it is. In A Deadly Influence, the police are still searching for a young boy kidnapped for ransom.

I’ve been watching a lot of Call of Duty MW2 YouTube videos, watching influencer streams, and all the rest to get back into the console version of CODMW2. Man did they do a great job on this game!

Getting ready to finish up the MS Excel course. Discord is almost at its end, Canva still has a way to go. I really enjoy the variety of courses available on Udemy, which is also available on my phone, my iPad and my laptop. I can always get in a quick lesson, regardless of where I am.

Well, folks, I have a lot on my plate today. I hope you all have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Deep Mind, Blackbirch 3, A Deadly Influence, ECKANKAR: Key to Dreams, The Matrix Resurrections, Discord, Canva, and MS Excel

10 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Deadly Influence, BlackBirch 3, Canva, Deep Mind, Discord, Dreams, Eckankar, MS Excel, The Matrix

Deep Mind is turning out to be really good. The story this time around involves an AI called Konstantin. I won’t spoil the story in case you want to read it, but boy, it is getting exciting. Blackbirch 3 involves the same characters from 1 and 2 and has our group searching for a box that will allow the characters to resolve a problem. A Deadly Influence still has our characters searching for an abducted little boy. Some clues have led to a local cult, but no one is talking there. ECKANKAR: Key to dreams is a book that explains how our dreams have many purposes, one of which is helping us learn to live a better life.

On the learning front, I am closing in on the end of the Canva and Discord courses, still plugging away at MS Excel, and starting to look at next courses. I’m thinking I am going to get another of the Officenewb’s courses on MS Word. His courses are terrific.

My sister and I watched The Matrix Resurrections. Wow! It was a great 4th movie. Many online have rated the movie poorly, but I really liked it because it closed the loop on so many things from the initial trilogy. The characters were great.

I hope you have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, Learning – Deep Mind, Blackbirch 3, A Deadly Influence, MS Excel, Discord, and Canva

03 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

A Deadly Influence, BlackBirch 3, Canva, Deep Mind, Discord, Learning, MS Excel, Reading, Udemy

I’m way behind on my reading goals for the year, so I’ve increased my efforts there to meet my goals by the end of the year. I didn’t watch much tv this week, since my sister was away. Now she’s back, so I’m sure we’ll be watching some cool shows to talk about next week. My learning is all about finishing an MS Excel course, diving back into a Canva course, and starting a new course on Discord a really cool technology for building online communities.

Deep Mind is book 7 of the Star Carrier series. Blackbirch 3 is the the third book in a series by my friend K.M. Allan, an author in Australia. She’s an Indy YA author and I want to support her all I can. A Deadly Influence is a thriller about a kidnapped young boy and the police who are trying to get him back. All of these are terrific books.

MS Excel is still going and is getting interesting. We are learning about user interaction with input and message boxes. The Canva course is covering creating a brand logo for your business. The Discord course is covering different ways of growing a community around a server I build. It’s great stuff so far.

Well, this is short, because I have a lot on my plate today. I hope all of you are having a great Thursday and week.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Deep Time, Deadly Influence, Blackbirch 3, The Omen 1, 2, 3, and Discord, Canva, and MS Excel

27 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Canva, Deadly Influence, Deep Time, Discord, MS Excel, The Final Conflict, The Omen, The Omen 2

I’m still reading Deep Time, the sixth book in the Star Carrier series. I’m also reading Deadly Influence, a story about a young boy that is kidnapped by a religious cult. I just started Blackbirch 3, the third book in a series by K.M. Allan, an Australian YA author. all are terrific books with very engaging plots.

My sister and I watched The Omen 1, 2, and 3. Boy, those were good movies. The trilogy is about the birth of the antichrist. If you have not seen them, they are worth a watch. I don’t know what my sister and I will watch today but it is sure to be another scary one.

I’m learning discord, Canva, and MS Excel. These are all great courses. The discord course is really good and will help me build my own discord server, which will be a great addition to my ability to interact with the gaming community.

Well, that’s it for today. Have a great Thursday, all!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Reading, Watching, and Learning – Deep Mind, Blackbirch 3, IT, Crimson Peak, Dr. Sleep, and Discord, Canva, and MS Excel

20 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by Dave Gardner in Reading, Watching, and Learning

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Canva, Crimson Peak, Deep Mind, Discord, Dr. Sleep, IT, K.M. Allan, MS Excel, Netflix, Udemy, Vudu

Well, as you can see I’m quite busy. Deep Mind is the next book in the Star Carrier Series. I finished Deep Time on Monday. Blackbirch 3 is the next book in the Blackbirch series by my friend and author K.M. Allan. She’s an Australian Author. If you haven’t read Blackbirch, I highly recommend it. It’s a great series.

My sister and I are watching scary movies this month. We started with Dr. Sleep, which is like a sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining, but it is all its own. We watched Crimson peak, which is a really eerie movie. Finally, we watched IT. I have never seen the movie, but Pennywise the clown was terrifying.

On the learning front, I’ve started a Discord course, restarted a Canva course, and still plugging through the MS Excel course. All of these are terrific courses. I get all of them on Udemy and bought all of them on sale for about $12. If you are ever interested on learning something new, Udemy is a great service.

Well, that’s it for today, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

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