Posted by Racer on June 23, 2004, at 16:44:54
And I'll *try* to make it short...
When I posted a request a while ago for examples of mood charts, it was for a project that I've made up to occupy myself while I wait for anything to happen -- like getting adequate treatment. I'm making my very own mood chart, so that I can see if there are any trends that stand out. Obviously, since I'm trying to address my very own issues, there aren't any pre-made charts that track what I want to track. You're all with me so far, right?
Is anyone here familiar with MicroSoft Access? It's a relational database program, and you can pretty much invest a four year degree in relational databases without really learning it all. Needless to say, I didn't. (I did attend two classes for work, a decade ago, and have several of the "best" books on the subject.)
So, how is it going? Well, I'm not sure whether to laugh or pull out what's left of my hair! Today I finally realized that it's not me -- the "best" book on Access is written by one of those old-fashioned geeks who cannot communicate with "normal" people. I'm reading through, and trying to comprehend his examples, his concepts, etc -- and it hits me (I can prove it, it left a bruise): It's not my utter lack of cognitive ability! Whoohoo! (It is so nice when that happens.)
Mind you, it really is one of the very best books ever written on MS Access, and a lot of the problem is inherent in both the subject and the program involved. (MS Access is flawed in that it's neither a strong programming tool nor a good end-user product. It tries very hard to be both, and that makes it weak in both departments. Nature of the beast, it is what it is.) And I am having problems with cognitive impairment right now, and with attention span, concentration, being able to sustain activities, etc. (What can I say? Nature of the beast, in this case depression.)
But I needed to vent about this a little. What this world really needs is a good, basic book about MS Access that meets *my* needs. (And, admittedly, my needs are pretty specific -- I don't need the relational database design principles so much, and I don't need the in-depth discussions of the arcane issues discussed in this book, but it would help if this book used consistent 'real world' examples throughout, rather than all the A1.a2 examples that it uses for most principles. The 'real world' type examples are very helpful in this book, but the inconsistency between using them and using the math notations has been a problem for me. Oh, yeah, and the writer does that thing I have always kinda liked about old fashioned geeks: he's so enthusiastic about the subjects involved that he takes *pages* to explain completely something that could be pretty well understood in less than a paragraph. Now, that's *great* over a couple of pints at the pub -- I really have always loved that sort of thing -- but when I have a specific project in mind, know the basic principles involved and really just want a useful "how-to" -- well, let's just say I may be bald by this time next week.)
Whoops! Got long again... Maybe that's why I like that geek thing so much? lol
poster:Racer
thread:359515
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040619/msgs/359515.html