Saturday 30 June 2012

VBA Excel Arrays

Writing  computer programs in VBA Excel I find to be a very soothing and satisfying activity.

Had something of a eureka moment this morning - well, actually, it was last night when about to fall asleep.

Although I understand what "arrays" are in VBA, I have never been able to stretch my mind to apply them to the kind of spreadsheets I work with. However, now I have made the mental leap and this morning I experimented with a few short programs and the potential is huge. Basically, the use of "arrays" seems to cut down on the length of time a program takes to run.

Having an eureka experience is important for me, at my age, because it suggests that there is life in the old cog yet. The usual terms and conditions apply, of course, namely, that at my age, my brain may have deteriorated so much that I'm not capable of telling the difference between a eureka experience and, say, a blinding headache.

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Memoirs of a Dervish:

More on the sensation of personal power:

"Shadowy birds dipped and swooped below me. I sat hunched for hours on that rock looking across the Bay of Tunis and imagined that I was shaping my future, spinning out my destiny. I sensed that this was another of the rare nights of power in which I was able to do this." p 183.


My present position is this: one has a choice.

Either, one takes the following view, as summed up in the words of this Collect from the Anglican Book of  Common Prayer:

"Almighty God,
who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves;
keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls..........."

Or this view:

"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

But, as I wandered down to Lacanau-Ocean, centre ville, for my coffee this morning, I wondered if through a process of dialectics, the two views might eventually, for me, boil down to  the same thing.

Still not finished the book so await with baited breath for Irwin's conclusions - after all, he is about my age.

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Today's music:

Chopin's Nocturnes played by Artur Rubinstein.


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Last night's dinner:

Fricassee of squid:








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