The "reboot" seems to be something of a thing in Hollywood these days, and so it only follows that Life would imitate "art" as I reboot my Lego database.
For those who have been following this blog for some time, I think you may be aware of my Lego database project. It is one component of "42", my personal, ultimate repository of those possessions of mine which I have chosen to catalog.
I've just started using Microsoft Office 365, and the Lego data came from rebrickable.com. Their dataset is very comprehensive, but I don't think I've ever downloaded ANY Lego dataset that was usable by me as downloaded... and this data is no exception.
I mentioned that the data is quite comprehensive, which means it contains things which I don't necessarily need or want. For example, I do not care about any decals, paper or cardboard items, books, or even certain parts of the Lego product line. So, these need to be removed. The data also appears to come from more than one source, and formatting is necessary. Punctuation needs to be removed from many entries, and part names need to be standardized. Some data needs spelling changes- there are cases of the Queen's English being used, so "windscreen" and "tyre" need to be changed to "windshield" and "tire". These are the major changes that need to happen before I can even think about exporting to an Access database. And these are just a few examples.
But, I digress. Here are the numbers as of December 4th.
When I first started out, there were approximately 29,000 records. As of last night, after culling out items which I knew I would not be inventorying, I had 27,164 unique items. When I deduped the group to include ONLY the base part numbers- excluding all decoration variants, I ended up with a working list of 8,747 unique base part numbers. As I copy the part descriptions to the new inventory list, they are being further culled.
I am now at the point where everything must be done by hand. I find myself going back and forth between rebrickable and my flat database, verifying that the part number in the list is a part that I (may) actually own... and want to count. At a certain point, some of the data is subjective, and even though it is valid, I will count a complete assembly rather than, say, a special tile, wheels and tires as separate parts.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
A very rare Friday night
As I think most readers have surmised by now, I'm an American. And, like it or not, each and every one of us- consciously or not- probably shares some stereotypical "national" behavior with a great number of their kinsmen, whether they choose to admit it or not.
Now, it's Friday night, and normally I would be busy at work doing something job-related. .. but, not tonight, because this is my first official sick day of the year. I say "official" because I had a sick day in October, but as I am eligible for overtime, I made the day up later in the week and was able to score some overtime.
And this is where "national traits" comes into play.
According to studies I've seen, Americans- even when they are genuinely ill- do not always take sick days. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but apparently it's an "American thing". Many of these same studies suggest that American are loathe to take their full vacation.
I, for one, do my best to avoid taking sick days, unless they are truly necessary- and tonight is one of those nights. But vacation time- it's part of the employment agreement with my employer, and per that agreement, I am entitled to "x" amount of days off per year based upon my tenure with the company. And even though I may not do anything blogworthy on my vacation, I've earned this time off and to not take it would be cheating not just myself, but my family as well.
However...
There is a certain stigma attached to taking certain days off as sick, even if they are legitimate. For example, if one is a Major League Baseball fans (Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox where I live), if you were to take a Monday or Friday off as a sick day, and this day just HAPPENED to be your favorite team's home opener- even if you were really sick, the talk at the water cooler would, of course, infer that you weren't really sick, but attending the game. Likewise, the #2 reason for taking a Friday or Monday off is a big weekend.
Fortunately for me, none of these factors were applicable. I had taken Monday and Tuesday off this past week pretty much because I have vacation days left. But, when I came in Wednesday night, I almost immediately started feeling out of sorts with a major head cold building. Thursday is our busiest night of the week, and I had a simple plan: take care of the important business, and then go home early.
That was the plan. It was brilliant- except for one thing: there were two other jobs that required MY attention, as we would be short-handed on Friday. So, instead of leaving early, I left late. And when I got home, I went straight to bed.
But before I left work, I spoke to a senior coworker about my situation. Generally speaking, one does not know at the end of a shift if one will need to take the following day off as a sick day. However, she encouraged me to take the sick day, especially as I had taken on two projects that needed to be done before the weekend.
Now, a treat.
Before I discovered ramen, this was my goto Friday night bachelor treat. If you can't make it out, it mac 'n' cheese, tuna, corn and mushrooms. This was my bachelor Friday night treat, and I made it tonight! Apart from the sodium, I'd guess it's a pretty healthy meal. The only modification I do to the mac 'n' cheese recipe is to double the milk from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. You can also add garlic powder, onion powder and celery powder to taste. Yum!
As always, I am hochspeyer,blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Now, it's Friday night, and normally I would be busy at work doing something job-related. .. but, not tonight, because this is my first official sick day of the year. I say "official" because I had a sick day in October, but as I am eligible for overtime, I made the day up later in the week and was able to score some overtime.
And this is where "national traits" comes into play.
According to studies I've seen, Americans- even when they are genuinely ill- do not always take sick days. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but apparently it's an "American thing". Many of these same studies suggest that American are loathe to take their full vacation.
I, for one, do my best to avoid taking sick days, unless they are truly necessary- and tonight is one of those nights. But vacation time- it's part of the employment agreement with my employer, and per that agreement, I am entitled to "x" amount of days off per year based upon my tenure with the company. And even though I may not do anything blogworthy on my vacation, I've earned this time off and to not take it would be cheating not just myself, but my family as well.
However...
There is a certain stigma attached to taking certain days off as sick, even if they are legitimate. For example, if one is a Major League Baseball fans (Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox where I live), if you were to take a Monday or Friday off as a sick day, and this day just HAPPENED to be your favorite team's home opener- even if you were really sick, the talk at the water cooler would, of course, infer that you weren't really sick, but attending the game. Likewise, the #2 reason for taking a Friday or Monday off is a big weekend.
Fortunately for me, none of these factors were applicable. I had taken Monday and Tuesday off this past week pretty much because I have vacation days left. But, when I came in Wednesday night, I almost immediately started feeling out of sorts with a major head cold building. Thursday is our busiest night of the week, and I had a simple plan: take care of the important business, and then go home early.
That was the plan. It was brilliant- except for one thing: there were two other jobs that required MY attention, as we would be short-handed on Friday. So, instead of leaving early, I left late. And when I got home, I went straight to bed.
But before I left work, I spoke to a senior coworker about my situation. Generally speaking, one does not know at the end of a shift if one will need to take the following day off as a sick day. However, she encouraged me to take the sick day, especially as I had taken on two projects that needed to be done before the weekend.
Now, a treat.
Before I discovered ramen, this was my goto Friday night bachelor treat. If you can't make it out, it mac 'n' cheese, tuna, corn and mushrooms. This was my bachelor Friday night treat, and I made it tonight! Apart from the sodium, I'd guess it's a pretty healthy meal. The only modification I do to the mac 'n' cheese recipe is to double the milk from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. You can also add garlic powder, onion powder and celery powder to taste. Yum!
As always, I am hochspeyer,blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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