Once again you have outdone yourself Scott - I'm still laughing as I'm typing this!

Respectfully,
Henry

Hi Brent,

Please don't take what I'm about to write the wrong way because it is meant to get you in better more positive state towards stuff You claim makes you feel stupid, and just about everything else you just posted...

First off, stop feeling bad and stop beating yourself up because you didn't attempt to learn more about computers because to tell you the truth, the only reason why I was able to become really comfortable with the technology was because as I was learning @ a similar pace as you feel you're learning now, I wasn't so computer savvy at all and I would be stretching it a bit to say that I was computer literate... The reason I got comfortable was because suddenly I had too much free time after I first got sick and ended up becoming disabled which still didn't stop me from getting myself back into shape to return to work...

But what I'm trying to share with you is that I too couldn't take a formal course consisting of going to classes and to learn at someone else's pace if I had so many different doctor appointments physical rehab, weekly blood work and brain fog from having too much ammonia build up in my blood stream which is the cause of Hepatic encephalopathy... Meaning that I was incapable to go through traditional learning methods yet had to come up with one way to learn this computer stuff because I knew that it would be important to be fluent in once I was able to return to the workforce in one capacity or another...

I was given a few CD's with self paced courses in learning MS word, Excel, Power Point, Access at the time and so I started to learn 2 my own pace which was better for me considering the circumstances surrounding my life at that time... I would recommend them to anyone who wants to learn at their own pace... I was able to learn a lot of what I needed to know and it was instrumental in leading me down a path to feel so much more confident about working with computers as well as how software works on a level that is necessary to be able to make the software function in a manner that helps you complete various aspects of a project without having to know in detail what every single line of code means, or any other unnecessary details regarding how these program applications work...

And I can tell you this... You never stop learning because the technology is always changing so you learn what you must in order to stay current and leave everything else that you really don't need to know about alone so you don't worry about whether or not you're going to retain the lessons you learned... These courses teach you how to navigate the software applications like MSN Word, Excel, Power point, etc., but that's it! These courses only teach you what is necessary to use the software application efficiently without getting into the nuts and bolts of how the software is written to a certain code, or any other irrelevant information that you don't need in order to become proficient in the use of them...

I have those CD's around somewhere and they're Windows XP based so hopefully one of your sons can partition your hard drive or add a separate one so that you can run any software that written for Windows XP... Because I can once i find them easily make you copies of all of them for you to use my friend, and I think I have a CD that covers how operating systems work and the guts inside  PC that makes it work as well as showing you how to do some basic computer troubleshooting with the operating system that you already have, and probably some other goodie to help you learn the in's and out's and shortcuts, tricks and other stuff about PC's in general... I have other learning courses also but, these are what you need to learn currently so, I'm not going to overload you with unnecessary and, potentially intimidating information that you really don't need to learn at the time being so you can focus on the topics you need to learn about...

So give me a couple of days to find them and when I do, I'll PM you to let you know what exactly I have so that when I'm ready to send you the CD's, they will only be with the topics you're interested in learning... Reads good to you? reads good to me1
I'll let you know when I have everything ready Brent.

Respectfully,
Henry

Here are some more practical suggestions related to software training (for all who experience frustrations):

1.) Pursuing training resources one day and one project at a time is sometimes less stressful than trying to learn too much in one session - IMHO.

2.) I don't know about others, but, my own most effective learning methods are sometimes realized by searching for new information/methods - one need at a time.

3.) More recent versions of Microsoft Office products offer help menus with links to training and keyboard tricks - and even online videos these days.  And, then too, there is always the public library - and eBook services like Amazon that offer training resources at a reasonable cost.  Some of the training Kindles can be read in an hour or two, and go for $0 to few $.  Amazon still offers free Kindle reader software that runs on PC's and Mac's.

I agree though, sometimes the frequent revisions and updates pose a challenge - like the one I had yesterday when a recent "update" changed my Excel menu options.  I struggled for a few minutes before seeking guidance via the help menu - mostly due to my own pride, and partly due to my anger.

I am not the smartest person to make the call related to how these technologies relate to every person's practical day-to-day needs in the welding industry.  The most productive uses are often determined by how large the enterprise is, how much paperwork is necessary, and how often people are required to travel - and then, by how they travel, and how much they can carry with them.

One advantage of participating in software upgrades is that Microsoft and many of their associates offer free and low cost spreadsheet and document "templates" for applications like Excel and Word - and, many of these are compatible with prior versions.  Sometimes it pays to look for an existing starting point before re-inventing the wheel - but, this depends on one's hourly pay rate, and how fast they can locate the proper information...

I am sorry if I took this thread off track by opening this "can of worms" related to the never ending does IT increase or decrease "productivity" debates.

Perhaps clarification of specific user needs and struggles (relative to day to day industry projects) might offer the opportunity to propose more effective and practical solutions?  Are we talking about shop owners, accountants, engineers, training managers, supervisors, welders, inspectors, QA managers, or CWIs - and whose CWI(s) - the seller's or buyer's???

1.) What must be calculated - and by whom???  Expenses? Consumable use?  Test results?  Parameters?  Control limits?  Reject rates? Scrap rates?  Profits and losses? Repair costs???

2.) What information must be filed and linked - and then, where, and how?  I only suggested using URL links in an Excel workbook because that is one of my own personal "hacks" - and, it offers me a way to consolidate information by specific projects into one (or a few)  dedicated file(s). There are others who prefer using the Windows keyword file search functions - which only become faster with every successive technology leap forward.
 
3.) We each may have our own often unique individual needs and preferred work methods, but it does help to pursue an ongoing awareness of other options and improvements that might be offered.  If I am not mistaken, there used to be a thread on this forum for sharing templates, and I am not certain what the current status is. In some cases, proprietary or other legal use restrictions might prevent sharing if only a few options are posted.

Regarding XP - I was reluctantly dragged into Windows7, but I have since never regretted it due to the great increase in speed and productivity - time is money as the saying goes.  There are still uses for my old XP system - including some dedicated software that I chose not to upgrade. 

I remain committed to keeping as many of my own outdated electronic devices as possible out of the landfill - and, as long as XP will still run on the web, this offers me a viable backup system.  Then too, some plants in the field still run older (often offline) operating systems, and it pays to have the capability to support their needs. 

Security services like Norton have supposedly committed to supporting XP for another 2.5 years or so, and as far as I am concerned, there is no mad rush for the entire world to change.  My own personal preference is to run virus scans and backups at least once a day - when I am completing other tasks offline.  Some of the newer faster operating systems can complete these tasks in a fraction of the time of the prior technology - only an hour or so for some security needs - compared to 8 to 16 hours for the older systems.