I've never met a pile of data that didn't need to be cleaned up, dissected, parsed and eventually graphed.
I am the self-proclaimed master at finding duplicates in lists of data. I have an extensive and verbose argument for not using spreadsheet software to manage data.
I've always been attracted to data, more specifically finding equivocating markers and hidden trends in data records.
What the heck is that? I'm glad you asked … anyone can boast they are the best pancake maker, but it's the dataset that counts, right? You are the best in your household, if you are the only griddle operator. That's what makes statistics meaningful and so very powerful.
During the recent holiday gathering, my cousin's son asked what I did at Plastics News. I showed him our rankings and his response was: "Statistics, cool."
That got me thinking way back to high school where I spent one very cold football season collecting stats during games in Northeast Ohio. Who knew that was a career omen?
Since then I've handled every type of list you could think of. Some have been for business, like metal processing data and lumber inventory. I've also used data for more personal projects, like a database of movies, including a column for sorting by lead actor's height.
I have a personal database with unrelated subjects and actions so I can invent stories as a round-robin party game, which is how we told the story of the yeti that toured Australia and lost her shoes.
