Tooting my horn a little (on topic)

I know, and I'm kicking myself for not having it in my PDA. We were in your neck of the woods (well, desert, anyways!) Wednesday, but I didn't say anything because we were there for a memorial service (over on Eastern, near Warm Springs), and my in-laws had announced that they had every minute scheduled out for us. Ugh!

As it turns out, we got royal dispensation to cut out early ("What! You've never been to Las Vegas?"). Argh! Why didn't I bring my addresses?

We decided to head out to Red Rock. Toured the visitor's center and were getting ready to go back to the car to do the drive, and suddenly it's not

108 anymore, it's raining. Raining hard. And lightning. Strikes coming down about 1/4 mile away! We had a wonderful show from the safety of the visitor's center for about half an hour, then headed out to see the gorgeous countryside. Wow!!!

So thank you for arranging all that entertainment when you didn't even know I was in town!

AAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!! :(

It truly is gorgeous, isn't it? :)

Aw, shucks, Kathy! It was my pleasure! ;) But next time, be sure to have the addy/phone number with you, no matter what! I'd have loved to have met up with you!

Kathy, did your customer tell you ahead of time that she was entering your quilt in the fair? (How was it? Did you ride the rides? Eat cotton candy?) The reason I ask is a few years ago, I entered a quilt in the fair, under group category, and I credited the woman who did the quilting, but I didn't say anything to her ahead of time that I was entering it, and I'm wondering if I should have. This year, my entry(ies) will be all my own work, but I'd like to know for the future, if it comes up again.

Well, she better get ready. I went so far as to READ the MANUAL, and figured out how to import the RCTQ Directory (with addresses appropriately flagged, so I don't accidentally give them out) into Outlook, which has now sync'ed up with my PDA. If you are in the directory, you're with me 24/7! Bwah hah hah hah!!!!!

(I even have all your fabric fav's in my PDA with your address, just in case I'm inspired while I'm on the road! *evil grin*)

Does it have to be quilted?

I could probably take care of that part! ROFLOL

Ohhh Teach ME O Wise one!

Here, take my fabric as well! giggles I would LOVE to know how you did this? Especially the flagging part. I have an 'rctq' category for those in my contact list already. You could reply off group if you'd rather.

*appealing winsome smile* Elena

What? Reply off group and risk missing out on some other grateful soul hurling fabric at me in thanks??? :)

Here's what I did. (I'm using Windows XP Professional and Office XP (2002). Don't know if that makes a difference or not. Also I got the directory in table format.)

When I opened up the directory, it opened in Word, but I didn't see a way to import Word into Outlook contacts. However, I did see a way to import Excel into Outlook, and I knew how to go from Word to Excel. I selected all the columns of the table in Word, and did Table -> Convert -> Table to Text. That put the table into a tab delimited file, which I saved as plain text. (with a slightly different name in case I made a mess of it, not that THAT has ever happened!)

Then I opened Excel and opened the plain text file. Excel asked me if I wanted to convert it, and I followed the steps. I think everything was default -- pretty simple, even if you've never done it. I cleaned up the file a little, and saved it as an Excel file, again with a slightly different name.

Then I opened up Outlook, went to the File menu, and choose Import and Export. Outlook walks you through the steps -- I imported everyone into a new folder in my contacts folder, and did a custom import so I could make sure all the fields got mapped to where I wanted. (For example, Outlook didn't have a clue where to put the screen names.) Once everyone was in, I selected everyone in that folder, said the category was RCTQ, and then moved you all into my main folder, since that's the only one that will sync up with my PDA. Took all of 10 minutes to do, including reading the manual.

I still have the Excel file, and since you're in the directory, I'd be glad to email it as an attachment if you think that would help you out.

This sounds like it could really be fun -- can I help you find something for someone? Are you coming back *soon*?

That all made sense! I have the same set up. (XP and Outlook 2002) I had already saved the file as .txt ( text ) and imported it to Excel, trying to sort it by birthdays.

I had to go back and "name the range" in the Excel file first. Then I mapped the Favs and Dislikes into User 1 and User 2 fields, but I think I might try and redo it because I can't see either of those fields when I open the contact. Now what good is that? :)

Thank you again for your directions!

Elena, staying up late to figure it out.

Well, when's the best time for wildflowers at Red Rock? *grin*

snip

You're welcome!

Probably in the spring, though I'm not absolutely sure about that....

Wow! What a good idea! You're right, Taria -- it's in relatively easy driving distance from many places, and planes fly here for literally anywhere. When does everyone want to come?

Well, sheesh! Even *I* could figure that much out! ROFLOL

Be sure & let me know! Good excuse to go visit my DGD who will be living with her other Grandmother while going to UNLV.