[February 15, 2008]
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
I know that not everyone celebrates Valentine's Day but I figure - a day celebrating love - how bad can it be? Considering some of the horrible things that happen in our world, I think we can stand to celebrate love once a year.
I have leaf buds on my Dogwood trees and when I leave the house in the morning now the birds are singing in the meadows and so I know that Spring cannot be too far in the distance. As soon as I start to hear the peepers singing in the evenings I will know for sure that Spring is here at last!
I hope this newsletter finds all of you feeling well. I just had my first root canal on a second molar and I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. If I had my druthers I wouldn't have had the experience, but as dental problems go, this one was not the worst.
Welcome to Jacqueline, Linda, Rosy, Wallace, Michael, Joe, and John, our new Premium subscribers thus far this month. Welcome to the family!
Table of Contents
Spaced Out - Are you?
Dates that Separate - What? Doesn't sound like a very good date does it?
Accents - Another time (and finger) saving trick!
Spaced Out
Have you ever found that you need just a smidge more space between two paragraphs in your MS Word document?
I just bet you have, at one time or another, wished for a quick and clever way to add a 12 point space before a paragraph - just another little trick to file away in your repertoire. Well your wish has been granted!
Follow the steps below to insert that extra space before a paragraph.
- Simply place your cursor anywhere in the paragraph and click on CTRL + 0 (zero).
Need that same space above multiple paragraphs? Not a problem - follow the steps below:
- Highlight all paragraphs and use CTRL + 0 (zero).
Oh dear! Now the spaces seem too large? What? You want to remove them? Ok then, follow the steps below:
- Again, you simply click on CTRL + 0 (zero).
As you can see, the key combination of CTRL + 0 (zero), works as a toggle switch. You use it once to create the space and again to remove it.
Geez, I feel like a fairy godmother!
Dates that Separate
A reader recently wrote to me and inquired about having the month and day of a date staying together in a document. In other words, he didn't want the word "February" to be at the end of one line and 14 be at the beginning of the next line. He said that he knew that he could use Shift + Enter to move down to the next line to put the date in, but wondered whether there might be a better way.
The Shift | Enter method has many different problems, but if you ever had to edit a large document with this method employed I am sure you know what I mean - lots of problems with big blank spaces, etc.
So yes, there is another, much better method to achieve the outcome we are looking for and just for the record, it is very bad form to have a month at the end of the line and the day at the beginning of the next, so you should always use this method when typing dates in a document.
Follow the steps below:
- First key in the month.
- Before you move a space after the month, depress your SHIFT + CONTROL keys and then, and only then, tap your spacebar once.
Now your dates will never be separated or broken across lines and you will be much happier and your documents will look much more professional.
Accents - Another Time (and finger) Saving Trick
Most of us already know that we can use Symbols to give us the accents we want and need in our MS Word Documents. We also know that this method can be a bit awkward and use more time than we care to allow for it.
Luckily, there is another method that you can use to effect the same outcome - only it's quicker and not nearly as awkward.
Follow the steps below to find out:
- The first and most important step is that you must have the Num Lock key activated.
- The second most important step is that you must use the numbers located on the numeric keypad for this trick. If you use the numbers located above the letters on your keyboard, a big fat nothing will happen.
Ok, now that we have followed steps one and two, place your cursor at the location where you would like to insert an accented letter.
- Press and continue to hold down the ALT key.
- Now, on the numeric keypad, enter the number code as it corresponds to the letter you want to use.
When you release the ALT key, you will find that your symbol appears with the accent. You have to admit that this is a lot easier!
Included in the Premium Newsletter:
- Banish Accidental Replacement Saves
- Drag Data Between Sheets: MS Excel
- Moving Cell Contents without the Borders in MS Excel
- Using Braces in MS Word
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