This is How I Did Math in Junior High & HIgh School

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Irks Me

On the iowa city > for sale > cds / dvds / vhs - by owner page, this ad irks me.
I don't care that they request a $10 cash minimum purchase - that's fine. What irks me is that, if I wanted to buy all of these CDs - I don't! - I would need to do math.

Math sucks.

(3 x $1) + (3 x $2) + (9 x $3) + (11 x $4) + (6 x $5) + (2 x $6) + (2 x $8) + (1 x $10) + (1 x $15) = $163.

Why not just say, "Or buy all of them for $150!"

Instead, (belch) I'm going to make you do math!

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$10 cash minimum purchase

$1 CDs
No Doubt Tragic Kingdom
Steely Dan Two Against Nature
Tesla Time’s Makin’ Changes: The Best of Tesla

$2 CDs
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Smash Mouth Astro Lounge
Smithereens 11

$3 CDs
Pearl Jam Last Kiss/Soldier of Love (single)
Radiohead Hail to the Thief
Bonnie Raitt Luck of the Draw
Paul Simon Hearts and Bones (German import)
Bruce Springsteen The Ghost of Tom Joad
Toad the Wet Sprocket Fear
Tonic Lemon Parade
U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
VooDoo Blue Loa

$4 CDs
Randy Newman Lonely at the Top: Best of Randy Newman (European remaster)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Pure Dirt (U.K. import)
No Doubt The Singles 1992-2003
Nirvana In Utero (original uncensored back-tray image & title)
Pearl Jam Jeremy (“maxi” single)
Pearl Jam Vs.
Santana Abraxas
Tears For Fears Elemental
Van Halen 3 [aka III]
Tom Waits Small Change
Yellowcard Ocean Avenue

$5 CDS
Randy Newman Bad Love
Pearl Jam Yield (tri-fold digipak)
Elvis Presley Elvis Presley (U.K. import; his first live recordings—not released in U.S. in this format)
Soundgarden A-Sides
Amy Winehouse Back To Black
Neil Young Harvest Moon

$6 CDs
Pearl Jam Ten
Brian Wilson Brian Wilson Presents Smile (HDCD; boxed)

$8 CD
Awna Teixeira Where the Darkness Goes (digipak)
Frank Zappa Hot Rats

$10 CD
Yardbirds Collection (U.K. import)

$15 CD
Voivod Angel Rat

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Duplicates (and Non-Duplicates) On 3 EHDs

Here's some stats regarding the 3 EHDs I am working with regarding duplicate files. I used the DOS command dir *(* /s
in
p:\ffffff-root
i:\final-files\root
g:\mastermaster

There were 697187 total files and 205429 duplicate files. Thus, there are 491758 files that do not have the *(* pattern in its file name. See below:

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  697187
- 205429
  491758

Using my crude math skills, here's how those numbers translate into percentages:

100 (491758 / 697187) = 70.53459114986367

100 (205429 / 697187) = 29.46540885013633

Here is some pictures as evidence:

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I don't know why g:\mastermaster\masterbmp is "corrupt" when I use this command dir g:\mastermaster\masterbmp\*.*

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Sometimes It's a Little Thing that Has a BIG Impact

I'm certain that I've mentioned the type of student I was during my academic career on this blog.

I think of myself as having been a crappy student. Sure, for my Language Arts classes when writing was a focus, I was a really good student, but to pass my math classes, I had a tutor from 7th grade through my junior year of high school and for my other non-math classes (history and science), I was a C+ / B- kind of student. I was the type of student who would say to someone sitting next to me that I had done bad on a test or quiz and, when it would be handed back to me, my grade would be a low C, a D or a F whereas if that person were to say "I did bad on a test or quiz," when it would be handed back to them, their grade would be a low A or high B. I sucked at taking tests and, to this day, that self-awareness is why I didn't take a certification test for ITIL - I felt like I would do poorly and, honestly, I didn't want to revisit my academic career.

That's why this screenshot is a very good thing for me today. In fact, it is the source of me feeling like I can do anything. For a change, I actually did well on a quiz. You see, I need to take a course for an annual certification and score 80% or better on the quiz within the course. I did that a couple of hours ago and was pleasantly surprised when I only missed 1 on the quiz! Look out world - the Beast has been released!!

This is Why I Don't Listen to New Music

I received an email from a publicist about a death metal band called "Art of Deception" which included 3 options regarding their new single "Lysjakt" (and no, I do not know how to pronounce that word). I could watch a video, listen to the tune, or download the single. Their forthcoming album - called Path of Trees - is being released on June 22, 2018. Feeling slightly adventurous, I clicked the link that says "Video of 'Lysjakt':

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Then I saw this:

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Thus, when I tried to listen to new music, I was turned away. I don't need this rejection in my life! <grin> I did enter "Lysjakt" into the Youtube.com search field. I was greeted with "About 5 results," which humors me because results are as close to a concrete thing in our digital world. I am smirking because people say "around 2 or 3 <whatever>" or "close to 2 or 3 <whatever>" when math - which I still hate - is cut and dry. I searched for a word and there are 5 results, as shown below:

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There's NOTHING fuzzy about math. Or this:

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That's insane drumming!!

Here's Some Startling Numbers

I consider 3/18/2008 the first blog post on this blog, mainly because I posted once in 2007, then waited 113 days (3 months, 3 weeks) to post a second time. I was just curious how many blog posts I average each day on this blog. I calculated that on the 10 year anniversary of this blog, I will have had this blog for 3652 days (3/18/2008 - 3/18/2018). Currently, I have posted 5726 posts (excluding this post) so if I posted twice a day, on average, I would have 7304 posts because 3652 * 2 = 7304.

I am 1578 posts short. There are 26 days between today and 3/18/2018. I would need to post 60.69230769230769 (rounded up to 61) posts a day, each day, in order to reach 7312 posts, which would be exceeding the 2 posts a day average by 8. If I posted 60 posts a day, I would be 10 posts short.

I've been alive 17610 days, or 48 years, 2 months, 2 weeks, 2 days. I know I neither have 61 interesting things to say in a day, nor do I have the time to write 61 posts every day. I'm not going to hit an average of 2 blog posts / day on the 10th anniversary of this blog.

But what about on 3/18/2028, which would be the 20 year anniversary of this blog!

Assuming I'm alive, this blog will have existed for 7305 days.

7305 x 2 posts a day = 14610.

Today, I have 5726 posts.

The difference is 8884 posts. I have 3679 days to do it. 8884/3679 = 2.414786626800761 posts a day. Two posts a day will give me 13084 posts, which is 1526 posts short. Three posts a day will give me 11037, which is 2153 more posts than I need.

I'm sure there's a way to calculate how many days, in the next 3679, I need to post 3 times and how many times I need to post 2 times and how many times I need to post 1 time and how many days I can not post at all... but I have absolutely NO CLUE how to figure that out.

I won't even try.

Flyby Over My Head

I have NO clue if how that equation created that graph - English major here - so I'll trust it is correct.

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Who are You

Wicked Sense of Humor

Things wrong with the following ad that I received in my Inbox:

1. It's related to mathematics, not technical writing, and while I maintain our finances, thank God for Microsoft Excel!
2. I was laid off from Pearson 601 days ago and cannot fathom a scenario in which I return to that company, though I miss my co-workers.

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Indeed's sense of humor needs to go... (grin)

Why I Hate Math - it's Never Simple

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 3:27 PM
To: TECHWR-L Writing
Subject: Re: Grammar: "Multiply by" or "Multiply times"?

In my reading, he said "times" in place of "by."

In yours, he left out the value of the multiplier for the operation to be performed 20 times. If his writing is that sloppy, it needs more than style cleanup.

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-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Wright, Lynne
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 3:24 PM
To: Lauren; techwr-l@lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: RE: Grammar: "Multiply by" or "Multiply times"?

I have to disagree: 3 x 2 is the same as 2 x 3; and both are the same as 3 x 1 x 2.

The order of the digits doesn't matter. The result is still 6.

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-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+twer_lists_all=hotmail.com@lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Lauren
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 3:10 PM
To: techwr-l@lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Grammar: "Multiply by" or "Multiply times"?

On 4/25/2017 9:36 AM, Robert Lauriston wrote:
> You can say "three times two is six" or "three multiplied by two is six," but you shouldn't have "multiply" and "times" in
> the same sentence.

This is correct and wrong at the same time.
"Three times two is (equals) six" is not ""three multiplied by two is six."
"Three times two equals six" is stated as two multiplied by three equals six."
The order is important, while the mathematical result is the same. "Times" is a count of how many times an ingredient or process is used. "Multiplied by" what is used to increase the ingredient or process.

So for 3 x 2 = 6, if "times" is used, then 2 is the thing being increased and the phrase is "three times two."
If "multiplied by" is used then the meaning is that you have three of something that you are increasing by two.

The phrase being addressed is, "multiply the absorbance of the dilution times 20." Accuracy of the order of things is important here. What it sounds like the scientist is saying is either, "multiply the absorbance of the dilution 20 times," or "multiply the absorbance of the dilution by 20." The meaning of the two interpretations can differ whether the formula represents a process or a factor. Context is necessary.

Per Adobe, 13 < 11

I read about a Dreamweaver extension called "emmetio" over the weekend. I thought it would be good to see if it would help me be more productive and maybe even faster in my HTML / CSS coding. I went to install it and got this message:

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So, being a good technical writer, I opened up Dreamweaver and looked at the version I have installed and nearly spit out the Pepsi that was in my mouth because of what I saw:

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So, yes, there is an alternate reality in which Adobe exists. I certainly do not consider myself a mathematician, but I do know with version 13 installed, I should have been able to install an extension that requires version 11.

Why I Hate Math

Just for the record, I turn 47 today and I have absolutely NO CLUE how to determine the correct answer. I know a bottle of beer = 10, a cheeseburger = 5, and a mug of beer = 2 but beyond that... NO CLUE.

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It's a lot like going to the eye doctor and reading the letters on the chart. The first 3 lines are easy and after that, it causes a brain pain.
Editor's Note: This article was published 3 days ago and seems relevant as it discusses playing drums, getting older, and Lars Ulrich's perspective on those two subjects: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/after-years-of-heavy-playing-older-drummers-feel-toll-on-health/article33175055/

English Majors and Math

I earned a Bachelor's degree in English in 1992 from Mount Mercy College - it's now called Mount Mercy University - and if it weren't for Nancy Rhodes, who was my Basic Math professor, I would have less than zero confidence in my mathematical abilities. She refused to believe that I was incapable of mastering the content in her class. It took until my sophomore year of college to get through a math class without failing a single test as I am pretty sure I failed at least one test - sometimes several - in each of the previous math classes I had to take in high school.

That said, even though I maintain our bills / finances - thank you Excel for having the ability to prevent me from counting on my fingers and toes - the opening in this article about English majors and math made me chuckle.

21, Beer, Bunco, and Bars

On Friday night, we went to our friend Julie's holiday party. The theme was Casino Night so Karen and I (and others) were asked to be dealers. I dealt Blackjack for the first time ever. That was fun. I was an English major and, seriously, numbers make me nervous. I did okay and I just said to the people I was dealing to "English major here" and then they were nice to me. I don't think I could ever deal at a casino, though I suppose if I did enough of it, my math skills would greatly improve.

There are four things that have helped me along the way make my math skills better than I would have guessed:

1. a job as a cashier at the Spring House restaurant in Cedar Rapids where I had to use math to count change back,
2. college girls tutoring me throughout junior high and high school. I used to FLUNK math tests. Side note: I remember sitting in math class and someone would say, "I did bad on this test," and show me a B-. I'd say, "I did bad on this test," and show them a D or F.
3. college math where I actually got a B on a test
4. going through flash cards with Alex.

I digress.

After the casino night broke up, we went to have a drink at the Marriott Hotel and sit with some friends. It was a good wind-down.

On Saturday, we played @ 5:15 Mass and then went downstairs to a potluck/Bunco night in the basement. Really good conversation and that was really cool. There were 5 tables of 4 and we played 3 games x 6 so 18 total things you can win or lose. You keep track of how many games you win, how many games you lose, and how many buncos you get. I won a giant Kit-Kat bar because I had the most losses (13). I couldn't roll what I was supposed to roll for the first 6 rolls so I started out 0-6. Alex won a candy bar and Megan won a candy bar. Joel, who was spending the night, won a prize for newcomer since it was his first night.

Karen didn't win anything.

For my surprise 39th birthday, my brother-in-law Dave gave me a 12 pack mix of Samuel Adams beer. For the first time in Bunco night history, there was beer available as we played bunco. There were 3 unopened bottles when I came home so it wasn't a wild and crazy night but it was fun.

Today is practice @ 2:15 and then we are taking Karen's brother's truck up to the Cedar Rapids Airport because they are flying in today from Orlando (Disney World). Rumor is that we'll have McDonald's for supper - there's one by the airport - and miss the season premier of "24" which may be okay since the Gazette had a story on it that said it wasn't very good.

I didn't sign in to my work PC this weekend. I slept in both yesterday and today. And, if you're caring, I shaved after 5 days. I looked bad with a beard/mustache and I could tell I wouldn't like the way I looked.

Now, I'm going to clean the basement for a 1/2 hour before we leave for practice.