Archive for the ‘Ponder’ Category

Pop Quiz

Now that school has started, here are a couple questions. One math question and one grammar question.

1. What is the value of twelveteen?
A : 120
B : 112
C : 22

2. What is the past tense of snowblow?
A : snowblew
B : snowblowed
C : snewblow

Time’s up. Pencils down.

Hand your paper to your left and we’ll being grading.

Ready?

1. Your guess is as good as mine.
2. Trick question. “Ran the snowblower” is the right answer.

all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bulls, all the rams twelve, the male lambs one year old with their grain offering twelve, and the male goats for a sin offering twelve;

Numbers 7:87

Efficient Entrance

We were in line to buy tickets to enter a tourist attraction. The line was accumulating, even though the place had two cashier windows open.

I inclined my ear toward the windows and heard people at each station discussing memberships. Meanwhile we, and everyone behind us, were interested in simply buying tickets for the day.

I thought it was an inefficient process to have all available windows processing memberships. My plan would be to have one window dedicated to normal tickets – the quick transaction – and one window that would take membership applications as well as sell tickets.

That would have made my experience better. But would it be better overall?

Let’s assume it takes an average of 2 minutes to buy a set of tickets. And let’s assume an average of 10 minutes to buy an annual membership.

In order to replicate my situation, let’s assume the two memberships are at the beginning of the line. So for the first 10 minutes, the line does not move as both windows are busy with memberships. Then there are 20 minutes left to sell tickets. At 2 minutes each, times 2 windows, that equals 20 sets of tickets.

So in 30 minutes, 2 windows process 20 sets of tickets and 2 memberships. How does that compare with my proposed setup?

The first window is only tickets. In 30 minutes, it processes 15 sets of tickets.

The second window is memberships and tickets. This window takes 20 minutes for memberships and then has 10 minutes for tickets, so 5 sets of tickets.

The total is still 20 sets of tickets and 2 memberships.

That doesn’t show any difference. But the difference does show up in the average wait time.

Average wait time in the first case is 0 for the memberships and then 10 + ((0 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 + 14 + 16 + 18) / 10) = 10 + 90/10 = 19 minutes per set of tickets

Average wait time in the second case is (0 + 10) / 2 = 5 minutes for memberships and then (0 + 2 + 4 + … + 26 + 28) / 15 = 210/15 = 14 minutes for the first window and (20 + 22 + 24 + 26 + 28) / 5 = 120/5 = 24 minutes for the second window.

The average is not 14 + 24 / 2 (which equals 19 minutes), since more people had the lower wait time. The average is 210 + 120 / 20 = 16.5 minutes.

So dedicating a window to the slower process results in a lower wait time for 90% of the clients.

Not only is it faster, but it also feels faster to everyone, since the main line is always moving. With the original configuration, it felt very slow because the whole line did not move at all for 10 minutes.

See, I am going to wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.

2 Samuel 15:28

Modern Sayings

There are many short, wise sayings that have become popular over the years. But whether they are related to sewing or farming, not as many people relate to them as they used to. So they should be updated.

Here is my attempt at updating some of these proverbs to be a bit more modern, whilst still retaining at least some of their meaning.

  • A text in time saves nine.
  • A text of prevention is worth a phone call of cure.
  • A watched web page never loads.
  • An app a day keeps the doctor away.
  • Let whoever is without sin post the first tweet.
  • Don’t count your likes before they’re clicked.

Any other sayings that need updating?

I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old

Psalm 78:2

Various and Sundry Thoughts

Here are some thoughts I jotted down that aren’t quite sufficient for their own individual blog posts. If you’re the type of person who likes Twitter, pretend each of these are tweets.

  • There used to be 5 main Top-Level Domains: .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov. Now there are hundred, including .photography, .surgery, and .vacations. It seems to me that having so many and such specific TLDs defeats the point of a TLD. The specific part should be the domain name and the suffix should be general. To paraphrase Syndrome: if everything’s a TLD then nothing is a TLD.
  • If I hear someone say “Sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire”, I check to make sure they’re not employed by or a volunteer with any of the local fire departments. If my house is burning, I want the fire trucks to show up with water, not more fire.
  • It warmed my heart the other day when my son informed me that we were out of dental floss. That must mean he is using it without being told.
  • Kids these days don’t know what an answering machine is. They think it’s something like Siri.
  • People can goof off, but people can’t goof on. Would goofing on mean they were well-behaved?

If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that staked grain or the field itself is consumed, he who started the fire shall surely make restitution.

Exodus 22:6

Various and Sundry Thoughts

Here are some thoughts I jotted down that aren’t quite sufficient for their own individual blog posts. If you’re the type of person who likes Twitter, pretend each of these are tweets.

  • It’s amusing to watch people when someone tells “heads up!” at a ball game – everyone looks up. That is the worst thing to do. If the ball were aimed right at you, it would smash into your face. Instead, you should cover your head with something.
  • I ran past a turtle in the road during my morning jog the other day. He was about the size of a dinner plate. In both diameter and height. Poor guy had been run over.
  • If you make your own bread, you know there’s sourdough starter. But no one ever has sourdough stopper. I bet there’ll be a big demand for that if someone invents it.
  • Sometimes there’s wisdom in crowds. Other times there are stampedes or riots. You need your own wisdom too.
  • When I see the names of the new soccer teams here in the USA, I have to remind myself that FC doesn’t stand for “fight club”.
  • When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.

    Deuteronomy 20:10

Walkway Lights

image of comparison of how your walkway lights should work versus how they actually work

Anyone else disappointed at how solar walkway lights perform?

I don’t want to see the lights – I want to see the path, the area around the lights to be illuminated.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

Comparing Apples and Oranges

  • They’re both fruit.
  • They’re both roundishly shaped.
  • They both have seeds. But that’s kind of redundant given point #1.
  • They both grow on trees.
  • They’re a similar size.
  • They both rot.
  • They both make juice.
  • They’re both delicious.

I don’t see why it’s a problem. Why can’t people do this?

Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

Proverbs 25:11