Serendipitous Curious Quotations (physically, single, best, travel)

[arr430]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I had to scribble my name on something and the kid waiting on me said, "You have beautiful cursive."

That's only because these kids can't even write anymore. They can only type.

For s credit card transaction, I haven't signed in decades. Just make a mark. I had a friend who always signed Donald Duck and was never challenged. Do kids even have a signature now?

Re: Watches. When you see someone look at their watch, count to five and ask then What time is it? They will look again. I once asked the salesgirl at a kiosk in the mall what time it was. She hit "no sale" and tore off the slip and handed it to me. 10:52:23.

[FiveLoaves]

Originally Posted by NYgal1542

I wonder how much the way math is taught in school has anything to do with it.

The Old Math was good enough to design the Pyramids, which still stand today after 4500 years. Pythagorean Theory and 3.14 goes along with a simple water level and plumb bob.

Lately we have a New Math being taught in schools. If kids weren't learning the 'Old' Math, I'm thinking maybe it wasn't being taught in a coherent manner. Teach them the basic 4 (add, subtract, multiply, and divide) so they can function in society. There's plenty of time for Mathematical Gymnastics when they get to Calc & Trig.

[Thulsa]

Originally Posted by Lillie767

It's already happened. Ask a young cashier to make change.

For example, the bill for lunch is $16.14. I give her a twenty dollar bill with a dime and four pennies. See the deer in the headlights look on her face.

Back when I used money a long time ago, if something cost $2.87, I would give them $3.12, and they would look funny, go aha, and give me my quarter.

But I gave up on that. Now a days, Even though they don't do the math and just punch it into the machine, it still caused their heads to explode, and they would do odd things like count out two dimes and a nickel, or five nickels.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by RationalExpectations

I absolutely suck at even simple arithmetic such as calculating a tip on a restaurant bill.

I never had the opportunity to actually learn arithmetic as a child. The school was experimenting with its math curriculum. "If Johnny has 3 apples and Billy has 2 bananas, how does Suzy feel about the War in Vietnam?"

On the other hand, I did quite well as a math major in college. But I never learned arithmetic and rely on a calculator - or I end up counting on my fingers. I've tried so many times to learn arithmetic, but without success. I even tried alternatives such as the Trachtenberg Method of Speed Math. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachtenberg_system

I suck at math too. I have learned that there is a known disability that relates to it. My father tried to use dice to help me improve, it didn't work, it still takes me time to add the spots up. But, there was a side benefit- I clean up at the craps table. I have never left a casino with less money than I walked in with(*). In fact, when we got married my wife had never been in a casino and insisted on stopping at Foxwoods on our way to FLA for our honeymoon. What I won paid for the whole trip with some left over, in spite of her stealing some of my chips to make stupid 'field' bets.


(*) I walked out of one 'casino' in Louisiana with the same amount of money...all I could see was slot machines and when I asked where the craps table was, I was told that all they had was slots. I told them they needed to change the name because it wasn't really a casino, just a slot parlor. I don't play slots, worst odds ever. (I had an antique nickle slot machine when I was younger and I played it for hours on end...after removing the bolts that had the jackpot locked out. I learned that no matter how much you seem to 'win', if you keep playing you are going to end up putting it all back and then some.)

[RationalExpectations]

Originally Posted by Zymer

I suck at math too. I have learned that there is a known disability that relates to it. My father tried to use dice to help me improve, it didn't work, it still takes me time to add the spots up.

Yes -- dyscalculia - https://dsf.net.au/learning-difficul...is-dyscalculia

Fortunately for me, I don't suffer from its other symptoms - for example, I did well in more advanced math (differential equations, combinatorics, number theory) I just suck at simple arithmetic.

I live in Las Vegas part of the year, and I use my fingers to count my cards at the Blackjack table.

[FiveLoaves]

Originally Posted by 12-stringer

Quote:
Originally Posted by FiveLoaves View Post
Lately we have a New Math being taught in schools.... Calc & Trig.

I was a whiz at math. In the sixties, the new math was set theory. Intersection. Union. This actually helped when I later became an information retrieval specialist (database searching) and then later when searching for precedential cases supporting legal arguments.

That's some pretty hairy editing you've done there. I'll include my entire paragraph, just for the record.....

"Lately we have a New Math being taught in schools. If kids weren't learning the 'Old' Math, I'm thinking maybe it wasn't being taught in a coherent manner. Teach them the basic 4 (add, subtract, multiply, and divide) so they can function in society. There's plenty of time for Mathematical Gymnastics when they get to Calc & Trig."


I've done pretty well in life with the 4 Horsemen of the Math Apocalypse. Estimating Percentage Increases in Stock Prices, Figuring Batting Averages in my head, and generous tips to waitresses and bartenders throughout the Lowcountry. It's rare that I require Trigonometry for anything.

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by john3232

The same thing happened to me last week. The clerk was unsure of what do when I gave her change with a ten dollar bill.

This happened to me last night at Home Depot. I was at the self-checkout and I asked a clerk to subtract 128 from 618. I was on the phone with my wife needed the number. I wanted to figure out the percentage I was saving on three large blinds using my phone.

The clerk had a notepad and pen in her pocket. It was a bit weird. She wrote down the two figures and then stared. She was unsure how to subtract. I was about to tell her I'll do it when she started subtracting.

I quickly check her number and it was correct.

Why would you ask somebody else to do the math for you, especially if you were able to "quickly check her number"?
Then you say what she did was weird!

[V8 Vega]

I don't think Olive Garden has a way to pay without a credit card.

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

618 minus 128 drop a hundred - 518 -28 = 490 Easy, in the head.

If 128 was the savings, OTTOMH, the percentage is about 20%. 100 is 20% of 500, and the figures are going in the right way. No phone needed.

I was doing a little project last week and realized that some of the people with really good math skills are likely tradespeople, like carpenters and plumbers. There is no time to pull out a phone when working.

Hmmm, harry, this is curious (no pun on my thread title...though I don't know it morphed into a thread on math methods!)

I thought I was the ONLY one who did simple math "gymnastics" or tricks this way!

I never did exactly get the "new math" (funny every generation seems to have a "new math"!) I was taught in school.
Sure, I got "carry the one"....
But I think differently than others, I've learned.

I do the same tricks with multiplication, too.

If I want to know what $15.00/hr for 40 hours/w is..I multiply $10 x 40 (400), and $5 x 40 (200) then add the two results ($600).
That's an easy example, just throwing numbers out there for ease of example.

Same with tip calculations: if the bill is $24.38, and I want to leave a15% tip, I calculate in my head this way:
I round up to $25 (easier than pennies), multiply by 10 (to get ten percent) and get $2.50 with decimal moved, then divide the $2.50÷2 (to get half, because the 5% is half of 10%) and get $1.25.
Then I add the $2.50 and $1.25 together and get the correct answer: $3.75.

It reads more complicated than it is, though I think.

My spouse was always amazed at how quickly and accurately I'd calculated the tip.

Let's look at 18%:

I round 18% up to 20%: $25.00 x10% is $2.50(again) x2 (to get 20%) = $5.00.
Then I take 1% of $25.00 by moving the 10% one decimal place: $0.25 and Multiply by 2= $0.50 and subtract that 2% from the 20% I calculated ($5.00-$0.50=$4.50)

Or

I calculate the 15% as noted above, move the decimal for the 1% x3 (for 3% ) to add the 3% to the 15%, and AbraCadabra, alacazam, prestochango, voila!: I have an accurate 18%!

(Of course, unless service is really bad, I would also usually round the $3.75 up to $4 and leave that, or the $4.50 up to a $5 bill and leave that.
I've never waited tables, but have been a cook in restaurants and know how hard those waitpeople work!)

Now that anyone reading this post has either learned something new, or is thoroughly confused, I'll go rest on my laurels.

PS: when I heard the "new new math being taught some years ago was called "Base 10", I thought 'thats about what I've been doing, 10 anything is easier to work with'...but then someone who tutors kids, and had to learn this"base 10" method explained it to me, I found out it's NOT exactly what I've been doing!!
And she left me confused on this "base 10" new new math...

Best to all, now that the math lessons are over, can we get back to our regularly scheduled "Curios Quotes"???

[harry chickpea]

My methods in dark red in the quoted text-

Originally Posted by galaxyhi

Hmmm, harry, this is curious (no pun on my thread title...though I don't know it morphed into a thread on math methods!)

I thought I was the ONLY one who did simple math "gymnastics" or tricks this way!

I never did exactly get the "new math" (funny every generation seems to have a "new math"!) I was taught in school.
Sure, I got "carry the one"....
But I think differently than others, I've learned.

I do the same tricks with multiplication, too.

If I want to know what $15.00/hr for 40 hours/w is..I multiply $10 x 40 (400), and $5 x 40 (200) then add the two results ($600).
That's an easy example, just throwing numbers out there for ease of example.

15 x 40 = 30 x 20 = 60 x 10 x 100 > 600




Same with tip calculations: if the bill is $24.38, and I want to leave a15% tip, I calculate in my head this way:
I round up to $25 (easier than pennies), multiply by 10 (to get ten percent) and get $2.50 with decimal moved, then divide the $2.50÷2 (to get half, because the 5% is half of 10%) and get $1.25.
Then I add the $2.50 and $1.25 together and get the correct answer: $3.75.

It reads more complicated than it is, though I think.

I generally do 20%. Double the first two figures and slip a decimal point. 24 becomes 48 becomes 4.8


My spouse was always amazed at how quickly and accurately I'd calculated the tip.

Let's look at 18%:

I round 18% up to 20%: $25.00 x10% is $2.50(again) x2 (to get 20%) = $5.00.
Then I take 1% of $25.00 by moving the 10% one decimal place: $0.25 and Multiply by 2= $0.50 and subtract that 2% from the 20% I calculated ($5.00-$0.50=$4.50)

Or

I calculate the 15% as noted above, move the decimal for the 1% x3 (for 3% ) to add the 3% to the 15%, and AbraCadabra, alacazam, prestochango, voila!: I have an accurate 18%!

(Of course, unless service is really bad, I would also usually round the $3.75 up to $4 and leave that, or the $4.50 up to a $5 bill and leave that.
I've never waited tables, but have been a cook in restaurants and know how hard those waitpeople work!)

Now that anyone reading this post has either learned something new, or is thoroughly confused, I'll go rest on my laurels.

PS: when I heard the "new new math being taught some years ago was called "Base 10", I thought 'thats about what I've been doing, 10 anything is easier to work with'...but then someone who tutors kids, and had to learn this"base 10" method explained it to me, I found out it's NOT exactly what I've been doing!!
And she left me confused on this "base 10" new new math...

Best to all, now that the math lessons are over, can we get back to our regularly scheduled "Curios Quotes"???

In adding long columns of figures I look for compliments.
All this is in my head, although I might use tick marks on longer columns

Here is the random column of figures:
47
23
45
85
37
28
72

Parsing the units column (complimentary pairs are bolded):
47\
23/ = 10
45\
85/ = 10
37
28\
72/ = 10

remember the thirty, write the 7

Parsing the tens column:
47\
23 - =100
45/
85\
------37\
28/ = 100
------72/ = 100

337

I'm still not sure what a serendipitous quote is, since serendipity requires unrelated processes to suddenly have bilateral relevance.

I guess "I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, and you've got a brand new key." would fit?