Sunday, January 26, 2003

Okay, so I saw Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and enjoyed it, perhaps not quite as much as Joe did, but probably about 100 times more than I would have enjoyed it had I not been in NAQT, especially this past week. Sorry that that curve has to hang for you, but I'll explain it later, probably much later.

After the movie, while waiting for the table at the restaurant the following exchange occurred, proving that:
a. I am a geek.
b. I will attempt alpha geekdom wherever possible.
c. I really need some kind of aversion therapy for puns.

Scene: the lobby of a restaurant that likes to put metal things on the wall and call it atmosphere.
Joe: "Actually at this point, to kill time, I'm using my Kaplan training to show that the number on that license plate is divisible by 3, but not by nine."
Joe points to a plate marked 12837.
DEK: (after a moment's pause) "and also by eleven."
Joe: (after a couple moments to run the number through). "Yeah, how'd you do that."

I then explain how you split the numbers into two sets, alternating as you go, so in the above case 1, 8, and 7 are in one set, and 2 and 3 in the other. Sum the sets and subtract one set from the other. If that number's a multiple of 11, so's the original number.

Joe: "Hmm. We don't teach THAT in Kaplan."
DEK: "Yeah, nobody teaches that anymore. That's OLD School. Literally."
Joe: "So should I expect you to be running around wearing a retro Goldbach jersey?"
DEK: (pausing a second to figure if the joke would work.) "No. A retro Euler jersey."

No shame, only puns.

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