Hi all!! I very very very rarely post anywhere on here, I usually just enjoy what all you great people say, but I thought I'd throw something in here. I'm 99% sure this is the right place. I just want someone to talk to during the day. About TV, whatever. I get a little downtime at work, and like to trade email, IMs, whatever. Amazing Race is my favorite reality show, so I thought I'd start here! I live in the Chicago area, not that it matters, and I'm 25 and female and not single. Again, not that it matters. I just want to talk to someone!! I'm quite antisocial in face to face situations, but I can handle myself quite nicely through the written word. Hee hee.

I just read this. I sound pathetic. Oh well, maybe I am. Anyone want to talk to me? :)

Oh yeah, you can email me from my profile :)

Wha? How on Earth?

Who knew we had so many math nerds here? Math is my personal nemesis - it always has been. I mean, I get some parts of geometry and basic algebra but the rest? Color me stupid.

I had the most lop-sided SAT scores in history - I got a 1290 - and only 500 of those points were from the math section.
[embarrassed whisper] I think you automatically get 400 points in a section for filling out your name and SSN correctly. [/embarrassed whisper]

Anyway, being a partial science major in college, I was forced to take all sorts of math classes. I'm sorry to admit that I cheated my way through Statistics, and I failed Calculus. The second time around my Calc teacher felt so sorry for me and my ineptitude that he gave me the passing grade that I needed even though I had like a 36 average in class. Pathetic really.

So the TAR finale is Sept. 21 huh? Oh well, I guess that means I won't be wearing a ball gown anytime this decade. Unless...hmmm, do you think wearing one to TARCon would be too much?

I always thought I was halfway decent in math, until I hit pre-calc in high school. Why I took AP Calc, I don't know, but I'm glad I did.

But since I'm an elementary ed major, chances are that finding derivatives and integrals won't be part of my daily work. Instead, I had to take three semesters of teacher math, which I affectionately dubbed "crap math" 'cuz that's what it was. In these classes (which were content courses and not methods courses), I learned how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and was re-taught everything I learned in high school algebra and geometry. What bothered me, was that there were people in my class who were hearing these things for the first time- in college! Well, that and writing 3-5 page papers every other week... for a math class... about hippos. (Ok, only the first one was about hippos.)

I lived on a floor full of engineers and I showed every one of them my math book and assignments. They wanted to do my homework while I longed for something more challenging that would make me stop smacking my forehead in class. Funny how that works.

Okay, I just gotta ask: How does one write a math paper about hippos???

Very carefully, obviously : )

you can tell about where I live when I read this as "METH is the only class...". Yeah, we don't have a Meth problem in central illinois.

I always liked math and even considered being a math teacher. Then I took Calc in college. I still remember calling my mom, in tears, because I was failing. I ended up passing, but it crushed my desires to teach math...then I discovered that I really loved history. I still enjoy helping my students with their math during study hall.

One of my hard sciences classes was cross-listed with a bunch of engineering courses (I took it as a geography course) -- it was an air pollution seminar. I walk in to the lecture hall, and it's 72 guys, 2 other women, and me. (This was back in the olden days, when women seldom became engineers.) I may have been the only person not taking it as an engineering course. So the professor in charge of the course announces that there will be a lecturer from a different discipline each week, covering topics like agriculture, mining, economics, etc. And we have two choices to make: we can write a 2-4 page paper each week, or we can take one big test at the end of the semester. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

I wrote some of the damnedest stuff in those short papers, and I got an A every single week. It wasn't all bullshit, but at least in part I blinded them with rhetoric. As opposed to blinding them with science. (I hope someone else knows that reference.) I wasn't the only person who took the paper option, but I think there were fewer than 10 of us.

Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!

I feel your pain. This past term I took a fourth-year air pollution meteorology course, and it was the worst science class I have ever taken. I thought it would be more on the descriptive, non-analytical side - I have never been more wrong. All this dude did all term was derive equations to describe pollution dispersion involving partial derivatives and other crap! None of us in the class had a clue what was going on, as we were all physical geography majors who had no choice but to take this class as part of our meteorology component. If I ever hear the term "gaussian plume" again I just may go crazy.

To add to the math discussion, now. I did great in math in elementary school and high school and barely managed to get A's in first year calculus, but that all changed when I had to take calculus III. Double and triple integrals are the scariest shit ever, and thinking back on them still makes me want to cry. My average for the midterms was below 50%, but they miraculously made the final easier so I ended up barely passing. Worst course I have ever taken, hands down. I don't even know why it was required for my degree.

I had a huge amount of HATE for math. Unfortunately, it was my best subject. I could do it in my sleep. Too bad I was bored to tears by it. Then in 11th grade I got to take Physics. It was a miracle! A subject that took something I was good at but hated (math) and made it actually mean something. I jumped aboard the physics train and continued it in college. I have B.S. in Physics and Astrophysics with a minor in math (which I got simply because of the number of math classes needed for the physics major). When I took the GRE I scored perfect on the math and analysis sections, and poorly on all of the English stuff. It evened out in the end to give me a pretty darn good score - one that got me into all of the grad schools I applied to and then failed to attend.

So what am I doing today, you ask? I'm a software engineer. It seems to be what all physicists are doing these days. My hubby is finishing his PhD in physics at Stanford this month, and having watched him go through the whole PhD process I can very confidently say that it is not for me. Of course, the software industry is also boring me to tears, so I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Ahhhh, Math. Fun times. Except when your Differential Equations class is taught by a visiting professor from Italy with very poor teaching skills and no command of the English language. I got a 72 on the final, and was excited, until I realized it was out of 200 points. I still got a C in the class.

But the thing is that so much of Engineering, especially Mechanical Engineering, is based on DiffEq, that I ended up learning it eventually.

The biggest thing I learned in Engineering school is one basic principle that drives so much of the world: If you go in, you either stay in or you leave. Put this in math form, and you have a good chunk of Fluids, Heat & Mass Transfer, Circuits, Thermo, and other topics I am forgetting right now. (And yes, I am what happens when an engineer and a teacher decide to have kids.)



I was in the same boat. I tested out of the English requirement, and never had to take an English or Lit class in all of college. We were the ones in Econ class bored out our mind when the TA was explaining demand curves, when the Liberal Arts majors were scratching our heads. But I'm sure if I was in an advances psych class, it would kick my ass.

Heh. I remember second year Economics for Engineers. The first day the professor told us about the mathematics and science behind economics. Then he threw a supply-and-demand curve up on the board. He was promptly asked what the equation was that described it. He spent quite a bit of time explaining that there was no specific equation, that the curve simple modelled the behaviour of systems in certain situations...

"So it's not math or science then."

"No, no, it is quite mathematical..."

"So what is the equation?"

Et cetera.

Heh. Good times.

Funny math story from 9th grade: Our teacher was quickly approaching the end of her rope with all the whining from the students of are we ever going to need this stuff in real life?

So, she gave us a week-long mission to write a report about a family member's occupation, and what type of math they do on a daily basis at work. She was looking forward to hearing about all those moms and dads that sweat over differential equations and challenging moments converting multi-variable expressions into formulas that keep the world spinning.

Huge mistake.

Of the 30 kids in the class, 27 of them came back with reports that amounted to basic addition and subtraction. Some had a hint of division in there, but not many. One had use of fractions, but that was just because his mom worked in a fabric store. There was one kid who had a dad who did lots of complicated math all day, but only because he was a 12th grade math teacher down the hall (total cop-out on that one). The 30th kid had the best answer - no math, just counting days, one-by-one. On the wall. In his cell.

Wooo! Go stat! After slogging through junior-year precalc with a godawful teacher (I spent the final three months of class doing crossword puzzles in the back row), I decided that I had had enough of the whole "calculus" business. I switched over to AP Stat for senior year and heartily enjoyed it. I think the difference is that I can actually imagine myself using what I've learned from stat in a real-world situation.



See? Calculus: Crushing People's Spirits Since Whenever That Bastard Leibnitz Was Alive

By the way: Hi! I'm cjgurl, and I hail from the Alias boards! I recently discovered the wonder that is TAR and will be passing Alias's unprecedented seven-month hiatus around here. Phil is handsome.

I can't forget a video with a monkey in it.


What are classes I also sucked at? (Phrased in the form of a question to welcome back M Darcy)

Throw in Naval Architecture, Circuits, Strength of Materials, Electronics, and a slew of labs and shops and you've got the reason why four years of my life are a total blur. I'm glad I have pictures that prove I went to college. And I'm even smiling in some of them.

Oh hee. Hee hee hee. This made me giggle for like 10 minutes.

I'm still in awe that so many people here have so much math knowledge. I keep reading people's posts and thinking - damn! Differential Equations? The hell?

I bow down before all of you Math Gods and Godesses

All I know is that Papa Tiger stopped letting me put entries in the family checkbook after I made a $1,000 mistake. (Hey, it was only one extra zero!) And I use a calculator to add anything that has a sum over 10. You math people are scary.

Heh, Mama Tiger, I may have a physics/math degree but I need a calculator for the most basic of checkbook-balancing tasks. Ask me to derive the Theory of General Relativity? No problem. Ask me to subtract the $24.58 for the water bill from my checking account? Disaster.

My cousin, who works for a company that makes fancy stuff used in outer space (can you tell I don't know what widgets they really make?), cannot drive half a mile without getting lost. Even if he's been that way hundreds of times. I shudder to think what will happen if they ever assign him to a project making navigational widgets.



Isn't that fun? My first class in which I was the only girl was in seventh grade (technical drawing) and it kept happening all the way through to my senior year of college. I've lost track of how many classes I had with only two or three other girls. I was the only woman to major in CS in my year at university.

And you know what's disappointing? I started out college thinking, okay, if I have to put up with endless discussions about how many beers everyone had last night and how long it took them to pass out on the frat house porch and how hot so-and-so is, at least I should have an inside track towards finding dates. And it didn't help one bit -- they all dated English majors, it seemed. I was like everyone's little sister, right down to them tugging on my braid. It wasn't until I graduated that I realized how lucky I was -- why in the world did I want to date someone who thought that passing out on the lawn was something to brag about?

My very first day of college, I walked into a classroom for a DiffEq class. There were about 40 people in the room and only about 35 chairs. I was sitting in one of the chairs, since it was my first day in college and I had gotten there early due to new-freshman anxiety. The professor walked in and looked around and said, "Hmmm. Too many students, not enough chairs. Okay, everyone with a uterus leave."

I don't miss the 70s At. All.

OK, mel, I'll see if I can zip it up for you. I'll also give you a heads up before I send it--it may be a tad on the big side.

BhP, thanks for the reassurance that it is pattern-recognition. I always felt like I was cheating somehow. "I'll do this. I don't know why, but I'll do it."

Bullshit papers? loved 'em. Got a way higher score than I deserved on a philosophy bluebook exam because it was such brilliant bullshit. Seriously, that's the comment the professor put on it. "This makes no sense, and you don't know what you're talking about, but it's brilliantly convincing." Of course, he was the head of the department, and was given to wearing a Snoopy sweater to class. And led a wonderful discussion of the doggerel that someone (not me! I swear!) wrote on the board before one class.

Did that math paper on Hippos perchance have anything to do with hippos and taxidermy?

Heh! I'm only half scary since I like math up to a point but differential equations and such are beyond frightening. However, my bf thinks I am a freak because I can balance my checkbook in my head.

When I was getting my masters in econ (technically ag econ but unless you went to a land grant university, I doubt anyone knows or cares about the difference), I had the joy of taking econometrics which is like the bastard love child of statistics and math to solve/prove economic theory. I studied like crazy, got my A and promptly forgot almost everything in that class. And I got to learn how to test my regressions for heteroskedaticity. Hee! I probably couldn't do it today to save my life but its a fun word to say.

And Zron Your story cracked me up!

Heteroskedaticity? My goodness, that's certainly more than a 50¢ word! What on earth does it mean?

Well going off my very shaky memory, heteroskedaticity is a disturbance to a multiple regression model that violates classical assumption. I think that the term refers to disturbances to the models that have different variances. I remember that consumer spending surveys were typically full of this type of disturbance so one would have to add dummy variables to the regression model to account for seasonality. [/end econ geek mode]

Yeah, I have never once used it outside my master's program. I suppose if I had gone for a PhD it would be useful but in the real world....not so much.

Just so I don't sound like a complete and total dork....I missed the drinking conversation. And Mama Tiger I have to say that the drunkest I have EVER been was in New Orleans but I was actually at a regional conference for my subject of study and even served as an officer in the student section of the professional membership. So after staying out until 4 am...drinking god knows what..I had to ride down the glass elevator of the hotel for a 9 am meeting and try to be professional. I was doing ok..sipping my Sprite; until some yahoo comes in the lobby smoking a pipe and I just about die. Ugh! The day after the 30th b-day was also not pretty....my 30 yr body didn't bounce back as quickly as in my younger days.

And I had some totally cool professors in my major field of study and on my graduate committee. After I passed the oral defense of my master's thesis; my grad committee all took me to the bar for drinks. Heh!

Sigh. I just had to ask. Color me as clueless as I was before I ever heard the term!

And Suzikins, you are definitely not alone in being drunker in New Orleans than anywhere else. It's an astonishingly common occurrence. What's nice about this place, however, is that you can get as drunk as you want as long as you're not bothering other people; the cops won't arrest you for public drunkenness unless you really go out of your way to earn it. Like urinating in public, groping an unwilling person (groping the willing is fine), or other normally antisocial behavior.

But don't do any of that stuff outside the French Quarter; except for a little discreet boob-flashing at Mardi Gras parades (and only in such a way that the kids on the parade routecan't see it, and there are many kids on the parade route when you get away from Canal Street), the town is almost puritanical. Except when it comes to food (too much is always better) and public availability of alcohol, of course. I've never been to another sports arena where you can buy a Hurricane (which starts with 4 oz. of hard liquor) or its equivalent, the Hand Grenade or the Spacelab, and not have serious riots break out! Heck, I can even buy a daiquiri at the mall or at the movie theater!

Going back a couple pages to the discussion about Zuma - I am glad I am not the only one addicted! I've played enough that I've gone all the way through level 13 several times.
I think that people who are playing the free on-line version will find the game harder than the premium ($$) download version. The premium version is both more in-depth and more possible to win. And more possible to totally suck your time.

Heh. Sometimes? I still count on my fingers.

But hey, ask me to bullshit for 20 pages about Derrida or Spenser's The Faerie Queen and I'm your girl.

My frustration with the free online version is that every time I'd be going well, I'd lose my connection to the gameserver. Forget that! But it's good to know I'm not alone in being truly obsessed by this one. I gave several months of my life to Snood first, but find that I ultimately prefer Zuma for a challenge.

Dude...I'm pretty sure that the cab driver who took us back to the hotel was high! And when we were waiting outside of the hotel for the trolley to take us to the French Quarter, this guy comes running by, crashes into the bushes to be followed by police and a camera crew chasing on foot. I don't know if COPS! was taping or what the deal was. Good times!

Funny story...a year or so ago; my boss and several other mid-management types from my bank (think middle-aged bankers) had a business meeting in New Orleans smack in the middle of Mardi Gras. So they decide to take a walk around and see the sights. One of the credit managers remarked that Mardi Gras is like an X-rated county fair. Hee!

Mmmm....hurricanes. Yummy! I collect shot glasses when I travel (shut up! Its less lame than most souvenirs) and my most treasured one is in the shape of a tiny hurricane glass from Pat O'Briens. Love it!

ETA: JenEx How did your home visit go? And did you get the employment paperwork snafu worked out?

Yeah, Mardi Gras time can be kinda surreal. I was walking down the street in business clothing at 11:00 a.m. a week before Mardi Gras a couple years ago, and along came six guys wearing what looked like colorful pajamas, belts made from webbing that had slip-in rings for six cans of beer, and hardhats on their heads with large plastic penises sticking up.

And what really made it surreal was that nobody gave them a second glance! Hee!

The story problem involved a zoo keeper weighing three hippos, but the hippos individually were too light to register, so she had to weigh them in groups. We had to write a paper stating the problem, how to solve it, the weight of each hippos, and if she would be able to in fact do it before the scale broke and give each hippo its correct weight. It was also in that "math" lesson that I learned the pigs have sex for pleasure.

GRRRRRRRR. I guess there was something about the 80s after all.

I did that! Well, kind of. It was intro to combinatorics, so lots of probability. I loved that class.



The odds are good, but the goods are odd. :)

I heard a female engineer say that a few years ago and man, is it true. At least around these parts.



My worst math course ever (linear algebra) was taught by a visiting professor. But it wasn't his thick Israeli accent that was the biggest problem...it was his handwriting. He would write v, n, 3, and beta on the board and they all looked the same. Same with rho, l, and p. It was a nightmare.

I am humbled by my company here! Wow!

I went to the art school part of a University with formidable engineering, business, and medical schools attached. I got most of my math/science requirements out of the way by using the softer sides of the Anthropology and Psychology departments, but I did end up in one hard(ish) science course by accident because of it's connection to Art history. I will never forget the look on our geologist professor's face when she realized that everyone in the Age Dating of Artifacts class was from the Art School. "Okay, you guys need to borrow a calculator from someone...and then push this button here...".

I love being graded on a curve.

This is my first season of TAR viewing, and I don't know if I have the strength to make it through. Agony and ecstasy already- I now understand the love.

Me too...but can you multiply by 9's on your fingers?

I can, I can! I learned that trick a while back, and I still use it automatically.

I know the nine's trick as well. It's pretty cool.

I graduated from college in the 90s. There were 18 women in my class, originally. Twelve of us received our degrees; 6 in engineering.

I know it was a small school, but dag! That left 180 men, most of which considered me a buddy or a sister. Unless we were seniors. Then, I got to learn that I wasn't as ugly and generally undesirable as they wanted me to think. It was all a game. A sick, twisted game that did nothing for my self-esteem. That was an interesting experience. I learned a lot about men during that time.


And cheaper too! I just got two new ones today.

And I don't even really drink (well, other than TARcon) unless I'm in New Orleans. That place sucks me in so fast I never know what hit me. A Hand Gernade or a couple Hurricanes are all it takes to get me on the fast track to being an upcoming act at the Cat's Meow. (A picture of the last escapade is my screensaver. Funny, but not pretty.)

I wrote a term paper in that funky math class I took in HS. It was crap. Mostly charts that I got from the State Police (pre-internet). I think it had something to do with statistics and speeding tickets.

Fear not, Thomas Dolby.

Hee! Is that some sort of grade curve penalty for the failing? "If you place in the bottom 50th percentile, you must massage the heads of those smarter than you during class."

Whoa, now, Sparky... who said anything about Arithmetic? I still contend this is completely separate from other maths. I anti-differentiate to my heart's content, but when I plug in numbers to solve for the constant, I multiply 8*3 and end up with 18. Thank God for partial credit. I, too, have been banned from the checkbook register, destined to carbon copy checks (I like'em) and saving all ATM/debit card receipts for Mr.Kate. I wouldn't mind if he didn't have such a problem with my need for shoes.

My mom is working on her doctoral thesis on women in math education. Would you mind if I passed on this anecdote to her?

I don't think I can without my fingers.

Ok, somebody spill the 9's trick. I don't know that one.



We had our first visit last night, and I think it went really well. The social work seems really nice and friendly, and has two adopted kids who came home as toddlers, so she'll be an awesome source of information. Plus, the dog liked her, always a good sign.

The paperwork snafu is not yet worked out, sadly, but my boss is over in that building today and promises to harass them. She extracted a promise from the HR director that they would work something out, "we just don't know what yet." Sigh. Why do people strive so hard to make other people's lives more complicated?

ok, you are all freaking me outwith all this talk of math. I became a librarian so I could avoid math, but of ourse, when doing book fair totals, I have to use decimals and other math stuff that bug me. Thank goodness for calculators.

Multiplying by Nines Using Your Fingers
Making something so easy sound so hard by explaining it in so many steps

Step One Put both hands out in front of you

Step Two Fold under the finger that corresponds to the number you want to multiply by 9 (for example, if you are multiplying 9x4, you would fold under your left index finger).

Step Three Count how many fingers are to the left of the finger you have down. This is the first digit in your answer (in our example, 3).

Step Four Count how many fingers are to the right of the finger you have down. This is the second digit in your answer (in our example, 6).

Put them together and, tada!, you have your answer (in our example, 36). This works for all whole numbers between and including 1 and 10.

I couldnt balance my checkbook if I had three calculators and an accountant helping me.

I am fascinated by people that are good with numbers. My mother was an accountant all of my childhood. And yet I failed algebra three times. Not because I couldnt understand the concepts but because I couldnt add the equations. With a calculator.

I thought you were just joking about being able to multiply by nines on your fingers. That's crazy. Now, is there anything for the 13 times tables?

I got home from work at 10:30 last night, and I was planning on watching TAR at 11:00 on satellite. But of course, when I get home, my parents are watching it, so I was stuck sitting in my kitchen with my ears plugged reading the newspaper so I wouldn't see/hear any of it.

Rote memorization?

Okay. But I am counting impaired. I swear, it takes me longer to figure out which finger to fold down for seven than it does to remember that the answer is 63.

But it is a neat trick, I must say. I think I'll teach it to the boy.

The other trick that I actually use more than the fingers (if for no other reason than people look at me weird when I stick my hands up and screw up my face in concentration (which involves sticking my tongue out) to count fingers) is this one:

When you multiply 9 by 1-10, the two digits of the answer always add up to nine, and the first digit is always one less than the number you are multiplying by.

EX) 4x9= 36. 4-1=3, 9-3=6, 3+6=9

It's not that time saving if you actually multiply right, but I am one of those "pattern recognition" folks, that would mentally count in binary rather than just convert for many, many years. And hexadecimal remained a mystery until the day I did finally really understand other base systems.

In fact, when you multiply anything by nine, the answer digits add up to nine. It's a shortcut to finding out if something is divisible by nine. 45,732,276? Divisible by nine. 13,672,041? Not.

(It works for three as well. If all the digits add up to something divisible by three, the number is divisible by three. Try 35,214.)

That sounds like a Jeopardy! category: "Prime, Nine, or None of the Above" (hey, it's just as good as "Donny, Loni, or Yanni").

Of course I would fail at adding the digits.

Word. This is a common phrase uttered around my workplace, especially on Thursdays when we do lunch and we are all trying to figure out what we owe. Listening to 6 librarians and/or archivists trying to figure out how much they owe another librarian or archivist for their Biggie Fries and Frosty can be highly entertaining.