Villainous Company

Funniest thing ever is to watch Will whine over the Packers..his team since he was about 8 years old.

There's going to be lots of entertainment this year..)

As for me, my only complaint is that I couldn't watch the last few minutes of the Ol' Miss - Alabama game the other day. After Ol' Miss faked a punt and then threw a bomb for a touchdown to tie it up... I had to go.

Now that's just not fair.

I eagerly await the grudge match between the Utes and the Cougars.

It is that time of year again...

Watching men IS a sport! As a matter of fact, it should be made a freakin Olympic competition!

Well said! Hear hear!

heh.

Yes, well I felt for him after yesterday's game Carrie.

But it was still funny as all get out. Of course, having the parts of an entertainment center all over the living room while he was trying to watch the game didn't improve his mood any, I don't think. If I ever see one more set of instructions with no (*&^%^& words I am going to lose it.

I am female.

Diagrams just do not cut it for me. I need to be told - "put the cam thingy in slot x and turn a quarter turn until the little arrow points to where Venus usually rises in the night sky, if you happen to be in your living room, otherwise rotate it until you have dislocated your right elbow or until the threads are *completely* stripped off the cheap (*&^ connector that we didn't provide any spares for..."

That, I can understand. But not pictures. Women don't do pictures.

WE NEED TO HEAR THE WORDS!!!!!

I hate it when diagrams can't commit. Would you care to start an empowerment circle?

I'll bring my drum.

(* whispering to Cassandra, so no one else can hear *)

I can follow pictures or words. It takes the same set of gifts to be an automotive, civil, mechanical or aerospace engineer as it takes to be a seamstress. But don't tell the boys, especially in a post about men wearing flip-flops.

(* oh, double blush! This isn't a post about men wearing flip-flops! *)

I *so* do not have spatial visualization.

I was doing great putting together than entertainment center until almost the end. And then my husband just happened to notice that the stupid cams sticking out of the legs weren't even.

Normally I am way more observant about details than he. But he is so smart about that kind of thing, and he can rotate objects in his mind, a skill I utterly lack. We had to redrill a few of the holes that weren't predrilled correctly at the factory.

Now I figured out a few things that made it easier for us to get the (*&^ thing back on track. I am very good at adapting when things go wrong.

But I was amazed watching him pick up the pieces and rotate them around and figure out what was wrong. I just *cannot* do that! I suck at it. I would have to lay them side by side and literally connect them with string or something to "see" where it was off - I can't visually rotate objects in 3D in my mind the way many men can. So that is a talent that I am envious of.

And you're right about that talent - I had to overcome it big-time to sew, and I check sleeves and the like three times before sew, after having to rip out WAY too many seams pinned the wrong way
:)

Would I be banned from the Circle (I can bring a drum, too) if I said that spatial visualization is second nature to me? I used to finish all those kinds of tests in minutes without missing a single question. Personally, I prefer the ones without words sometimes, because the translation from Chinese/Japanese really irritates the crap out of my sense of proper English. I've usually had enough after the first paragraph and will ignore the words from that point on and just go with the diagram.

No, you would not, because I can think like that too, but I do it for sewing and knitting. Which is why all of the knits I make for Loved Ones and Friends are seamless. It irks me no end to go back and forth and then sew the farkin' thing together, although when I took my Master Knitting
cert I can sew invisibly...just HATE doing it.
That and Kitchener Stitch for the toesies in socks. Which it why they are knit from the toe up to avoid that partiklar irritation.

I can knit without a pattern too, although I do write down what I have done.

I also liked (sh. Don't tell the oinkery. They would laugh hysterically) taking care of my vehicles when the Engineer was deployed.

Not at all. My Mom and MIL have it in spades. I think it's neat. Actually the trait is passed through the female.

It just skipped me, I'm afraid. One son has it and the other doesn't, so I must have passed it to one and not the other. Genetics is weird.

Sly2017 -

I am the same way with the tests you describe. I love taking them. I have a physical sensation in my brain that I really like when I mentally assemble an object. I always assumed everyone could do it and was surprised to find that it does not come naturally to many people. All of my siblings have the same capacity for 3-D visualization that I do, so of course we thought it came with the basic package.

It's an interesting aptitude. Supposedly it is one of several that causes extreme restlessness and dissatisfaction if you have it and have no outlet for it.

I'm terrible at it. The test for it when I was tested is called a wiggly block. I tried and tried - I think I got it halfway back together in the allotted time.

My brother just snapped it right together like it was nothing. Of course I whipped his butt on a whole slew of other tests (like I pretty much swept the musical aptitudes), and he kicked mine on others. Fascinating stuff.

You mean people do badly on parts of these "aptitude" tests? I always assumed the whole thing was just a self-esteem exercise.

;)

MathMom, go to your room, this minute!!

Don't feel bad, Cass. I'm light years behind Well-Trained Gorillas in spatial relations.

Years ago, while attempting to obtain a military academy appointment, I had to take a difficult and highly competitive written exam: Verbal/Math/Spatial Relations. My scores: Off the charts/Mediocre at best/You're kiddin', right?

What drives me nuts is that my wife's just like MathMom: See it/Use secret cranial handshake/Presto! Problem solved. She never attended college, but, when we remodeled our house, she deciphered the plans effortlessly. The architect, amazed by my inability to grasp the simplest info shown on his cuneiform, er, drawings, adopted the Run-Spot-Run approach with me. And they both laughed at my ineptitude.

[Sulking while hammering keyboard]
I have to examine some highway plans now. Understanding them is important to one of my cases, so I may as well embellish my IQ/SR (Incompetence Quotient/Spatial Relations).

Say, Smarty-Pants MathMom....Is a 10:1 slope steeper than a 5:1 slope? Or is it the other way around? I keep forgetting, and my engineer consultants just roll their eyes when I keep asking them to remind me. Da noive! [Harrumphing while skulking off]

§[:-)]

Shortly after aquiring the R.O.P., there arose the need to demonstrate my spatial lading technique (and thereby my R.O.P. qualifications) to Mah Huzzband. (We PCS'd to NC) While he and a few buddies brought all the boxes, furniture, etc. to the back of the U-Haul, I was busy playing my own mental Tetris game loading everything into the tightest possible configuration. I enjoy the heck out of it -- especially when it really *fits*.
When we left NC, I loaded the entire contents (9 years accumulation) of a huge 3 brm house, two car garage and attic (plus two dogs, a beta fish and a three year old -- oh, and us) into a 27' U-Haul and the back of a Ranger pickup.
Now, there is no question who does what when we move -- he knows, he's the (Emmanuelle) labor.

;-)

Say, Smarty-Pants MathMom....Is a 10:1 slope steeper than a 5:1 slope? Or is it the other way around?

Howdy, Grrrrrr-8!

If you have trouble with slope problems, I suggest this approach. Construct a rudimentary Cartesian coordinate plane, using only the upper right quadrant. Visualize the x-axis being the table, and the y-axis being a standard 12" ruler perpendicular to the table. Procure a piece of stiff cardboard or poster board about 3" wide and 15" long. Fold the cardboard/poster board in half the long way, making a 15" long gutter. Now, use the cardboard to make the slope problem come to life. With one end of the cardboard resting on the table, raise the other end of the cardboard to the 5" location on the ruler for the first test, to the 10" location for the second one. When everything is ready, go to the store and buy one of those bags of the little Snickers (TM) balls (are they called Pop-Ems?) Return home quickly, before consuming all the Snickers (TM) balls.

Raise the cardboard to the 5" height, and roll a Snickers (TM) ball down the cardboard gutter. Raise the cardboard gutter to the 10" height and repeat. The Snickers (TM) ball will roll faster when the slope is greater. If you experience difficulty estimating the velocity of the Snickers (TM) balls, enlist the aid of a State Trooper with a radar gun to clock the speed of the Snickers (TM) ball as it rolls off the table. If your dog likes Snickers (TM) as much as you do, you should sequester him in another room before beginning this experiment.

Congratulate yourself for a well-conducted experiment by consuming the remaining four Snickers (TM) balls.

Can I just eat the Snickers (TM) and say to heck with the Cartesian plane?

Sly2017,

You certainly may. The Snickers (TM) are used instead of marbles to distract from the fact that I didn't answer Santini's question! ;)

*claps hands*

Pretty! The Engineer and the Corps of Engineers
came to my house to construct a Ramp Of Power.

It had to be a certain slope; was too steep for a wheelchair, but had enough of a slope that I could walk it comfortably.

*swats at Snickers bars*

MathMom,
You answered Santini's question. Granted, it may not have been the answer he wanted....it was still an answer. Remember, in math there are no *wrong* answers. Just theorum's based on an innovative application of the rudimentary laws and properties.

Math Mom, That has got to be the first time I have laughed at a math problem.

Thank you.

Ps. 10-1

Well apparently all of my post didn't make it.

GS, 5:1 is Greater Than 10:1.

Regards,Unkawill

MathMom:

From your response, you seem to be saying, like the late Steve Mizerak in his Miller Lite™ commercials: "Just showin' off!"

At first, my eyes glazed over in incomprehension at your nonanswer, but I perked up when you said Da Magic Woid: Snickers™ Balls! A subject I could get my teeth into! I bought a bag, but, while pondering the remainder of the slope problem, I ate them all (the dog got shut out).

With the sugar rush thus attained, I followed your instructions to the letter and solved the slope problem. The Big Dig now resides in my back yard! I'm the envy of my neighborhood, and I owe it all to you. Thanks for no help.

§[:-)]

Unkawill:

Unlike SnarkMom—er, MathMom—you are too kind. Thank you for answering my boneheaded question accurately. (Actually, I admire her ability to understand spatial relations stuff, but don't tell her that.)

It's all coming back to me now: 10:1 means that for every 10' out from some imaginary point the surface drops 1'; 5:1 means the same drop, but over a 5' distance. Ergo, a 5:1 slope is twice as steep as a 10:1 slope. We bad! We bad! [Swaggering, thumping chest]

Alas, my ability to retain this type of information is a 1:1 slope. [Sigh....]

Grrrrrrrr-8!

Talk about showing off! Snickers™, with the little (TM) up there where it should be? I can never remember how to do that, so I have to find someone who has and cut/paste it into my post! Now that I have a template, however, I'm going to trademark™ everything™! BTW, sorry about your back yard.

Sly2017 -

I believe that it's better to feel good about yourself while you do math, (see how happy Santini was after a bucketload of those little Snickers™ balls?) than to do the boring drudgery of drilling math facts until you are actually competent at it. Santini was so inspired by his good feelings about math that he renovated (?) his back yard. Who knows how much he could have accomplished if I'd made it a three-part problem, which included ice cream?

When you learn math my way, occupations open up to you that would be closed if you knew what you were doing. For example, you can write economic news, about how the recent drop in gasoline prices hurts the poor gas station owners (of course, the run-up in gasoline prices benefitted only Halliburton), you can point out that the record highs in the stock market of late make wealth even further from the grasp of the poor. If the stock market begins to recede from nose-bleed highs, you can point to Bush's failed economic policies.

The world is your oyster!

Unkawill -

Thanks for the compliment. It was fun to write.

Next up:
Building a catapault for tree rats.

OOOOOGGHH,Building a catapault for tree rats.

I can't wait. This is going to be FUN!

Will this be anything like dwarf tossing?

MathMom:

I don't like oysters, but the ice cream part of your next brain-twister shows promise. I like cherry vanilla, mint chocolate chip, and (natch) chocolate chip cookie dough, but I'm certainly not picky about ice cream.

Be sure to ™, ©, or ® your next effort, so no one steals your intellectual property.

:cool:

Santini -

I'd love to write a whole math book, using all those flavors of ice cream, but I feel I must pursue my creativity elsewhere. I'm waiting for more information about the Catapaulted Tree Rats©. (Hmmmm....I wonder if tree rats like oysters?)

Thanks for the copyright!

MathMom®

No, but I hear they like pudding.

I had seen a video, and I think it was here, about some guys that built a sort of slingshot/catapault or catapult for squirrels.

I clicked on the link, and so help me, I laughed until I cried.

Here is a study which supports my "feel good about yourself while doing math" approach to math instruction. I rest my case.

PULL! and the Squirrel Catapult!

YES!!!! The first one I found last night when I was searching, but the second one was the one that was posted either here or at Jet Noise.

Hate those furry little blighters.

I can't STAND Squirrels. I've an Oak and Pecan trees in the back yard. I get to spend a couple days each spring DIGGING up "volunteers" out of the Veggie garden in back and the Flower gardens and yard in the front. If there is anything I hate it is extrainous yard work