The Right Time in November

This is the right time in November to do some calculating.  You see, calculations are things that give you information that you can use.  Why I remember these things is a mystery, but I remember them. 

For example, in the post on Cell Phones and Driving, I quoted a velocity constant:  44 feet per second is the same as 30 miles per hour.  Using that constant, you can figure out how fast you can walk, or how far your car can travel in ten seconds at 60 miles per hour by doing simple math and some eyeball measurements.

Three-Four-Five is a right-angled triangle constant.  If the shortest side of a right angled triangle is 3 feet (or inches, or kilometres) and the second longest side is 4 feet, then the longest side (the hypotenuse) will always be exactly 5 feet.  The angle where the 3 and 4 meet is always a perfect 90 degree angle.  That’s great for laying out a fence, a deck, a garden or a soccer pitch, as you always get perfect 90 degree corners.

Then there is the Rule of Forty.  Forty weeks is the gestation of the Human and you can see that in action around this time of the year.  Humans naturally don’t take exactly 40 weeks to gestate: 39 to 41 weeks is the average. To be precise, November 21st is exactly 40 weeks from February 14th.   

The question you get to answer with this useless piece of knowledge is:  Did your parents celebrate Valentine’s Day in a, um, errr, "traditional" manner. 

If you birthday is between next week and the end of the month, give or take, the answer is probably, well, Yes.  And you are the proof.   

Isn’t math wonderful?  Happy Birthday!