Reminded just how random life is

Hm!  Today I was reminded just how random life is.

Today I walked past -- and recognized! -- someone who I worked with at my last job, and haven't seen in about five years.


But, the following convergences were required for this to happen:

-I had a blood donation appointment scheduled for the middle of the day -- but I ended up re-scheduling it because due to illness and meetings, I was the only person "on deck" in my team, and I didn't want to leave our area unattended. 

-So then I figured that since I wasn't donating blood that day, during my lunch break, I'd visit a used bookstore near the other end of downtown that I'd been meaning to visit (I hadn't been there in a while).  But I decided I wouldn't do it until my co-worker came back from her lunch break.

-While at the bookstore, I set my smartphone to remind me when it was time to leave, so that I wouldn't take too long of a lunch break.  But I was in the middle of browsing a section, so I lingered a few minutes longer than I intended to. 

-At the last minute, I saw an interesting-looking book sitting on the counter -- so I picked it up, glanced through it, and decided to get it.

-And because I decided to get it, I purchased it at the front counter -- which took a few moments.


All of these combined to make me exit the store at a certain point in time, and pass my former co-worker on the sidewalk:

-If my co-workers' meeting hadn't run long, or if my other co-worker hadn't called in sick, I would've donated blood -- instead of going to the bookstore.

-If my other co-worker had come back from lunch earlier, I would've gone to the bookstore earlier -- and not walked past the former co-workers.

-My deciding to keep browsing, and my noticing and browsing the book, and my decision to purchase it -- all put me on the sidewalk at the correct time to pass by my former co-worker.


So -- kinda neat.  A convergence of elements.


And that's how people -- some people, anyhow -- meet best friends, meet spouses, and etcetera.


--GG

nd then, as I exited the



--GG

A pleasing number

I'm in no way a mathematician -- but there are some numbers that I appreciate.

Today at work, I was using a calculator to determine 3,500 divided by 26 (you don't need to know why) -- and the result was "134.6153846".

For some reason, that just seems like a nice sequence.  Don't know why.

--GG

Fastest way to the bathroom

At work, the floor is laid out in a large rectangle, with cubicles on both sides of the main path.  Unfortunately, both the mens' room and the kitchen are on the opposite side of the building -- so it's actually a fair hike to get there.  Long enough that -- unlike at my previous job, where the kitchen was right across the hall -- I really feel like I've ''stretched my legs'' when I go use the toilet or use the kitchen.  And I try not to confuse the two.

When I left my desk to perform any of the above-implied tasks, sometimes I'd go clockwise, and sometimes I'd go counter-clockwise.  Usually I'd go counter-clockwise after leaving my desk, because I knew three people on that side, and didn't know anyone on the other side.  But, I still wondered:  which way was shortest?

SO -- last night after work, I stayed behind and measured.  I'd brought my mondo tape measure and my notebook; I made a little diagram in my notebook; and I measured from corner to corner to corner of the pathway, as well as from my cubicle to the corners, and from the toilet and kitchen to the corners.

It turns out that I was getting unnecessary exercise by walking past my friends:  from my desk to the toilets I was accidentally travelling an extra 12.4 meters (41 feet) **each way**; when using the kitchen, it was 8.4 meters (28 feet) each way.

And, for the day:  I tend to visit the kitchen about seven times a day, and hit the toilets about twice a day (I drink a lot of tea).  So that's about 1.17km a day -- about 3/4 of a mile.  That's all right.  :) 

Incidental exercise, they call it.


--GG

Unfair geometry

Geometry is rather unfair.


Three-sided polygons are called ''triangles'', regardless of the relative lengths of their sides.  If all three sides are the same length, they're ''equalateral triangles''.  If two are the same length, they're ''isolesces triangles''. If they sides are all different lengths, then they're just ''triangles''.  Or maybe ''irregular triangles''.  But they're still triangles, regardless.

And these appear to be mis-spelled.  But I can't be bothered to look up the correct spelling.


If you have a four-sided shape, and all four sides are the same size **and** the corners are right angles, it's a square.  If all four sides are the same but they're **not** perpendicular, it's a rhombus.  If you have pairs of sides facing each other that are the same length, and the corners are at right angles, it's a rectangle; if the corners aren't right angles, then it's a parallelogram.  You can also get a kite shape if you have a pair of shorties facing a pair of longer ones.  And if you have facing sides that are the same length, and they're connected by a shortie and a longie that are parallel to each other, then it's a trapezoid.  And (from memory) anything else that's four-sided is just a four-sided polygon.


A five-sided polygon is a pentagon.  If all five sides are the same length and connected with the same angle, then it's a ''regular'' pentagon.


Here's my point:  there's favoritism towards four-sides shapes.

-There's sooo many names for the different types of four-sided shapes.

-All three-sided shapes are ''triangles'' -- even the ones with oddball length combinations.

-And five-sided (and above) shapes lack special (colloquial) names.  They're just pentagons, hexagons, sepatagons, octogons...  And we only love them if they're symmetrical.


Total favoritism.


And those are the types of things I think about.  Sometimes.  :)


--GG