So I am married to a math genius. He gets is from his parents, especially his dad. His dad's favorite bar trick back in the day was to tell people he could add or multiply faster in his head than you could with a calculator. By the time the person could get the numbers into the calculator, he would have the answer. He could supposedly go up to 17 digits (or 100 trillion) in his head.
Last night we were at the grocery store & while we were checking out, Ben goes "the total is going to be $114.25." Want to know what the total was, $117.55. He was off by $3.30. Subconsciously he managed to add everything we purchased as we walked through the store. The only reason he was off was because he was not sure how much all of the produce we bought weighed. He had estimated on the green beans, squash, zucchini, apples, sweet potatoes, avocado, and grapes. And yet was still within under $5. This is a very regular occurrence. He is normally within $5. Expect when we separate at the store & he does not see everything I put in the cart. Then he is off by $10-$15. Ridiculous, right?
Here's another even more ridiculous one... Easter weekend we went to the store where Ben stated we bought $200 worth of groceries. The bill totaled only $149. I was making fun of him for being so far off. I mean, he is never off by $50. So he shows me the receipt, where it showed how much we saved. We had saved $51. $149 spent + $51 saved = $200 worth of groceries. So not only did he add what we spent, he also managed to subconciously add how much we saved on every single item.
So my husband is seriously bizarrely smart when it comes to math. It kind of freaks me out every time he does it.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Next Project
We closed on our next project on April 25. It is a lovely aqua colored brick house located in the North Park Hill neighborhood.
It is currently a 2 bed, 1 bath house with a study. The original porch was turned into an additional room with 2 storage sheds attached to the house. Both storage sheds were fully sheet-rocked & insulated on the inside. It appeared that they were used as bedrooms. This house is much cleaner than our last project. The paint colors are atrocious however.
Want to see before pictures, go here.
Our plan of action is:
- scrap popcorn ceiling off of living/dining room ceiling
- re-texture living room, dining room, bedrooms & study
- gut the existing bathroom
- gut the kitchen
- re-finish the hardwood floors
- new windows
- new roof
- paint the exterior of the house
- remove front fence
- tear down existing sheds
- move the washer/dryer hook-ups & hot water heater to new closet
- build master bedroom with closet & master bath on the existing patio foundation
- build family room on rest of patio foundation with french doors to backyard
- and, maybe, a little bit of yardwork
We are currently one week into the project. (By, we, I mean the contractors.) The new roof is on, the sheds have been torn down, the framing is up for the new master suite and family room, existing bath has been gutted, kitchen has been gutted and the front of the house is being prepared for re-texturing.
Want to see the progress, go here.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Childhood saying comes to life
Did your parents ever tell you something silly that wasn't really true to get you to do something or stop doing something? You know like when you were little & making a stupid face and your parents told you to be careful, your face might freeze like that? You knew your face wouldn't freeze like that, but you were still scared it might, so you stopped.
Well, my mother-in-law told one of these such sayings to her boys as they were growing up, "if you poke someone in their belly button, their insides will fall out". Most likely it was because she did not like her belly button being touched. Who knows. So my husband has a fear of having his navel touched. And I make fun of him for it. Because really, your insides won't fall out. At least, that is what I used to think until Friday.
Since his last surgery, we have been joking every time I touch his belly button that his insides are going to fall out. And on Friday, we learned that indeed, I have caused his insides to fall out again. The hernia has reoccurred for a 3rd time. So he is going to have to have surgery again to repair it again.
We met with the surgeon today to find out the course of action. Said surgeon was a real ass to both Ben & me. He informed us he will not do the surgery until Ben has lost 40-50 pounds. That it wasn't the fact that he (the dr) had been conservative in his treatment over the past 8 weeks when Ben started showing signs of a problem. No, that wasn't what lead to the large hernia that now exists, no it is solely my husband's weight that caused the problem.
He was such an ass that he decided the appointment was done while we were still in the middle of asking questions about what to do in the meantime and told us to come back in 2 months & he walked out. We have no idea of what symptoms to watch for. Just if it gets unbearable or the symptoms get worse, make an appointment or go to the emergency room.
We are getting a 2nd opinion tomorrow in hopes that we can find a doctor with a better bedside manner and who will provide us with excellent care, instead of the adequate care that we have gotten up till now.
Well, my mother-in-law told one of these such sayings to her boys as they were growing up, "if you poke someone in their belly button, their insides will fall out". Most likely it was because she did not like her belly button being touched. Who knows. So my husband has a fear of having his navel touched. And I make fun of him for it. Because really, your insides won't fall out. At least, that is what I used to think until Friday.
Since his last surgery, we have been joking every time I touch his belly button that his insides are going to fall out. And on Friday, we learned that indeed, I have caused his insides to fall out again. The hernia has reoccurred for a 3rd time. So he is going to have to have surgery again to repair it again.
We met with the surgeon today to find out the course of action. Said surgeon was a real ass to both Ben & me. He informed us he will not do the surgery until Ben has lost 40-50 pounds. That it wasn't the fact that he (the dr) had been conservative in his treatment over the past 8 weeks when Ben started showing signs of a problem. No, that wasn't what lead to the large hernia that now exists, no it is solely my husband's weight that caused the problem.
He was such an ass that he decided the appointment was done while we were still in the middle of asking questions about what to do in the meantime and told us to come back in 2 months & he walked out. We have no idea of what symptoms to watch for. Just if it gets unbearable or the symptoms get worse, make an appointment or go to the emergency room.
We are getting a 2nd opinion tomorrow in hopes that we can find a doctor with a better bedside manner and who will provide us with excellent care, instead of the adequate care that we have gotten up till now.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
You wouldn't believe me...
Would you believe me if I told you when I left work on Tuesday it was summer-like outside & yesterday it looked like a blizzard? That there was a 50 degree difference? No? Not possible?
How about now?
(taken at 4:45 pm on Tuesday 4/15)
(taken at 5:00 pm on Wednesday 4/16)
Most people have been complaining about how crazy the weather is. There were several shocked & unhappy people at work when it started snowing after lunch yesterday. The weather had been forecasting snow for days, so exactly how you could be shocked that it was snowing, I don't know. Welcome to springtime in Colorado. The weather can be a little bizarre.
But I personally enjoy these spring snows. It sticks to the grass, but melts on the streets & sidewalks. Which means my plants & grass get much needed water, but I don't have to shovel. And I hate shoveling. Of course, the 80 minute commute because of the crazy snow did suck. But I didn't have to shovel, so all is good :)
How about now?
(taken at 4:45 pm on Tuesday 4/15)
(taken at 5:00 pm on Wednesday 4/16)Most people have been complaining about how crazy the weather is. There were several shocked & unhappy people at work when it started snowing after lunch yesterday. The weather had been forecasting snow for days, so exactly how you could be shocked that it was snowing, I don't know. Welcome to springtime in Colorado. The weather can be a little bizarre.
But I personally enjoy these spring snows. It sticks to the grass, but melts on the streets & sidewalks. Which means my plants & grass get much needed water, but I don't have to shovel. And I hate shoveling. Of course, the 80 minute commute because of the crazy snow did suck. But I didn't have to shovel, so all is good :)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Factory video
Today I googled one of the factories I work with & found a video Patagonia made about them. If you want to see it go here.
I also stumbled upon this video Patagonia had made about another factory they work with. It is the same factory that I went to visit in Vietnam last year. This was always my favorite factory to visit because of how clean & beautiful it is. You can get an idea of how nice the factory is in the video.
Friday, March 21, 2008
EEK!!!
Have you seen this? They are apparently planning to do a remake/spinoff of 90210! I am not joking; it is seriously being worked on for the fall season. Don't believe me? Here's the plot for the new version.
My only question is which is more pathetic, that they are remaking it or the fact that I actually know about it....
My only question is which is more pathetic, that they are remaking it or the fact that I actually know about it....
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Women of Mt Rushmore
On the radio this morning they asked an interesting question, if you were to replace the 4 men of Mt Rushmore with 4 women, who would those women be? It came from a poll on this website.
My first thought was how many people could come up with 4 women? Could you? On my drive to work, I thought about who I would pick. I came up with Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and Sojourner Truth. Who would you pick?
I honestly had a hard time coming up with many women. My list totaled probably 8 or 9. Not because there aren't great amazing women to choose from, just that I had a hard time remembering them. I could come up with a bunch of men pretty easily, but women were harder. I did not learn about as many women as I did men during school. In college, I did, since I went to a women's college, but for the other 12 years of my education I did not. You really only focused on women during women's history month. So the names were harder for me to remember.
At lunch, I looked at the poll to see who the winners were. And I read an interesting comment on it that really struck me because I had not even thought of it like this:
"It’s a presidential memorial, so it would take a minimum of 32 years to make four women eligible, some of whom would now scarcely be grown-ups. And as of the moment, we don’t even seem to be getting started." - Judith Martin
Based on that, how is it after 219 years there is not one single woman that we could put up there?
My first thought was how many people could come up with 4 women? Could you? On my drive to work, I thought about who I would pick. I came up with Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and Sojourner Truth. Who would you pick?
I honestly had a hard time coming up with many women. My list totaled probably 8 or 9. Not because there aren't great amazing women to choose from, just that I had a hard time remembering them. I could come up with a bunch of men pretty easily, but women were harder. I did not learn about as many women as I did men during school. In college, I did, since I went to a women's college, but for the other 12 years of my education I did not. You really only focused on women during women's history month. So the names were harder for me to remember.
At lunch, I looked at the poll to see who the winners were. And I read an interesting comment on it that really struck me because I had not even thought of it like this:
"It’s a presidential memorial, so it would take a minimum of 32 years to make four women eligible, some of whom would now scarcely be grown-ups. And as of the moment, we don’t even seem to be getting started." - Judith Martin
Based on that, how is it after 219 years there is not one single woman that we could put up there?
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