information

Not so straight forward . . .

/ Tony / 3 Comments

I see puzzles like this all over the internet. It is basically Algebra and at first glance, many people will think the answer is 50. Then some people will believe that using the mathematical “… order of operations …” the answer is 14 or even 10

Quite simply (in my opinion) the answer cannot be found from the information given. Now here’s why:

  • We can determine from the first equation that the image value of the cookie is equal to 10.
  • From the second equation, we can give the image of 2 bananas a value of 2, as 14 minus the cookie value is equal to 4, hence the 2 banana image must equal 2
  • The clock image value must be equal to 3 because if you take the value of the 2 banana image (determined as equal to 2) from the total of 8, you are left with 6, therefore the image value for each clock must be equal to 3.

That is as far as we can go. We cannot safely assume that the image of the single banana is equal to 1 simply because there is only one banana. It could be any value. The same applies to the clock image (with the hands now pointing to 2) and the cookie image with the seven dots.

Therefore, in my opinion the answer cannot be found.

They think they nearly got me …

/ Tony / 1 Comment

For some years now I have been an avid follower of a person on Instagram. It’s a person from Belgium whom I find interesting. Today I commented on a post that this person made as I have often done in the past. About an hour later, I got a message sent via Instagram saying ‘Hello’. There’s no harm in saying ‘Hello’ back I thought, but then asked who they were. Their response was to send me 2 pictures of the person I am following. I explained that I needed more information on who they were. The reply came back that I had commented on their latest post. I was still not convinced, and then alarm bells started to ring.

I decided to ask for proof of who they were. I asked them to reply to my original message on their main site. The person answered that they never send private messages from that account. They then asked me to ‘add them’ on WhatsApp and even provided their number. I Googled the number and it advised me that the mobile number was Canadian. Told them that the number was not a European number and they asked me for mine. By now the alarm bells were getting much louder.

I told them I needed more proof and that they should post a certain on their main account. Leave it for 10 minutes then delete it. They refused and began to get a bit defensive. This went on for a couple of messages back and forth. Finally, I asked them to follow me back on their main site. Another refusal. I was now convinced that they were not genuine and that they were a scammer. Not entirely sure what they were after, but I’m a bit too long in the tooth to get caught out.

A little bit more ranting …

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     I’ve just spent the past half hour posting replies to comments on our local online newspaper. I use the term ‘newspaper’ lightly in this case. I have stopped buying and even reading, physical editions of the press. To me it seems a little one way. With a hard copy, or paper copy if you prefer, the only way to have your voice heard is to write to the editor. He or she, then may or may not publish your letter/email when ever they see fit. With the online version, I can post or reply to a comment and it appears almost instantaneously. That is providing it complies within the terms and conditions. This to me, seems to be a far more interactive way of expressing ones feelings. I have to admit though, it can lead to my comments being ridiculed and attacked by some of the other people that contribute to the site. Like many online newspapers, there are a large number of people with right-wing tendencies, that seem to take delight in posting negative political and almost racist comments. I occasionally try and redress the balance.

     Work took an interesting turn on Friday. Our service manager called in at the end of the day, and asked to have a private word with me. The way things are going in the Council at the moment, it made me a little apprehensive. However, and I’m not supposed to say anything yet, she explained that that there might be an opportunity coming up in the next couple of weeks and that she wanted me to consider it carefully. Without going into any detail, it is an area that I did not think I have any experience in. I downloaded lots of information, and I may be doing myself down too much. I may just have enough limited knowledge to pass this off. If I get my head down and start reading all this information, who knows what may happen. Just hope I don’t tread on anybody’s toes!!

     The new car is living up to expectations. Now I’ve had it a couple of months, it’s getting more and more difficult to remember the old one. The mileage is better, although I’m not getting the 60mpg that i was led to believe. It’s more 48mpg, which is better than the 42mpg I was getting with the Ford, so it is an improvement, and with the low tax band, I will be saving. It still looks strange to see my car and S****’s car side by side in the car park. Especially as they have consecutive number plates!

     On a completely different track, I’m starting an online course on Monday 25th. I saw an article in the Guardian online, that explained a little about these ‘free’ courses. It is an organisation called Futurelearn and the quote from it’s website says:

“At FutureLearn, we want to inspire learning for life. We offer a diverse selection of free, high quality online courses from some of the world’s leading universities and other outstanding cultural institutions.”

     I’ve signed up for a course about King Richard III. It is not something I know much about, but the discovery of his remains and the recent television drama about The White Queen, stirred my interest somewhat. It is free, so I have nothing to lose, and it may just benefit me should I attempt to go on Mastermind !!!! I’ve also signed up for a course in programming apps for smart phones, but that does not start until February 2014.

     A couple of post’s back, I mentioned a story idea that I had been planning. Well it is now into it’s fourth chapter, and the story will start to take a different direction. I will not say any more, but I may put an excerpt on here sometime. In fact, I have considered posting the whole story as weekly chapters, but I’ve not decided yet.

One week later (or maybe a bit longer……..)

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Well I’ve had the new car for just over a week, and it seems to be fine. Acceleration is not as good as the Ford, and handling at 70 mph needs full attention, but I’m quickly getting used to that. What will take a time is what I’ve been told is my ‘heavy clutch foot’. Occasionally, I will come off the clutch too quickly and stall. It has been a small problem, since I learned drive. I even managed to do it on my driving test. I thought i had failed, but I “…responded to the problem, quickly and correctly, so it’s just a minor fault…” or so the tester explained. The comments I have got from people range from “dinky” and “nippy” to “smart” and “economical” and I prefer the latter two. The audio/entertainment system is great. Great as in 500% better that the radio cassette player I had in the other car. It has a USB port, and can play MP3 tracks. So haring along the country lanes, with the window down and Bruno Mars belting out, is quite a new experience.

Long, hard day yesterday. I was decorating the bathroom. Now when I say ‘decorating’ I really mean refreshing the current decoration, as we’ve kept it the same colour scheme. I bought, what I thought was a decent paint-pad tray, but it turned out to be so bad, that I binned it rather than try and clean it (note to self … the stuff from the £ shop works just as well.) Ended up using an old pad for the ceiling, and a largish brush for the walls, so it took a bit longer than expected, but it’s all done now. Saying that, I need to do the ceiling and door frame in the en-suite, when the lighting has been sorted out. Deep joy!

Work continues as only work can continue! The bitching, the back-biting and the internal politics are as ripe as ever. I try not to get embroiled in it all, as I’m not sure who’s side I need to be on yet! And of course, there has to be sides so people have someone to blame when things don’t go right for them! I thought the last review was tough, but this one has yet to get going properly and it ready shows signs of it being a bad experience. At the last team meeting, the Service Manager could give us no “ ……new information on where things stand at the moment…… ” and promised to tell us as soon as she know anything. I took that to mean, tells us “ .. what we need to know, when they think we need to know it …… “. Politics !!!

Just a quick update

/ Tony / 2 Comments

     First thing to say, is “I have a new phone!!”  It’s not that I needed a new phone, but my contract had come to the end of the two year minimum, and my Sony-Xperia-Tprovider gives the chance of an upgrade. There was nothing wrong with the old one, but the new one has a more modern styling, more storage, better range of applications and the new contract, whilst costing a little more, is more suitable for my needs. It is not the latest model, by a long way, but it is still a good phone. To get the latest, would have cost me over £34.00 a month, with an upfront cost of £49.00. Not worth it.

     I didn’t mention previously, that we are having our ensuite updated, or more to the point, completely replaced. Mrs H was wanted it doing for a long time, and the breaking point came, when the shower packed in. Our usual ‘handy-man’ fitted a new one, but it never worked properly. According to the people fitting out the new room, it was totally the wrong type. It never occurred to me to do any before/after photos, so the only one I have is a ‘during’ picture. I will try and remember to do an ‘after’ picture when it is all done. As you can imagine, there are quite a few downsides to the whole project. The biggest two are, the dust, and Mrs H’s dread of taking a bath. In all the years we have been married, I can only think of a very few occasions that she has taken a bath. Always a shower. It has usually been, when we had showers installed/replaced or when we have been away. I prefer a bath to a shower. I love to just lie there and soak, with a nice drink and a good book (don’t try it with a Kindle though.)

     Latest news on the job front, is basically not much more than I knew last month. We’ve been assured, that there are more jobs to fill than staff to fill them, so it’s not a cost cutting exercise. We’ve also been told (not assured) that they are not looking to change grading system, so I suppose, that there is not too much to worry about. My main concern is where we will be based. Seven years ago, when our service moved out of the city centre to an industrial estate just off the M1 KAmotorway, I bought a small car. Using public transport would have meant two buses each way, with ten minutes waiting time between. Although a car is more expensive than public transport, it is far more reliable and convenient. One of the rumours is that we may move back to the city centre, to have a more central base. this would either mean, back to the bus, or pay out over £100.00 a month in car park fees. Now I know that does not sound a lot for city centre parking, but that is the charge in one of the council run multi-storey car parks. The charge has just been reduced from £9.00 to £5.00 all day to attract business. I’m worried, that once the business starts to pick up again, the the council will increase to price again!! We are having a team meeting on Thursday, so may hear a bit more then. It it quite typical of council managers to drip feed information, which has the effect of feeding the rumour mongers. I will update as and when.

Success !!!!!!!

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Paid my car tax online at last. I just have to hope that the disc comes through by Monday. A maximum of 5 working days they say, so bearing in mind that Government working days now include Saturdays, the latest it should arrive is Tuesday.

   We had our ‘Road Show’ today. It was quite good, very much as expected really. We got an overview of where the service is now, where senior management wants it to be in the future and a reality check on where it will actually be !!! It was interesting to find out the type of information that was available to staff, that our manager is not disseminating.

   Just about ready to go to the pub now. It’s rehearsal night, and the drama group usually head off to the Red Lion at around 10:00pm. I’ll be in from just before, and I think it is my turn to buy a round. As it is a Sam Smiths pub, a round is not too expensive.