The Watering Hole: April 29, Math Humor

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Found here: http://mathproblems.info/mathhumor.html

This student could replace most economists. She’s not stupider but funnier.

This is our Open Thread. Count on it.

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46 thoughts on “The Watering Hole: April 29, Math Humor”

  4. I showed this math problem joke to my boss, who is the only other person in the company who understands math enough to appreciate it. I almost made the coffee come out his nose. Thank you, EV! :)

  6. how’d the hell she get the five in there sideways?

    Photoshop would be my guess, if the source is jpeg or png etc.

  9. I think my local Congressperson just google-added me on the Zoo home page

  10. Following a very interesting discussion on OIl Drum re the Horizon disaster. http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6407#more

    Look for Undertow and Rockman’s posts.

    I’ve seen some awful photographs of the rig in the 36 hours before it sank. This was an advanced piece of kit drilling in extreme conditions of depth.

  11. OK, so at 5000 barrels a day, in two months, this will exceed the Exxon Valdez in oil in the water.

  12. Seen on Palin’s tweet account:

    “Spill baby, spill”

    Noticed today that BP was blaming Transocean. That was considered very bad form since BP is the field operator and is therefore responsible for *everything* that happens in the field.

    Full disclosure – I am a BP shareholder & I am not impressed.

  13. TtT, thank you for pointing us to the sites that gives a much better understanding of this disaster.

    Just received a news bulletin, via e-mail:

    “A federal official says the leading edge of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of
    Mexico is expected to reach the Mississippi River delta by Thursday night.”
    —-

    TtT said: “Noticed today that BP was blaming Transocean. That was considered very bad form since BP is the field operator and is therefore responsible for *everything* that happens in the field.”

    Not truly a comparison, but the blame game:
    my nephew (11.5yrs) plays Little League.
    They lost a game 15 -5.
    The coaches ripped them up one side and down the other: ‘You’re no good.’ ‘Why can’t you play a great game?’ – “Now run around the base 10 times.”
    My sister-in-law shouted “Why aren’t the coaches running?”. The bastard had the audacity to say “because we didn’t play and lose”.
    Sister-in-law: “You’re the coach aren’t you?”

  14. House, thanks for the avian sites – I’m blaming you for having my eyes glued to the “Stella & Ayud” show. That’s a live web cam on a pair of Storks in Zaragoza, Spain. (one of the sites you linked to had a list of live avian cams!).

  15. The key piece of information (that I think BP knows now and no one else in the public knows at the moment) is why the big lump of metal which is the last line of defence between the well and the sea, which sits on the sea bed and is supposed to slam the well shut didn’t do it’s job. And that the diving robots havn’t been able to close it either is another key piece of data. That tells me it’s something wrong with the BOP itself and not the controls/shutdown system.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowout_preventer

    This is the beasty called the BOP.

    Reason why I say the shutdown system didn’t fail is this: these valves should be set up to fail closed, meaning they have to opened by hydraulic pressure, if the applied pressure fails, then they slam shut. Like a ‘dead-man’s hand’. This one didn’t close. So whether or not it was commanded to close by a shutdown loop keyed off wellbore overpressure is immaterial.

    BP will have collected instrument data every second from every instrument attached to the well during the drilling process, they should have been able to piece together by replaying the data back on a graph.

    However, with the cause of the explosion still unknown essentially, for BP’s CEO to blame the company that operated the rig (and by extension the 11 people who died) – that stinks.

  16. 5ebb,
    (one of the sites you linked to had a list of live avian cams!).

    I thought you’d like that. I’m still watching Phoebe and the hawk nestlings periodically. Phoebe has had to sit her nest all day to keep her eggs from blowing out of it! She was on and off it frequently before the wind kicked up. The hawks are fun to watch them eat. Is that the same type of hawk you posted a video of not long ago?

    Ed Schultz said at the opening of his show, that the oil spill is 200,000 gallons of oil a day! I replayed it to make sure that’s what he said.

    According to this, it’s true.

    Terry,
    By your math at 5000 gallons a day, dividing into 200,000, we’ll hit Valdez levels in what? 2 days? There goes the tourist season for the gulf states. Maybe you better sell your BP stock soon.

  17. Terry, BOPs are designed to close with lose of control signal. Just like the throttle mechanism on a locomotive. Having worked with many fail safe devices over the years I do know there are factors that can cause them to not function properly.

    1) Lack of periodic testing/exercise to insure free operation of the mechanism. They can become stuck or jammed if not tested properly.

    2) Foreign matter preventing operation. BOP are pretty well sealed up so I doubt that a conch shell jammed the mechanism.

    3) Proper sizing of the device to operate in the given environment with the given equipment and conditions. As I understand this is something of a deep well and hydraulic pressures from depth may interfere with the proper operation or the well is generating pressure high enough to over ride the closing mechanism.

    They are going to have to get a manned submersible down there.

  19. Barrels versus gallons – 5,000 barrels was what I said. I’ve also seen it as low as 1,000.

    Right hooda, it had to be a fail safe, I’ve never worked with BOP’s but I know Triconex shutdown systems, big refinery valves and so on. The BP CEO must know now that if his valve didn’t shut, it means the shutdown system on the rig didn’t fail. Only oither thing I can think of is that the well instruments were not hooked up to the shutdown system on the rig, but even then, no control signal means the valve could never open.

    Mr BP is in deep doo doo. Where’s my broker?

  20. barrels 5000 x 42 = 210,000 gallons. OK I feel better now. Whew! that had me worried. Still doesn’t help the Gulf though.

  21. “Is that the same type of hawk you posted a video of not long ago?”

    The video of the eyas eating a leg? – those were Peregrine falcons.

    Here’s another interesting Peregrine video – both parents feeding four eyasses. (this scrape is in San Francisco – 33rd floor balcony of the PG&E bldg.)

  23. Agreed, Terry. I haven’t had the pleasure of working with rig BOPs but I have worked with unloading systems on oil tankers. Without both a control signal and either pressure or power from a rig a BOP should make like a big ass cork.

  25. Must confess – I know nothing about ‘enhanced’ beverages but here – try this one – I made with:

    1 1/2 oz 1800® Tequila
    1/2 oz premium triple sec (preferably Cointreau)
    1 oz lime juice

  26. ok – how’s this one? Made this way:

    3 parts of tequila
    2 parts of orange flavored liqueur
    1 part of fresh lime juice
    Coarse kosher salt
    Lime wedge
    Ice cubes

  27. One more Margarita:

    • One and a half ounces Cuervo tequila
    • Three ounces if Margarita mix
    • One and a half ounces of Dekuyper Crème de Menthe
    • One and a half ounces of Cointreau

  30. Dr. Spar?!
    Interesting name for a physician that practices integrative medicine.
    (treating mind, body, and spirit — all at the same time.)

  31. One of lifes little oddities: after reading the article about ED – had an errand to run. On the radio:
    The Fixx’s “Stand or Fall”.

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