Do the Math, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

One thing i love to see when i'm driving through a neighborhood is kids with a lemonade stand, or praline candies, or as in our neighborhood, there's one family of children who bake loaves of bread to sell.

No matter what, if there's a penny to my name (or not), i stop.  I want to support their entrepreneurial spirit, so i take a few dollars from a stash i keep for this purpose and buy bread or give them money for lemonade or candy but don't actually accept any (i don't drink sugary drinks and we don't need the candy).

One day i stopped and a man was there ahead of me, picking up two cups of lemonade and some home made candies, each priced differently.  He handed them some money and said, "Okay, now how much change should I get back?"  They counted it out and he said, "Yes!  And I don't want the change, but I wanted you to do the math!"

All of us laughed and of course they thanked him.  He was right, they do need to know how to do the math, all of us do, whether we like it or not.

How about some math funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts now, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.

This week’s prompts are:

mood

peanut

weakness

novel

ride

jump

and/or the following archaic or seldom used words

asunder (apart)

nary (none)

rantipole (behaving in a romping or rude manner)

Charlotte's colour of the month is Steel Blue.

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Today is:

Bad Poetry Day -- Wellcat Holidays suggests you get back at your high school English teacher for making you read all that "good" poetry; get together with friends, write some truly awful stuff, and mail it to him/her!

Long Tan Day a/k/a Vietnam Veterans Day -- Australia

Mail Order Catalog Day -- the first one was published by Montgomery Ward this day in 1872, and was only one page (Do yourself a favor and opt out of the doggone things, save a few trees)

National Ice Cream Pie Day

National Science Day -- Thailand

National Soft Ice Cream Day

Serendipity Day -- and it's here serendipitously! begun by writer Madeleine Kay, it's the day to step out of routine, do something you've always wanted to do, and see what happens

St. Agapitus' Day (Patron of Palestrina, Italy; against colic)

St. Helena's Day (Mother of Constantine the Great; Patron of archaeologists, converts, difficult marriages, divorced people, dyers, empresses, nail smiths, needle makers; Birkirkara, Malta; Helena, MT, US; against fire and thunder)

Birthdays Today:

Andy Samberg, 1978

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 1970

Christian Slater, 1969

Edward Norton, 1969

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, 1962

Madeleine Stowe, 1958

Patrick Swayze, 1952

Elayne Boosler, 1952

Martin Mull, 1943

Robert Redford, 1936

Roberto Clemente Walker, 1934

Roman Polanski, 1933

Luc Montagnier, 1932

Rosalynn Carter, 1927

Shelley Winters, 1920

Greta Garbo, 1905

Max Factor, 1904

Meriwether Lewis, 1774

Virginia Dare, 1587 (first English child born in the Americas)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Private Lives"(Play), 1930

"Iphigénie"(Racine's dramatic tragedy), 1674

Today in History:

Founding of the oldest known Roman temple to Venus, BC293

Rome is occupied and plundered by Visigoths under King Alarik I, 410

Death of Genghis Khan (fell from his horse), 1227

A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the Japanese province of Higo, 1541

The Boston, Massachusetts Evening Post begins publishing, 1735

Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 1834

Pierre Janssan discovers helium, 1868

German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers, 1903.

Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River, 1909

A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless, 1917

19th US Amendment ratified (gives women the vote), 1920

Premier of The Wizard of Oz, 1939

The first commercially produced oral contraceptives are marketed, 1960

James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi, 1963

Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies, 1977

Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, 2005

Columbia's Chiribiquete National Park expands to 3 million hectares from 1.2 million hectares, becoming one of the Amazon's largest protected zones, 2013

Civilian researchers led by Paul Allen re-discover the USS Indianapolis 18,000 feet below the Pacific surface, 72 years after it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, 2017

Food matter found in the 3,200-year-old tomb of Ptahmes, an official of Memphis, Egypt, is confirmed to be cheese, the oldest evidence yet of cheesemaking, 2018

Archaeologists announce the discovery of a megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones at La Torre-La Janera, Huelva, southern Spain, 2022

The Canadian province of British Columbia declares a state of emergency as two major wildfires combine near Adams Lake, 2023

Several European leaders join a hastily convened summit with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House with President Donald Trump, 2025

Six Sentence Story: Range

"Do you want the average or the range?" she heard her daughter asking someone on the phone, as the girl was trying to explain the differences mathematically to a classmate.

"The average, or mean, is where you add up all the numbers and divide by the number of numbers, the range is the difference between the lowest and highest numbers," the girl continued.

As her husband walked in, he asked, "What's she talking about?"

"Math homework, mean, median and range, probably," Mom said.

"Mean is what math is, I never could stand math class, and the only 'range' I'm interested in is the one we cook supper on!" he said, laughing.

"Well, mean is what you will be if we don't get that supper started, you are like a grumpy bear when you get too hungry," she grinned back, and handed him some potatoes to peel.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Range.

Today is:

Christmas Festival in Salvador -- Salvador, Brazil (one fun party, with many different activities, that begins around now, lasts until New Year's Day)

Clean Air Act Day -- US (passed this day 1963; a day to give thanks for the air we breathe)

Cookie Cutter Day

Daniel the Prophet's Day -- Orthodox Catholic Feast Day

Feast of Babalu Aye -- Yoruba/Santeria (celebration of the healer of deadly diseases)

Feast of the Fairy Godmothers -- Fairy Calendar

Hagoita Ichi -- Sensoji Temple, Japan (sale of specially decorated paddles, called hagoita; through the 19th)

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Askasleikir -- Bowl-licker, who hides under the bed and snatches bowls set on the floor to lick them clean

Kasuga Wakamiya Festival -- Nara, Japan (rarely performed traditional dances at a festival held every year since 1136)

National Day -- Bhutan

National Maple Syrup Day

Procession of Agnios Dionysios -- Zakynthos, Greece (one of the biggest festivals of the year, when the relics of this island's patron saint is honored)

Saturnalia begins (through Dec. 23) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for Saturn, the planter god)

Sow Day -- Orkney Islands, Scotland (ritual slaughter of a sow for the Yule feast)

St. Lazarus of Bethany's Day

Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking -- Tanyrtss, the 25th annual campaign goes through February; make the decision now to improve your life and health next year
 
Wright Brother's Day -- US


Anniversary Today:

Tiny Tim weds Miss Vicky, 1969


Birthdays Today:

Milla Jovovich, 1975
Duff Goldman, 1974
Sean Patrick Thomas, 1970
Mike Mills, 1958
Bill Pullman, 1954
Wes Studi, 1947
Eugene Levy, 1946
Chris Matthews, 1945
Ernie Hudson, 1945
Bernard Hill, 1944
Tommy Steele, 1936
Bob Guccione, 1930
William Safire, 1929
Willard Frank Libby, 1908
Arthur Fiedler, 1894
John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807
W. L. Mackenzie King, 1874
Joseph Henry, 1797
Deborah Sampson, 1760
William Floyd, 1734


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Simpsons"(TV), 1989
Turner Broadcasting System(Cable TV Network), 1976
"El Pessebre"(Casals' Oratorio), 1960
On The Beach(Film), 1959


Today in History:

The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison, 546
Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur, 1398
Pope Paul III excommunicates England's King Henry VIII, 1538
Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan, 1586
Shimabara Rebellion: Japanese peasants led by Amakusa Shiro rise against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu, 1637
Congregation Shearith Israel of NY purchases a lot on Mill Street in lower Manhattan, to build NY's first synagogue, 1728
France recognizes independence of English colonies in America, 1777
Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City, 1790
NYC traffic regulation creates first 1-way street, 1791
Opening of the first legislative assembly of Lower Canada in Quebec city, 1792
The US state of Kentucky abolishes debtors prisons, 1821
General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky, 1862
First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert, 1865
Violent riots in Montreal, as workers demand work or bread, 1875
France declares Madagascar a protectorate, 1885
George Brownell patents a machine to make paper twine, 1895
A first prize of 100,00 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrialsbut Martians are excluded - considered too easy, 1900
The Wright Brothers make their first successful flights, 1903
First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane, 1935
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and dummy Charlie McCarthy first appear on TV, 1936
The SALT I talks begin, 1969
Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years, 1989
SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight, 2003

"Eddication"

"Hello, honey, how was your day?"

Sweetie had just walked in from work, clutching his lunch bag and briefcase with one hand, his best suit, the one they wear only twice a year at work for two extremely formal events so he keeps it at work in the other.

Hey, it was okay, i answered.

"Well, if I come home, and there's no bad news, it's been a good day," he said.

So, you've gotten your suit back from the cleaners? i asked.  (After all, i had seen it in the back of his car for a day or two, and knew he needed to have it cleaned before my dad's big, formal event in October.)

"No, of course not!  I brought it home so it could be taken to the cleaners," he said.  When he says "so it could be taken to the cleaners," he means, but does not say, by yours truly.

Now, wait a minute.  You know you need it cleaned, you've had it in the car with you for a couple of days, and you pass your favorite dry cleaner every day on the way to work, and instead of dropping it off, you brought it home for me to take it to the cleaners? i said, somewhat incredulously.

"Well, it seemed like the logical thing to do at the time," he answered.

Note -- this from the man with a master's degree, who can organize anything at work and goes about everything logically there, and can find ways to do things the other people there say are impossible.  This, he couldn't figure out, and couldn't understand why i looked at him so oddly.

At that moment, Bigger Girl was at the computer, doing some math work.  It's a special program with videos to explain how to do the work, and practice sessions.

"Whatever drug it is that this lady in the video is on to make her so perky about doing math, I want to be on it!" she said.  "Math people should not be so perky!"

Math is not the strong suit of the family, as proven by what happened next.

"Mom, I've got my test results, and I'm going to have to take an extra math class," Little Girl said.

Looking at her latest Iowa test score, i agree.  She is grade level 13+ on anything to do with English, vocabulary, reading, history, and science, and is above grade level on comprehension of math word problems and use of resources.

She is 6th grade level at math computation skills. It's a family thing, i'm sure.  Thus, she will be doing extra make up work on computer, and we are getting her a special tutoring computer program to help.

After all, it's fine if you can read, but not okay if you can't figure out how to make change when you buy the book.




Today is:

Animals' Day -- Curacao

Ceremony of Transformation through Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Defeat of Jesse James Days -- Northfield, MN, US (a bank raid reenactment, plus parade, races, rodeo, and more; through Sunday)

Eat An Extra Dessert Day -- internet generated, you have the WWW's permission to indulge today
     note that some sites also list this day, instead of July 7, as World Chocolate Day, so celebrate either one!

Farmers and Threshermens Jubilee -- New Centerville, PA, US (steam engines, threshing the old fashioned ways, and fun; through Sunday)

Fight Procrastination Day/National Do It Day

Immigrant's Day -- Argentina

Ludi Romani -- Ancient Roman Calendar (through the 19th; a festival to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, also called Circensian games)

National Macadamia Nut Day

Newspaper Carrier Day -- US (anniversary of Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun, hiring Barney Flaherty as the first newspaper carrier in 1833)

Peach Days Celebration -- Brigham City, UT, US (delicious peaches and family fun; through Saturday)

Rosh Hashanah -- Judaism (begins this evening; through the evening Sept. 6)

St. Ida of Herzfeld's Day (Patron of brides, widows)

St. Rose of Viterbo's Festival -- Viterbo, Italy (actual feast day of the saint is March 6)

The Masters -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (The international horse show jumping competitions; through the 8th)


Anniversaries Today:

Ford Motor Company introduces The Edsel, 1957
The comic strip Beetle Baily is introduced, 1950
The first Beatrix Potter story featuring Peter Rabbit is published, 1902



Birthdays Today:

Beyonce Knowles, 1981
Mitzi Gaynor, 1930
Dick York, 1928
Paul Harvey, 1918
Henry Ford II, 1917
Richard Wright, 1908
Nigel Bruce, 1895
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, 1768


Today in History:

Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West, is formally deposed, 476
Edmund Halley, English astronomer, first observes the comet that now bears his name, 1682
The City of Los Angeles is founded in Bahia de las Fumas (Valley of Smokes), 1781
Robert Fulton begins operating his steamboat, 1807
Barney Flahery, age 10, is hired to be the first newsboy, by the NY Sun, 1833
Although he had demonstrated their use before, the first major lighting with electricity comes online as 400 bulbs are lit in offices on Spruce, Wall, Nassau, and Pearl streets in lower Manhattan by Thomas Edison, 1882
The last major US-Indian war ends with the surrender of Apache Chief Geronimo, 1886
George Eastman patents the first roll-film cameral and registers the trademark name "Kodak", 1888
Beatrix Potter first tells the story of Peter Rabbit, 1893
Comic strip "Beetle Bailey" first appears, 1950
The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel, 1957
Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games, 1972
Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University, 1998
A 7.1 earthquake strikes the South Island of New Zealand, causing widespread damage, 2010