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My entertainment for this post was coming up with the title.
Despite my overall scholastic performance in Math being an abomination, even by low standards, I understand and appreciate the role that numbers play in life. For this reason, I’ve dedicated myself to sharpening math skills that are the most relevant to my most important applications.
(You can click on the photos for the full size)
I have two jumbo calculators in my house stationed in two different desks. But there are times when I’m out doing stuff and I may need to run a quick calculation in my mind. Sure, I have my iPhone but at this point in my life, I need as much simplicity and directness as possible. While the calculator is a “jumbo” calculator it doesn’t take up too much space in my truck and is stored where all my file folders are. It’s a tool for a specific job and doesn’t beep or switch functions just because a social notification popped up and someone wants my attention.
My new-ish tape measure. Every 2 years or so, the tape measures that I use suddenly seem to sprout legs and leave my truck never to be seen again. Perhaps they are scared of the prospects of a long-term commitment or something 😂. Nevertheless, it gets annoying and this past March I lost another tape measure prompting me to buy this new one. I’m hoping that its size and color will allow me to keep my eyes on it. And of course, for what it does it is much handier than guesstimating using an iPhone app.
I’m sure if you’re on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you’ve seen advertisements for this product.
“Let me get my credit card” Was my immediate reaction when I first saw this. There are still instances where I need to use – or at least be able to conceptualize – fractional calculations. This is a perfect tool for me to periodically brush up on that skill.
As you can see, these little pieces tear out and have a magnetic strip at the back. The cut outs signify the whole number and miraculously (I have no idea how they did it), all the pieces will line up to form the whole – which, I guess is the point of fractions lol. But to see it this way helps me a lot, especially if I run into an obscure measurement situation or if someone is trying to obfuscate a price point using really deep fractions or decimals.
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Speaking of all this math and counting stuff, I think the most useful thing I’ve ever learned is proportional calculation in Algebra (I think that’s where they teach it). You know, where they have a ratio of 1/2 = x/4. I’m the type of person that needs a numerical identifier of things in order to extrapolate information from things that call on the heavy use of numbers, or if I need to make a decision on the fly. Proportional calculations help me to distill all that information to a concept of scale. Now, as to how correct that strategy may be could be argued back and forth ad nauseam but being able to conceptualize numbers gives me a sense of emotional comfort.
It’s not really that big of a deal anymore but I was so bad at math as a child that I would get yelled at. I still probably practice bad math but it’s lost in the sea of probability. The only difference now is that I don’t get yelled at – I just suffer the consequences of miscalculation lol.
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