The Buckets by Greg Cravens for July 03, 2024

My answer? Not enough!

I never know when Summer is supposed to end.

That doesn’t seem a whole lot more relevant than a standard problem.

By the date? September 22nd. By the weather? Sheesh! Who KNOWS?

As a kid, I didn’t calculate the time remaining in summer break, though I did calculate the time until the school year ended and I was free for the summer.

I actually don’t like Summer. I much prefer Spring and Autumn as the climate is more temperate (if also wetter). I know the Americans laugh at our ‘heat waves’ in the UK, but with the humidity, it makes things so much worse. Those in Florida that laugh at us I can accept. There are numerous Tik Toks about Americans living in the UK that claim it really is true, that British heat is worse than a lot of other places. I’ve been on holiday to places with 42 C but dry heat and I’ve been fine. Here with 25C and we’re sweating profusely. Don’t even talk about the London Underground. That’s another type of heat that is just not natural.

There are several cartoons of a group reviewing a complex math formula objecting to a box labeled “a miracle happens”.

I even had to use geometry to calculate the volume of a pond I was building, then convert it into gallons. I work with computers , so yes, I’ve had to use algebra even.

Take the number of household chores and divide by the wakeful hours of the day.

Sometime you do math without realizing it.

It’s not math, allright. It’s called „counting“.

Outside of hopelessly confusing physics, I haven’t found much use for calculus. There’s math I wish I never learned. And combinatorics (counting big numbers without actually counting them), which I have yet to find a good use for.

I remember marching to the bagpipes, before we boarded to go overseas for combat. I remember how they played the bagpipes for fallen soldiers before the 21 gun salute. I cannot say it is my happiest memories.

MATHS! MATHS! MATHS! NOT MATH