The Unmuddled Mathematician

A Potpourri

By Chris Coray, The Unmuddled Mathematician

This week’s column is really nothing more than a clearing house of small events jamming my feeble mind and perhaps writing them down will clear my limited memory bank.

First, two weeks ago I wrote about the intellectually challenged weather folks on national media who go out in a storm wearing a prominent logo of their station and try to portray a great visual of how big the storm is, all by watching the idiot in boots standing outside.  I wrote that I kept chanting “Big wave, big wave”.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  This week my wish was granted as this TV guy was standing by a street, broadcasting in a snowstorm (not a bad one by our standards, but plenty of snow).  Then a fast moving plow roared by about 40 feet out in the road, my guess is going 30+ miles an hour, and throwing a huge snow volume toward the edge of the road.  This was verbally noted by the weather guy.  However, when 10 seconds later the second trailing plow came roaring by (now 12 feet closer) our hero did not process the way streets are plowed.  My chant of “Please wave” actually worked.  10 more seconds and plow number 3, trailing number 2, but closer to the curb and going at least as fast, just buried (not fatally) the weather hero in a mechanically caused avalanche.  I cheered and then got to cheer again when plow 4 repeated the burying.  It was a wish come true.  Justice had prevailed.  This was a 10 on the IBS scale (remember, idiots in boots).

The second item is even more recent.  In a quiet peaceful neighborhood in Michigan lived a woman.  She was just discovered two days ago in her car in her garage, dead, and the medical estimate is that she died 6 years ago.  The cause of death is not known, but she is mummified.  It turns out that for years all her monthly bills were paid by her online banking account, automatically.  Somebody even mowed her lawn regularly.  No neighbors noted anything unusual.  Finally, her bank account was drained dry, the mortgage company foreclosed on the property, and for some reason a person was sent to repair the roof which produced the discovery of the woman.  At one time the police were even sent, but when nobody answered the door they just moved on.  Six years dead in her car in her garage.  And now for the strangest part.  The police would not release her name for a couple of days until they could notify her family.  This clearly is not a family where communication is very important.  I hope she was not holding a winning lottery ticket in her hand.

Finally, a guy goes to Vegas, gets drunk on free alcohol, gambles and loses $500,000 while drunk and now has sued the casino for the money, claiming that they are responsible.  Personal responsibility at its highest. 

These stories cannot be made up.  Life is much more strange than fiction.

There, now I’m ready to move on, with my mental pipes all cleaned out.