During this morning’s walk with Sharmila in downtown Durham (it is very very cute) I finally found the answer to the all important question that has been vexing all Phineas and Ferb fans (not to speak of all platypuses or is that platypi? ) : Where’s Perryyyyy? Where’s Perryyyyyyy? 🙂
Evidently it is 321 E. Chapel Hill 🙂
After a much delayed flight last night, little sleep and no run this morning, I needed something fun to start the day with. So, I told the lady at the Starbucks that my name is “Dude”. And that is what she put in my cup. And of course the other lady brewing coffee yelled it out before even she realized it… causing some fun among the few of us waiting for our coffee there…. 🙂
Case A: Imagine you have a rope tightly wound around a basketball. How much more rope do you need for the rope to be one foot away from the surface of the basketball at all times? (as if it is tightly wound around an imaginary ball that has radius one foot more than the radius of the basketball). I do not need an exact answer now. Just imagine it.
Case B: Now imagine you have a rope tightly would around the equator of the earth (what, about 25,000 miles or so?). How much more rope do you need for the rope to be one foot away from the equator at all times? (as if the radius of the earth had increased by a foot). I do not need an exact answer now either. Just imagine it.
Now for the puzzle:
In which case do you think you need more rope – Case A or Case B? Any rough idea by how much?
I have heard about chasing a pipe dream, but what is a pipe chase? Given that it was next to “janitor”, it certainly struck me as a very odd job. Consulted Google and found that “A pipe chase is an area of space where only pipe and sometimes electrical conduit are run. Though they are usually square, picture it as a tunnel that only has runs of pipe inside.”
Still not sure why you need a door but I learnt something today…
We were all seated – mildly surprised that our flight was on time. Airplane doors closed. Electronics all off. And then the dreaded “safety procedure announcement” came on. Mid way thru the announcement the gentleman went something like this…
“In cases of emergency, this airplane is equipped with eight doors, four on either side…..Wait a minute”…
Total radio silence for thirty seconds – we assumed he was checking his notes. As we all started laughing out… Then he came back on the PA “… there are six doors in this plane. Three on either side .”
The lady serving us in the first class was clearly not happy and had that constant frown as she went thru that mesmerizing two hand over the shoulder wave that they do – this time with three fingers outraised on either hand instead of the previous run of four.
After the whole announcement was over, she walked up to him, had a little confabulation and triumphantly walked back. Then she grabbed the microphone and announced “Ladies and gentlemen, a minor correction in our security announcement: we do have eight doors in this plane. Four on either side”!!!
A few minutes later, I made friends with her. I let her know that in my 20 years and seven million miles of flying, if there is one thing I have learnt, it us this: in cases of emergency, nobody cares to count the number of doors – everybody makes a beeline for the nearest door 🙂
She was nice and sporting enough to take the joke. She pointed out that they were not based out of Atlanta and were not used to this plane configuration. I quickly glanced and noticed it was indeed one of the old Northwest configuration in the first class. I asked her if she was from Detroit. She said – No, the whole crew was from Honolulu!!!
Now, that is a job I would die for!!! Even if I died trying to escape from a non-existing door midair!!! 🙂
