Monday, May 03, 2010

Boring Calculations

No, this post is not about math or any other calculations. It's about my special calculations. I call them special as I am tired of using the word weird for myself all the time. Now weird is someone else. Yes, this great name has been given to my Farmville puppy. I need to feed this weird once in twenty four hours so that he does not run away. Sigh! Yehi din dekhne baaki the bas! I am not a farmville addict; I keep making guest appearances to that game. But that's altogether a separate story.

This post is about calculations - and a pretty boring ones that help me pass my time.

I love to travel. Be it by train or by road or a flight; I simply enjoy the journey. Given an option; I would travel by road; enjoying the sight, windows rolled down and breeze spoiling my hair, people passing by, scattered trees around, old songs playing in the background and food at roadside Dhaba. Ah, it cannot get better than that.

But the part that I enjoy the most during a journey by road is adding up those digits on car number-plate! The moment I spot a car, I start adding up those numbers. Oh it drives me crazy sometimes as I get really upset if I miss out on one car!

Initial half an hour to one hour I really control myself so that I don't start my calculations right away. Oh man it's an addiction - a dangerous one that too. Even if I get tired of calculating; my mind does not give up at all; as if my life is depended on it or my car won't move if I stop calculating!

And the train travel. You know, I keep looking at those poles that mention the kilometers. I observe the pattern to an extent that if there is a number missing in between, I get upset. Those poles have numbers like - 32/1, 32/3.....32/25, 35/0 Each pole has sub-numbers along with the kilometer digit. If this pattern is broken; I feel like getting down and make it appropriate! I used to remember where all the pattern is broken between Borivali and Churchgate. Now if i travel once; I will remember it all over again!

Not only calculations; but when I am walking in a mall or a station; rather anywhere where there are tiles; I make sure that I do not step on the crack if the tile is big enough! I carefully step on the proper square tile. If the tiles are small, then walk on the alternative tiles! I am damn weird people!

I once tried asking a family friend who happens to be a psychiatrist about these things. She said that I am obsessed with multi tasking more than anything else! I cannot only walk or travel. I need to do some activity; a proper activity. And since I love math; I do things related to calculations, or AP and GP, etc.

But, I think it's weird to be a math crazy to this extent. What do you feel?

38 comments:

  1. with the amount of followers u have, i hardly am ever the first one to comment. im doin it now. rarity. wow!!! sigh!!! me glee ;)

    well, i do do that tile thingy. hell a lotta times.. so same pinch ;)

    and i love journeys n i always prefer the bus.. loved the way u described the bus journey.

    and number plates, i don add numbers, but somehow i notice the numbers even when im drivin. i just cant manage to stay on the road and not notice number. i've tried. but i cant. i invariably do. well, i really dono why :)

    nice work di

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  2. Ah I think it's out eccentricities that make us different from the rest.And yours is quite an adorable one I must say.And convenient too.
    Lemme guess...when yo go for grocery shopping you calculate the total amount spent on your own hah?
    Some math genius you are! :P

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  3. I donno whether I'm super good in Mathematics, but I love playing with numbers. I mean I like solving mathematical problems. That reminds me, I gotta prepare for my exams.
    Nice post! :)

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  4. To each their own whims :D

    I too read the digits on the other vehicles, but I tend to find relations between the different subsets and unlike you I find it amusing and nothing to worry about :D

    And you like math :o I don't see many people say that loud, as much as that I started believing that it might be a crime!

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  5. In early days we used to play Teen Patti on car number additions.Such umber plates have, a sequence, a trio and a pair too.
    The other calculation I do is add up any visible numbers and make the divisible by either 7 or 9(why these two I don't know)

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  6. Hahahahaha.....honestly u are one crazy girl.

    "I would travel by road; enjoying the sight, windows rolled down and breeze spoiling my hair, people passing by, scattered trees around,"

    i love long distance train journeys more.

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  8. WOW ..


    You can say you're in love with numbers.. I'll say you're so lucky to love maths.. it hassles me all the time ;(

    Especially now that I am dealing with in CAT preparations! HEHEHEHEE..

    Obsessed with multi-tasking.. ? WOW that's the first time I heard that!

    :)

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  9. hi neha...
    refreshing post...
    though i am not at multitasking, I could relate with most of them...
    Yea, i do have the tendency of counting my steps while walking or no of streets etc...

    And the KM stones....do have a weird way of playing with them too while traveling...
    window seat....i just love it like a small kid...

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  10. Oh same same. Dont worry. You arent weird. I figured out long back that my mind cant be satisfied with one task at a time. I have to multitask to remain normal. The tiles thing, I do. I do much more than that.

    I have consciously avoided few things as I thought there were close to whats being called obsessive compulsive disorder :-P Scary huh!! chill :-)

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  11. weird is definitely the word..

    I do like traveling too, and sometimes observe the numbers even on the poles like you mentioned... especially like the milestones to know which city/town is how far...
    but never been 'crazy' to do something with them.. i cannot even imagine doing it..

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  12. Same is the case with me. High five!
    But slightly different. Like I have this habit of observing vehicle registrations. I can remember now the last 3-4 reg numbers of bikes that I saw. :P The rest about milestones and all is same with me.
    So welcome to the club. :))

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  13. The tile thingy even I do. I notice numbers too but I always try to find some kind of relation between the digits. And I like finding patterns in anything I see like diamonds inside circles etc. Maybe I am crazy about geometry and don't what to call myself for finding relation between digits. What do you feel? We are all weird in our own way :)

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  14. I do the tiles thingy sometimes but other than that... nothing. When i travel i always look out of window, observe people or things :P.

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  15. For the number plates, I actually find a relationship between those four numbers and try to justify it to myself! I guess that's got to do with my logic lessons! But I do similar things, like trying to cover tiles in even steps; counting steps to a destination and so on. And yes, all of this is addictive!

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  16. Gosh u are a numeromaniac!!! Lol

    What u should have done is CA instead of donning that darn Black Coat making more money than a man with gun..

    Now I have a question, ever tried the same with u phone no. or exam role no.. Which specific number do you look forward to arrived, is it 11 or 29 or 18 or one ultimately totalling up to single digit...

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  17. hey u really a maths n number lover...

    I have this habit or watching the car n bike number plates while o nthe road and then knowing from where theyare....I dont knw how i got into this habit.....but it is one of my passtimes while on the road....though i hv never calculated using the numbers...


    Interesting article.. not at all weird

    TC :)

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  18. Oh my God ! Maths...phew. I am far away from Math !

    Any kind of math ! Poles and otherwise !

    :)

    Car numbers...man ! you are something !

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  19. me too far away from numbers yar..of course, travelling long distance is fun for me..provided i have right company..cheers ya:)

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  20. lolzzz girl you really are crazy about this calculation thingy :P
    and i don't have a puppy for the same reason :P

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  21. In the beginning of the post you said u will use the word special instead of weird and then towards the end of the post u again used the word weird...hehehe u r obsessed with the word.


    Oh about the calculations, I used to observe the numbers written on poles but never observed the broken pattern. Lagtaa hain ab dekhna padega :)

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  22. i take note of every station that passes thru when i am travelling,

    And when i travel on north-south route by train i keep count of timings of most of the trains passing by as if its late or early or whatever,

    And i had this business idea , on a major train line route, advertisers can use the space for advertisement on nearby electric poles and also can put how many kms away is the major station , benefit for government, advertisers and common man

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  23. Aha...

    NEHA'S JOURNEY + CALCULATIONS = MULTITASKING

    Hey u have the answer na.....

    so wat do i score.... ?

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  24. No, you are not weird or crazy... even i do it, and everyone knows iam not crazy....I dont ad numbers on the number plate, i just love a good series of numbers...Nic epost. TC::

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  25. A nephew has a son ( 4yrs) and he has this same 'problem'. He totals up, at his age, the numbers on anything. And is a whiz at anything to do with them. You think he will end up being a lawyer? (btw - my younger one - hated anything to do with maths - she is a lawyer too!)

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  26. hey neha thanks ya...and me meeting u and mister neha god willing month end in mumbai, what say?

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  27. I agree, hands down! I find it totally crazy :D

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  28. well, i'm not very much into calculations, but i love to find a pattern in the numbers. say, if i see a number plate 7688, i find that the digits used are consecutive digits. Weird me tooo

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  29. hey came across your blog thu blog-a-ton. nice write up... pretty interesting stuff to do when u r getting bored or lazing around.. i m not dat much into calculations but will surely give it a try....:)

    hope to c u on my blogspace.. :)

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  30. Pure eccentricity. I know a slightly different kind, these people with try squeeze through small spaces even if there is a wide passage available alongside. They will walk on the edge of concrete paths and even stumble trying to balance on rainy day. Maybe the world needs all kinds of weirdos to function.

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  31. oh i can connect. i have this thing of coming across double triple digits everywhere. it's been over 4 years now. in fact last year it was driving me crazy... how i ended up seeing 4444, 555 on car number plates, 12:12, 11:11 on my cellphone... u name it. now it's quite better... except some of my friends who now are experiencing the same (at a much lesser extent though) and blaming me ;)

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  32. Now toh I've to say "We can be best friends Neha!!"

    Kya baat hai!!
    Same pincho!!
    :)

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  33. Omigod! Ditto on every count except that I don't travel by train, but i keep a look-out for milestones on highways when traveling by car!
    Well, you are said that it is multi-tasking! And I'm said, simply a restless kid!!! :))

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  34. good hobby
    calculations keep our mind sharp

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  35. try it in this way - which we usually do..

    to remember the number of a car or some mobile phone we use to do this..

    take any car number say: 7655
    how to remember this..
    note the number is falling..
    7-6-5 and a five..

    or

    take the differnce between the first two digits and the last two digits..
    76-55 = 21 (and it starts and ends with odd numbers!!)

    just play with them - for the purpose of remember them..

    lovely article

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  36. Lol! That's almost OCD! =D

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  37. oh you're goin crazy! Is this what they call road rage?

    Even my dad has a thing for numbers. the numbers of all our vehicles add up to 9. Its a luck thing

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