General Witterings -
Winter Blues on Rosy

Fun with Maths - number 67 in an infinite series.

Imagine earth as a solid sphere, and as smooth as a billiard ball (or, if you prefer, a snooker ball) with no mountains, seas forest etc - just a surface of smooth rock.  Assume that it has a diameter of 8000 miles.  You have a large ball of string, and walk round the equator, laying down a taut trail of string.  For reasons best known to yourself, you decide that you would like this circle of string not to lie on the actual surface, but to encircle the earth two inches above its surface.  Assuming that the string can be suitably supported two inches above the ground, how much extra string will you need to make this larger circle.  (The answer is given later.)

Rotten weather here on Rosy.  Cold days are OK, and wet days are not too bad.  But the cold wet days are pretty unpleasant.  The Kabola diesel stove decided to take a more active role in our lives by becoming difficult, finally going on strike last night.  Efforts to resuscitate not only failed, but took our (my) mind off other things - like the coal fire which therefore went out - un-noticed until tiredness forced a cessation of hostilities with the Kabola, and sent us to bed - in the boatman's cabin - where the coal fire is - or rather was, as it was out - and I was too tired/knackered to do anything about it.

The night was OK, but this morning was chilly.

Fanny has her own problems.  I noticed that she has a lump.  It is located between her chin and throat, and in between her jaw bones.  It is soft, and about the size and shape of a small fried egg yolk.  Monsieur le Vet opined that it might be a sting, but his prescribed anti-inflammatory pills have only a small effect.  Fanny does not seem to notice her lump, or to worry about it - but I do.

Rosy is a ghastly place to live in at present, as various works are being undertaken that leave her insides (my living space) looking like a building site/engineering workshop .

So, to take out minds off this ....

Fun with Maths - No.  153 of an infinite series.

Welcome to the Infinity Hotel, which, as its name suggests has an infinite number of rooms.  A mathematician arrives and asks for a room, which, because all the rooms are taken, would be a problem in a normal hotel.  Not so in the Infinity Hotel, where the intercom can be used to ask all 'guests' to check their room number, add one to it, and move into that room, leaving room number 1 available to the mathematician.

Just as he is settling in, a team arrives for the Infinity Football Match.  The team has, of course, an infinite number of players, each of whom want a room in the Infinity Hotel.  No problem!!!  The intercom squawks again, requesting all guests to multiply their room number by two and move into that room - which will, of course, be an even number ... leaving an infinite number of odd numbered rooms for the football team.

The answer to Fun with Maths number 67:

The answer, amazingly, is slightly less than 12 inches.

Toodle pip!! 

Bill