Ubernerds and Time Math – Thoughts from July 26 and 30, 2023

July 26, 2023

I tried to type QWERTY on my swipe keyboard and it typed “Way”. I guess people don’t type QWERTY much. This Thoughts paper is being interrupted to bring you a special news bulletin. Patti just told me Sinead O’Connor just died. She was only 56. 53-year-old me thinks that’s way too young to die. I told Patti I was glad I never became a rock star. She said they don’t all go bad. I pointed out that being a rock star is not a good job for young people, especially considering how screwed up my youth was. She agreed with me a little too quickly about that. It is true, though. My early twenties would not have been a good point to end my growth as a person. I was not my best person.

We have a new employee that several of my coworkers have been talking about. He is what I like to call an ubernerd. He collects facts on different subjects and forms concrete opinions about them. The problem with people who collect facts is they don’t discern where those facts come from. They think facts are facts. They can’t interpret those facts in any other way than how they choose to interpret them. I am not a fan of facts. A list of facts can put me to sleep. The other problem with facts is they don’t consider feelings. He was telling me that people often fight facts with emotions. I was thinking the emotions were the facts that he was ignoring. Emotionless people use terms they consider factual without thinking about the people who created those terms. You can point out facts about Hitler, but everyone except for Nazis will ignore you or get very disturbed at you.

I have long been able to get along with ubernerds. I’m enough of a nerd to know what they’re talking about. Getting bogged down in the facts they are spewing doesn’t stop me from communicating with them. I usually listen and explain other sides of the issue they don’t seem to care about or see. Providing nerd-friendly examples is a skill I have. I know most ubernerds ride the edge of being serious about what they’re talking about. Being able to show off their nerdiness is their primary goal in any conversation. If you act confused by what they’re saying, they lose interest in you. Most people are fine with ending a conversation with an ubernerd. I find it interesting to go on the magical journey to Nerdland with them.

July 30, 2023

We think of months as thirty days. Today should be the last day of the month, but it’s not. July has thirty-one days in it. Time math is difficult for an old guy like me, so I know it’s even more difficult for young people learning it the first time. It’s based on twelve hours, which is really twenty-four hours in a day. Sixty seconds go into minutes and hours. None of it is what we’re used to in our ten based world. To make things even more difficult, I wrote all the numbers in this paragraph as words, not numbers. If you had no problem with this paragraph, you’re not me. For that and several other reasons, consider yourself lucky.

Patti is planning to retire next March. This is why I’m thinking about time math. She wanted to know how many vacation hours I will have next April. I created an Excel worksheet to see how much vacation I would have on my last vacation. I went from my recent time off numbers and extended it into next April. It will be about 150 hours. She wants to take a two-week vacation to celebrate her retirement. I only need 80 hours. Once again, we’re dealing with fun time math. I work 8 hours a day and work 5 days each week. If young people have a hard time with clock times, seconds in a minute, hours in a day, and days in a week/month/year, wait until they start working for a living.

Patti’s retirement made me think about my retirement. The earliest time I can retire is age 55 so I can get my lifetime pass at Disneyland. Beyond the lifetime pass, I have a 401k and social security. I hope I can retire and still write, making more money than working a regular job (even though working at an amusement park is hardly regular). Knowing me, I will probably do much more than write, but it will be my focus. Drawing, animation, music, video creation, and voice work are never far from my thoughts. I enjoy them all and hope to continue working on them, regardless of whether I get paid. I will never consider myself retired, whether or not I am.

Now let’s talk about wasting time. I spent yesterday and today playing in a Wordscapes tournament. Last night when I stopped playing, I was number one. As I slept, my lead slipped to number four. I played again today but could never get above fourth place. I got a bigger virtual crown on my virtual butterfly and 150 virtual coins. Beyond the virtual stuff, I also got a pain in the back of my hand from frantically swiping words. A waste of time and I strained my hand. Even I need to remind myself that competition ruins everything. At least I can write about it and learn from my failure to heed my own words.