Thursday, August 14, 2008

Just a normal cemetery kind of day

Thirteen things I did on Monday afternoon
while parked in the back of the cemetery:

1. Drank tea
2. Heard gunshots from the surrounding forest/fields
3. Saw enough flies to feed a stadium full of frogs
4. Wondered who mows cemetery lawns and what they think about while they're doing this
5. Went on scavenger hunt to see if I could find tombstones for three people born before 1825
6. Found John P. Williams, 1808-1886
7. Found Mary Williams, 1797-1870
8. Found Eliza Williams, 1822-1899
9. Heard ambulance sirens
10. Made mental note to buy tortilla chips
11. Wondered how many people have actually died IN a cemetery. (Not counting the ones that were buried alive, of course).
12. Reviewed a recipe card for Swiss Chicken Strata
13. Created this fun algebra problem:
5x-9 = 3X+3
4y-6 = 5x
x + y = z
z + 1 = w
So, what's the square root of w?

(Leave your answer in the comments).

(Seriously, it really does have an answer! I swear!)

By the way, thank you very much to all of you who stopped by to offer good wishes on my blogiversary yesterday. I feel slightly more loved now! Help yourself to the leftover cake. See the picture below for a sample of what is available.

Don't let it distract you from doing the math problem.
..
UPDATE: Congrats to SansPantaloons and Wavemancali for correctly solving the algebra problem! See the comments for the answer and my explanation of how it's done.
.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Send me a piece of chocolate plzthx.

Amanda said...

your algebra problem made my head hurt

Trukindog said...

I SUCK at math and therefore will not attempt it, I will however ask...Why the hell were you in the back of a cemetery ?

Janna said...

FeeFiFoto: Which one? There are several!

Amanda: Sorry about that. Take an aspirin and try again in a couple hours.

Trukindog: I love going to the cemetery. It's very relaxing. :)

Sans Pantaloons said...

4. Sorry I missed your Blogiversary. Has it been a worthwhile two years?

Unknown said...

With the universal constants of quantum physics and mechanics in timestream 3xy, the answer to any math question is always.... 3.

Disprove that.

so there

nanna boo boo.

Later Y'all.

Wayne said...

I can only do (or want to do) simple math. And a belated happy blogiversary! And parks can be relaxing with out the creepiness factor....just saying...

Wavemancali said...

The square root of W=4.

And now I want cake for breakfast... thanks for nothing.

Janna said...

SansPantaloons: Yay! You're correct, the answer is 4! And the two years have had their ups and downs lately, but overall I've been very glad I entered the blogging world. :)

Meloncutter: Nooooo! It's not three! And I CAN disprove that. :)

Wayne: LOL! But it's FUN to be creepy. :)

Wavemancali: Another correct answer. It is indeed 4!

Janna said...

Hey, guys, now that someone has already come up with the correct answer, I can explain how it's done:

Remember, here's the problem:

5x-9 = 3X+3
4y-6 = 5x
x + y = z
z + 1 = w

You start with the first line, solving for X.

If 5x-9 = 3x+3, then 2x = 12.
So x = 6.

Now you go to the second line and solve for Y, which you can do now because you know what X is. Substitute 6 for X, so the equation now says "4y-6 = 5*6".
So 4y-6 = 30.
4y = 36.
So, y = 9.

Now go to the third line.
x + y = z.
We know x is 6 and y is 9, so just add them.
6 + 9 = z.
So, z = 15.

Now, the fourth line.
z + 1 = w.
Since z is 15, this means
w = 16.

And, of course, the square root of 16 is 4!

Congrats to Sans Pantaloons and Wavemancali for solving it!

Janna said...

EvilGenius: You're welcome to worry about me any time you'd like. :) Be sure to read tomorrow's post; you'll find out why I wanted the tortilla chips.

Anonymous said...

I was going to say EXACTLY the same thing as truckindog

Janna said...

Xup: Cemeteries are peaceful and relaxing, I swear!

Marilyn said...

Darn. I was too late to do the math. Is there still cake?

Mo and The Purries said...

No, the square root of W is V
Any body can see if you cut W in half you get a V.

Janna said...

Marilyn: There is plenty of cake!

Morgen: But that's the same as saying the square root of 11 is 1...

Travis Cody said...

I could have done the math problem, but I feel that I'm above math these days.

Janna said...

Travis: Above math??? How???