By the Numbers

Lately I've been noticing that a lot of things are circulating numerically in the world, and I thought I'd take a moment to showcase a few that I've found particularly intriguing. Some are subjective and of my own personal opinions, others are factual. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do! Baseball: NLDS A: Phillies 2 games, Brewers 0 games NLDS B: Dodgers 2 games, Cubs 0 games ALDS A: Rays 1 game, White Sox 0 games ALDS B: Red Sox 1 game, Angels 0 games Debate scores (subjective): Presidential Debates: McCain 1, Obama 0 (it was close, but I think McCain pulled out the win) Vice-Presidential Debate: Biden 1, Palin 0 $700,000,000,000,000.00: The amount of money the Senate and possibly the House intend to shove down the throats (or up some other unmentionable places) of taxpayers to bail out the US economy. I guess I can kiss my hopes for any kind of savings plan goodbye for a few decades. (Other, related numbers: Senate vote: 74 Aye, 25 Nay; House vote: 205 Aye, 228 Nay.) Total miles I drive per day for work-related tasks: 24.4 (on average). Total miles per gallon my car gets: 25 (approximately). Current dollar amount per gallon of gas at the Diamond Shamrock near my house: $3.29. Total amount of money I will spend filling up the car each week: approximately $45.00. Total percentage of my approximate weekly income that is: 12.9% (Ouch! Just for gas! Add in the cell phone bill and that percentage jumps to 28.6%) Number of books I have started since school ended on 5/10/08: 6 Number finished: 1 Number of days spent working since school ended 5/10/08: 12 Number of those which were volunteer work days: 6 Number of paychecks received: 0 Number of resumes sent out in the 30 days prior to starting work at Halo PA: 63 Number of responses received: 4 Friends of mine who have had birthdays within the last 30 days: 12 Number I've been able to visit with in the last 30 days: 1 Can anyone add to this list? I'd be interested in hearing what some of your important numerical moments of the recent past have been!

Another Update

I wish I had something more exciting to write than "the job hunt continues," but alas, that is all that's going on. I'm still working with my dad's company as the semi-time receptionist-slash-general help guy, and socking away all the dinero that I get from that, but also still looking for something more to my tastes. Eventually, I hope to have enough saved up so I can go out to DC. I have faith that if I can get an interview out there, I can get the job. It's just getting my foot in the proverbial door, so to speak, that seems to be the problem at the moment. That's one lesson I wish I'd learned sooner. Rather than spending my money in college, I should have saved it up - at least a couple thousand - so I could have done my job hunting back in May in DC, rather than what looks like November or December. Words of wisdom to pass on to my siblings, I suppose. On the political side of things, I haven't been able to do too much lately, but I'm still pulling for my personal favorites. The early ballots have gone out, I believe, so it's only a matter of time before I'll know who will be running against Mitchell in CD-5, vying for the open seat in CD-1, and who plans to challenge the incumbents for the other Arizona seats. Maybe then there will be a campaign position I can get in on, too - one never knows. With regards to my baseball passion, I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the Home Run Derby on Tuesday where Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers slugged a Derby record 28 homers in round one, and the 2008 All-Star Game, which ended up lasting 4 hours and 50 minutes (a record), had lots of small ball (6 stolen bases, a record) which I like, and lasted 15 innings (tying a record), while both managers emptied their rosters, using every single player available to them during the bout. It would have kept going, too, potentially bringing up JD Drew as the AL pitcher, had it not been for an under-the-tag play at the plate in common AL fashion. I especially enjoyed the 10th and 11th innings where Aaron Cook (Colorado Rockies) pitched out of two huge jams - bases loaded, 0 outs in the tenth, and 2nd and 3rd, 0 outs in the 11th. Drama at its best! Otherwise, I am also reading a new book by William Martin called "The Lost Constitution" - basically, it's historical fiction-meets-Dan Brown about a lost first draft of the United States Constitution which was annotated with the Founding Fathers' original intent behind the Bill of Rights, specifically the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. The story is split into two parts - first, the story of how the document came to be stolen from its caretaker, William Pike, in 1787, and the efforts throughout history of Revolutionary, Civil War, and other era descendants of William to get it back and publish the Founders' annotations. The second part is that of the modern-day effort of a rare-book hunter to find and acquire the lost Constitution in the midst of a national debate about the repeal of the 2nd Amendment. The thinking is that if this document can be found, it will settle the debate once and for all. So obviously, several factions (not all of them nice) are trying to also get their hands on it. I'm about halfway through so far, and it's a great story. I recommend it to my friends who enjoy the Dan Brown-type treasure hunter adventure stuff, and to those who like the historical fiction aspect as well. After I finish this book, I am going to see if I can find his other novels, Back Bay and Harvard Yard. I suppose this post is long enough for now. I will write more when I have it!