invincibility, garlic, and powers of two
Thursday, 25 October 2007 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daThe first thing anyone said to me yesterday morning was "I've seen two people killed right here." Salt and pepper beard, bike helmet. We were waiting for the light to change at the edge of the University, and had just watched a young guy, no helmet, bike out in front of a car. We chatted a bit. He's been working here for 20 years.
Today my jacket smells wonderful, like garlic and onions. Last night I made a convert to the joys of Spanish Potato Tortilla. It's a really easy recipe, except for the next-to-last step of "when it's half-way set in the middle, flip it onto a plate then slide it back into the pan." Which is always much easier than it sounds. I'm thinking about making an Instructable.com video or something, because tortilla's just too tasty to not share.
Finally: I like when powers of two show up in the day-to-day (what, me, geek?). Dan pointed out to me recently that miles-to-km is much more accurate at 8/5 than 3/2. On my commute this morning I had a (very small) realization that if your miles happen to be a power of two, you always get powers-of-two on both sides. And it's an easy calculation: multiply by 16 (bit-shift right 4) and divide by 10. So: more accurate than 3/2, quicker if you remember your bit-shifts, and more satisfying numbers too. 160 miles? 256 km. (only 1.49km off the real value). Going the other way, km-to-mile is divide by 16 and multiply by 10. 1024 km? 640 miles. See? Satisfying. At least, if you're me. :)
Today my jacket smells wonderful, like garlic and onions. Last night I made a convert to the joys of Spanish Potato Tortilla. It's a really easy recipe, except for the next-to-last step of "when it's half-way set in the middle, flip it onto a plate then slide it back into the pan." Which is always much easier than it sounds. I'm thinking about making an Instructable.com video or something, because tortilla's just too tasty to not share.
Finally: I like when powers of two show up in the day-to-day (what, me, geek?). Dan pointed out to me recently that miles-to-km is much more accurate at 8/5 than 3/2. On my commute this morning I had a (very small) realization that if your miles happen to be a power of two, you always get powers-of-two on both sides. And it's an easy calculation: multiply by 16 (bit-shift right 4) and divide by 10. So: more accurate than 3/2, quicker if you remember your bit-shifts, and more satisfying numbers too. 160 miles? 256 km. (only 1.49km off the real value). Going the other way, km-to-mile is divide by 16 and multiply by 10. 1024 km? 640 miles. See? Satisfying. At least, if you're me. :)
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Date: Thursday, 25 October 2007 08:57 pm (UTC)If you find yourself/selves going to Madrid, do let me know; i've friends there i may be able to arrange a rendez-vous, ar conjunto if you'd rather, with. I know at least one of the pair speaks English and French.
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Date: Thursday, 25 October 2007 09:14 pm (UTC)Well, OK, heresy would be with chicken, instead of egg.
Hm- or maybe with, also with cheese, which might be very tasty. :)
I would very much like to visit Almodovar's city- almost as much as I want to see Barcelona. Heh. You're making me want to plan a trip to Spain. :)
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Date: Thursday, 25 October 2007 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, 26 October 2007 03:06 am (UTC)Chicken quiche sounds tasty right now.
Heh, and google ads are trying to show me a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup, and an ad for "www.chicken-house.co.uk: automatic chicken door."