On Monday I left the sun and sand of the Isle of Lewis for the rather less sunny and sandy streets of Bishopbriggs via a night with friends in the Highlands. First thing this morning I drove the 60 miles to Ayr Hospital for what I hope was the last hospital visit until I have the stent in my kidney renewed in three months. I arrived back late this afternoon feeling pretty darn good. The staff in the Bruce Day Surgery at Ayr Hospital are absolutely first rate at making their patients feel good as well as looking after their physical ailments. I shall be catching up with friends over the next few days and hopefully managing some photos and perhaps a blog post or two of some places which don't usually figure in my posts.
Recently, whilst renewing my acquaintance with Zeller's Formula (which I tried learning many years ago with the object of trying to impress people with the trick of telling people what day any date fell on), I was reminded of mathematical limericks.
In particular this one:
12 + 144 + 20 + (3 x √4) + 5 x 11 = 92 + 0
7
Enjoy.
Now you've given me something to mull over! No! Forget that....I'm going back to watching the Commonwealth Games events! Zeller can wait.
ReplyDeleteYou are sounding in high spirits, Graham...and that is great! Enjoy your time spent with your friends. :)
Hi Lee. I'm in very high spirits thank you. As for working out the limerick I think your decision was wise.
DeleteThe Bruce Day Surgery sounds like any patient's dream. Why can't all surgeries be like that?
ReplyDeleteAs for the limerick, I won't even attempt to understand this one. I much prefer the verbal kind.
Meike, I prefer the verbal kind too but I think this one is fun nonetheless. As for the hospital staff they are just amazing.
DeleteA dozen, a gross and a score,
ReplyDeletePlus three times the square root of four,
Divided by seven,
Plus five times eleven,
Is the square of nine plus nothing more.
This was fun.
The last line needs a little work by a wordsmith.
DeleteAdrian, did you really work that out yourself? If so - respect!
DeleteIt kept me amused for ages.
DeleteAdrian you amaze me but if anyone was going to do it my money would have been on you. I suspect non-Brits might not know the old words anyway. I think the last line would scan better as: "Is nine squared and not a bit more."
DeleteMuch better last line.
DeleteI had never heard of these things. I spent far too long on it but it was consolation for failing by ten clues to do the cryptic crossword. Once I realised that there were nouns for twelve, a hundred and forty four the job was done.
Adrian is right; that was great fun, once he solved it for the rest of us dullards. I have never heard of mathematical limericks. Can you give us some more or point us to a treasure trove of them, please?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBob I think that there are more but I'd have to search. I think the last line scans better as I have suggested in my comment on Adrian's comment.
DeleteI wonder why the citizens of "Ayr" chose to mis-spell the name of their town. It should of course be "Air". Scots also mis-spell "Skye" - adding an unnecessary "e" - unless Rupert Murdoch insisted upon it. The Kingdom of "Fife" should be Five and Stirling should be spelt Sterling after our currency. Clearly, spelling standards in Scotland are a cause for concern - but what can you expect when their leaders are all named after fish?
ReplyDeleteYP the Scots use the olde worlde spellings. As for the fishes? We have a Sturgeon but I can't think of any others.
DeleteSalmon(d)?
DeleteYP I suppose Salmond was a leader so he fits your definition despite having managed to climb into the dizzy heights of obscurity.
DeleteHello, yes you do sound very chipper and upbeat, and so you should. I'm so pleased you are now, hopefully, not going to have anything else to endure for at least the next 3 months. Enjoy your time in Glasgow but haste ye back to Lewis as they are having the best weather in the country right now. We did the Settle to Carlisle train journey this week and the mist was hovering over the mountain tops so visibility wasn't the greatest but thankfully we didn't travel today as it is thick fog in that area so the scenery wouldn't have been visible beyond a couple of yards. We will just have to go again now we know how to put the train journey together.
ReplyDeleteNumbers were never my forte, words I can do but numbers and especially anything requiring a calculator give me goosebumps.
regards Beverley
Thanks Beverley. It's a shame that the weather here is rubbish compared with Lewis but c'est la vie. I'm a words person too but I don't mind maths either. It's a shame about the weather you had but at least it means that you'll have another go, There's always a Glad Game to be played.
DeleteThanks for the update. That's a lot of travelling (and staying in hospital) you've been doing lately... I'm still amazed at how you manage to bounce back into more or less normal after each turn! As for mathematical limericks - that's one language that I do not speak! (Well done Adrian...) ;)
ReplyDeleteMonica I'm fortunate in being made of mental rubber!
DeleteI'm glad there was a translation!
ReplyDeleteYes, Patsy, it helps.
DeleteI"m not going to try working out that mathematical equation, too early in the morning I think time for another coffee.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you Amy. I'm just going to have another coffee too.
DeleteSo pleased that the staff at the hospital care for your psychological as well as your physical health. And thanks to your post about tyre pressures I thought I'd tell you that we've now got those on our car. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea there was such a thing as a mathematical limerick!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your upcoming posts!