Are you a numbers person? Do you like order of numbers or symmetry in them?

I always take some sort of perverse pleasure rounding gas or restaurant tabs to whole bills and seeing a line of single or repeating numbers on odometers. I liked more than seems necessary seeing 01/01/01 01:01:01 on my laptop same as 09/09/09 09:09:09, and spent time and effort to ensure I saw them >.> oh and the fact that I once had an account which was nothing but a simple string of predictably incremental numbers pleased me to no end.

Yes; I teach mathematics and notice order about numbers and other incidental matters in life most of the timeLOL!

I’m fond of 7 in various incarnations

I was only like this one aspect or I wouldn’t know what you were talking about lol. When I played videogames, it was a constant to always try to get the highest damage with the most symmetrical numbers. Like doing 9999 damage, or 1337 damage , which was ‘leet’ which stood for ‘elite’ in nerd language lol. It’s not the same, but just know you aren’t the only one.

I like orderliness and tend to count things. I’m not obsessed with odds, evens, primes or Fibonacci series though.

I also love odd numbers because they are stronger.
Evens can be cloven in two far too easily.
They can’t be trusted.

OMG, twice a day I seem to look at the clock and it says 12:34 (I love it). My niece was born on 09–09-09, I made sure to watch my odometer go to 123456 (about 6006 miles ago by the way).

I find that I also count things (OCD) like steps. But there is nothing like certain numbers popping up. My SSN has a combination that I love (and won’t be sharing because I don’t have all that identity protection stuff). LOL

I’m tempted to give you a GQ just to mess up your score :P

My favorite numbers are definitely the Fibonacci sequence, and the golden ratio. If nothing else, they’re wicked useful in design.

I am so NOT a numbers person. It gets in the way a lot. Especially when trying to do budgets. euck…..

@Kayak8
OMG back at you.. . I usually see 12:34 during lunch hour on the office MW oven, and again on my sidetable alarmclock . . . I watched and video taped with my smartphone my car’s odometer turn from 199,999 to 200,000 miles . . . then again when it turned 212,121. I have always aked for symetrical phone numbers when ordering new lines of service, that is if they are available.

Yes…I love numbers!

Yes. My first name and maiden last name both have 8 letters, my middle name has 6. I like that 8 – 6 – 8. Now that I am married it is 8 -6 -7 I still find that acceptable.

Things do not have to be symmetrical, but I need to feel there is balance. I think of this as actually more of a visual/art thing, but I guess it is mathmatical also. Like landscaping outside, generally plants should be in odd groupings like 3’s and 5’s.

When remembering something like a phone number it many times has a pattern to me, or I picture it, how the keys appear.

I am confused by people who can not estimate how much a blouse is on sale, say 30% off, or figure a tip.

I love numbers; I was born on 11/24 at 11:24 pm give or take a few minutes ;)

I love looking at the clock and seeing any sort of pattern “Oh hey. it’s 3:47… 3+4=7!”

And I love it when numbers are palindromes.

I always wondered what math and what we know about the universe would be like if a new number was discovered. You know, like one between 6 and 7.

I’ve got your number. Right here.

Seriously, though, almost all of the finest numbers are the product of exactly two odd primes.

@JustAnother
Too much time on your hands? ~_~

@SeventhSense I also always wonder what would happen to the English language if a new letter were discovered. Or if a new prime color were found.

Way too much time, yes.

No way. Math isn’t one of my strong points.

@JustAnother Are you talking about… derf?

@toomuchcoffee911 More like if a new letter were discovered, then what new words may there be undiscovered thus far.

@JustAnother Ah, I was referring to the made-up number between 6 and 7 that was invented on an episode of iCarly.

I like the order and symmetry but I just suck at numbers soooo bad. Always have. Absolutely no aptitude. Cannot remember them no matter how hard I try.

I am such a wordaholic. I can remember the spellings of the lengthiest and most obscure words effortlessly. But it takes me a year or more to learn my new phone number.

Thank God for the cellphone feature to click on “My Number”

I’m not kidding.

I really enjoy Sudoku but that has very little to do with numbers. It’s challenge is Logic.

I always have to have even numbers, be it the T.V. volume, listening to a number of songs etc. . I even passed the even T.V. volume tick to my grandmother, and other people start doing that too if they stick around me for a while. It spreads!

I totally understand. When I was little, instead of “counting sheep” to sleep, I would to the powers of 2 (just keep doubling). And then when I learned about the Fibonacci sequence, I was obsessed with those too. Then I started doing prime numbers, etc.

I’ve always loved math because they’re fact. No one can dispute them. There’s never an opinion. Math just is. (Well, the simple math from high school, at least.)

@JustAnother, don’t you read the newspaper? Propellerheads at Cal Tech discovered 2*pi just last week.

@eeveegurl I would count sheep the way Mr Bean does.

I’m really not a numbers person. I was horrible at maths when I was at school and even now, basic mathmtics mke me panic. I can’t even give change easily without the help of the till at work.

@XOIIO It is because of people like you reading blood pressure gauges (that only show evens) that blood pressures always come back as evens. Back in the day, when I had youthful vision, I could see the mercury between two even lines, but was always told to report it as an even . . .

Thanks everyone. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

@ Anonymouse Girl and @Leanne1986 – I’m not particulary great at math, so for me the numbers part is separate.

@toomuchcoffee911 – LOVE palindromes!

@Judi – I hate bills too – but if the phone bill was $111.11— I wouldn’t mind paying it so much…I know – weird!

@JLeslie – I know what you mean about figuring per cent off, etc.! I love to figure it out.

@XOIIO – <3 Mr. Bean!

I wasn’t too happy to wake up at 3:33 this morning….but then again I was.

@autumn43, I’m talking about writing budgets for large apartment communities. I have a harder time than I should figuring out the impact an expense has on value. It comes so naturally to some

@JustAnother
More like if a new letter were discovered, then what new words may there be undiscovered thus far.
But this is not a mystery anymore, every postal worker already knows where the dead letters go.
I heard that @AstroChuck is like Indiana Jones in Legend of the Lost Mail when he visits. :)

Oh, and right at this very moment, my lurve score is 4444! Woo!

I may or may not have an album devoted to screen shots of my lurve scores at various cool numbers.

@autumn43 If it is 30% off do you just multipy by 7 and then put in the decimal? Or, do you actually do the 30 and then subtract? I think that is the problem with non-math people, they do it the hard way with the extra step.

@JLeslie my mind was just blown. What is this technique?

So I guess there’s your answer for me ;)

Ok, let’s say the item in question is $90 and an additional 30% off. In my mind I think 9 X 7 = 63. So the price is $63 with the discount. The long way is 9 X 3 =27 (or 90 X .3 = 27)and then you have to subtract 90 – 24 = 63.

So here is another practice one. $80 starting price plus 40% off. I would do 8 X 6 = 48. $48 is the final price.

Does it make sense?

@JLeslie
I’m so not a number person either. They baffle me with their numbers and I confound them with my words.

But if I’m to understand what you did above you divided the price(90) and percentage(30) by ten arriving at 9 and 3 and then multiplied the price (9) by the difference(7)of the minuend (10 fixed number) − subtrahend (3)

So 120.00 at 40% off would be 12 x (10–4) =72
or $72.00

Cool…you learn something new every day

Right. It is really 1 whole (100%) minus the 40% = 60% in your example, and then I am getting rid of the zeros. Dropping the zeros is like a non-step to me, automatic without any thinking. I round to estimate prices in a store. In your example it might be easier for your to multiply 12 X 4 than 12 X 6 in your head, so just use the one that is easiest at the time. The point is to have the option. When you are a math person, good with algebra, the numbers kind of roll around on either side of the equation, hard to explain.

Also with tips, if anyone is interested, I just take the subtotal and double the dollars, dropping zeros. So if the check is $45 and change, I would come up with 9, so $9 is probably going to be around 19%. Or you can use the tax. If your tax is 6%, you can just triple the tax and get 18% for the tip.

That’s a healthy tip in NY or L.A.
Where I am in NY the sales tax is 8.625% so that would be over 25%
so we sometimes double it to get a similar amount but I always just leave 20% of total…which come to think of it is actually more than 25%...doh!
I guess I’m a good customer
edit- I think all numbers should be in tens…you with your fancy trick numbers..

@SeventhSense Where you live you double the tax and round up, or down, depending on how generous you feel. Double is 17.2%. If you are fine with 20% that is easy also to estimate, so whataver you prefer.

The trick is to utilize the simple rule that suits you. It seems to me that people who are not math people don’t even realize all of the options available, it’s not that they can’t do the math.

Round up and down…now we’re talking shapes…this is some sort of arcane magic.~

@SeventhSense LOL. 17% is the perfect tip.

Regardless of how many steps are involved, I have to be able to visualize it concretely in order for it to make sense to me.

So, for percents of anything, it is just simpler for me to think in terms of multiples of ten rather than some obscure formula.

It may take a few seconds longer but it’s definitely accurate.

Thus 3X10% and then subtract from total may be slower but of gets the job done.

As impaired as I am, I think the silliest thing I’ve seen is the astounding number of iPhone apps created simply for figuring out a restaurant tips. It’s just not that hard to take ten % of the total, halve that and add together to arrive at 15%.

It’s just not THAT hard. Plus, if it has been good service, I’ll usually just do 20%. These are usually hard working people.

I’m certainly not going to waste space on an app like that with limited space on the iPhone. But there are a gajillion of these in the app store :)

Really weird.

@JLeslie
I always leave 20..or now that I realize it probably 30%...
I just hand them my wallet and tell them to take what they need :0)

@JLeslie – I would go the ‘long way around’ to get to the answer – but I like your way.

As for tipping, I always leave 20%. When my children were younger I would have them calculate what it would be. Just today I was shopping with my daughter and things were 60% in the store. I asked her to figure it out. She did – not my way, but got it. And then she came across 30% and was ‘too tired’ to figure that out.

For calculating tips and percentages off a price . . . well, I think that’s why God made cell phones . . .

Tips are easy. for me. I have a hard time figuring out how adding a $100.00 a month expense will effect the value of a property.

I leave 20% most of the time too, but then I have to play with the cents so the total credit card charge is .00 at the end. I used to hate that, seemed petty to leave a tip of $8.67, but my husband convinced me it is easier than going through receipts. He knows if it ends .00 I probably charged it. Gas ends .05 or .00. Saves me from having to be organized.

I just thought of another way I am not a numbers person. I can’t for the life off me remember what my children weighed or how tall they were when they were born, and I have a heck of a time remembering dates.
Details of conversations however, I can remember word for word. (unless we were discussing numbers.)

@Judi That is like me with history, just doesn’t stick in my brain easily. It has become a little better as I have gotten older and become more interested in history, but it is still very difficult for me.