The Math in My Friday

Today I'd like to list a few of the important math-related questions that face me going into the weekend:

1. How much will it cost to ship an ill-advised purchase back to the supplier?

Fedex tells me that 9 pounds shipped in 4 days insured for $1500 will cost me $22.50.

2. How many calories were in the piece of pecan dessert I ate on my morning tea break?

It appears that the bars might range from 250-360 calories per slice. I had a small piece so I'm going to hope it's 250 calories.

3. Friends are driving from Hesperia to Julian to San Diego. How far is that? How long will it take and will they arrive for dinner by 6?

Thanks to Google Maps I know it's about 150 miles from Hesperia to Julian (4 hours) and about 65 miles from Julian to San Diego (1.5 hours). Add some time for looking around and I think we'd better plan dinner later than 6 pm.

4. I have to get a new track and rollers for the hall closet at my house. I want four 2-wheel roller assemblies and a 4-foot double track that is suitable for 1 3/8" doors. How much will I have to spend and can I get that stuff at the Home Depot near the office?

Thanks to my telephone and a cooperative Home Depot phone operator, I know that they have the parts I need for $11.98 - with tax $13.03. I went over to the store on my lunch hour and got the parts. Total time about 15 minutes including driving over and back, plus 5 more minutes to pick up the 97 cents that fell onto the floor next to my seat.

5. I am looking at the code for the web blog and I'm troubled by the amount of HTML being embedded in and around my text. Is there an easier way to do these multi-colored question/answer blocks? Can I simplify the coding?

Indeed I can. But it's too complicated to explain here. I'm guessing I've cut about 30 characters per paragraph from the code.

6. I have been working as the executor of my mother's estate, and I need to close her credit union accounts and transfer all the remaining money to another account. How many branches do they have where I could get this done? How long will it take me to accomplish my tasks?

Only two branches in a whole state? Wow! Guess I have very little choice. I am on hold ten minutes ... now waiting again, but I am doing the blog while waiting, so it's not that irritating. Ten minutes so far with no progress ... aha, now they say they will get the answers and then call me back. This one isn't answered yet.

7. Time for lunch. How long will it take to make a toasted cheese sandwich while I finish up the blog?

Not quite as long as I thought. Good thing all the doors were open to take away a bit of smoke ...