Can you solve this?

I’ve received the following from a couple of sources.

A quick brain tickler to start your day.

Please look at the maths below:

They say only people with an IQ of 120 & over are able to figure this out.

If:
        2 + 3  = 10
        7 + 2  = 63
        6 + 5  = 66
        8 + 4  = 96

Then:     
   9 + 7 = ???

The number you find is the password to open this page where you can see who’s solved it so far. Drop me an e-mail with your details and I’ll add you to the list.

What would you do do ….

….. if someone came to your bus and spat in your face?

News stories aren’t always what they at first appear. For the moment, let’s just accept this one at face value and think about how we’d react. When provoked I’m someone who uses words to ‘fight back’ rather than physical violence. But something as base as being spat at in the face could possibly have the potential to spark something else in me. Thinking about my reactions to things I think I’m calmer when I know that there will be other ways of dealing with the situation at a later date e.g. if I knew who the spitter was and could therefore go to the police with a name I’d be calmer. But if someone came at me out of the blue and did this I may just have flipped as well. And you?

Mugabe’s next mad idea

zimbabwe

Having run out of farms to seize and redistribute Mugabe has come up with a new idea – redistribute white owned businesses! “Thousands of firms, including the Zimbabwean operations of giants such as Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and the mining company Rio Tinto, will be affected, and they must submit their plans to comply by March 1.” says the Telegraph.

At least 51% of every white owned company must be handed over to black Zimbabweans. Daniel Ndlela, Zimbabwe’s most eminent regional economist said: “There will be no foreign investment into Zimbabwe. Why would anyone come into Zimbabwe with $100 and be left with $49? It sends a very wrong message and those who might have invested in Zimbabwe will now never come.”

Neanderthal man is alive and well and living in Winchester

I can vouch for the survival of this Neanderthal man, I had an encounter with him this morning!

megabusblog

He was driving his small car, accompanied by Mrs Flintstone, in a very narrow road which is obstructed by lots of cars (Thurmond Cres. Winchester for those who know it). As I went round the curve of the Crescent passing parked cars he appeared directly in front of me having driven straight past a gap into which he could have pulled over and we’d then be able to pass one another. I stopped. He stopped. I looked at him. He looked at me. Then he signed that he expected me to reverse the bus round the curve of the Crescent, probably 10 or 12 car lengths with only a couple of inches clearance, so that he could avoid reversing the length of one car into the gap which he’d decided not to pull in to! I think not! He waved his arms, his mouth was moving a lot but I couldn’t hear the words. Mrs Flintstone was also demonstrably agitated but more with him than me I think by her body language. Anyway, no problem for me I’m paid by the hour, not the mile or journey, so I was being paid to sit and wait. After some minutes Neanderthal man decided that he had enough, he got out of the car and walked off. Mrs Flintstone said some choice words to him and he shouted something back at her. By now my passengers were actually enjoying it, this was real street theatre. I just sat calmly wondering what would happen next. Almost to everyone’s disappointment Neanderthal man returned to his car and backed it so that we could pass.

Three today

Today is the 3rd birthday of this blog and this is posting number 390. It’s about bus jumping.

I’m surprised at how rigid the roof of a bus appears to be. Unlike cars, bus bodies contribute nothing to the rigidity of the vehicle and are simply aluminium sheets and fibreglass panels appended to a rigid chasis. I’d expected to see the roof dented where the kid jumped onto it.