Monday 28 September 2009

Has anyone seen a Zenzizenzizenzic?

I've just noticed my blog count for this month is fairly low. It's not that life hasn't been busy, it has, but there has to be something to write about. What I enjoy most of all is reading blogs of those I have on my favourites list, it's like keeping in touch with family who have moved away.

My youngest is getting on well at University of Liverpool and he's settled down remarkably well and quickly. Freshers' Week finished on Sunday evening and the stark reality of university arrived today with his first lecture on the classics. He's been on a tour of the city with people he's met at uni and he's joined the campus gym (!) which is a bit of a surprise, but I'm pleased and it'll keep him fit with interest outside of academia. He also found an archery society, because he is a keen archer although that has taken a back seat this last two years in preference to passing his 'A' levels.

The new pond arrived today, carried in by two local self employed guys and it now sits in the corner of the patio in pieces until a friends son, a self employed builder comes along to build the concrete base.

I had to water all the pots yesterday although the plants are looking tired now, the begonias are wilting and losing strength in the stems but the flowers are still full of colour. The geraniums have been gorgeous, they clearly like the drier weather and have been a riot of pink -yes, pink; they were supposed to be mixed but they look great so I'm not complaining. I'll miss the flowers next year because I'm planting shrubs to foil the squirrels and save my sanity. The weather forecast indicates a shift to colder northerly winds by the end of the week and ground frosts at night - great; a brilliant excuse for my superior other half to put the central heating on. Autumn arrives - I cut the grass on Sunday morning and it's now covered in leaves - again!

Work is busy right now, I'm on my own in an office which normally houses three of us and there's so much to do. One colleague is in belle France and the other has left to work in London. It has its advantages in that I can get my head down and crack on, but its rather more admin than I would like just at the minute, but it's gotta be done.

The new car is great, a Honda CR-V and it's the first diesel I've ever had. I've driven them before although I've never owned one, in fact I had a diesel at work a few years back - does anyone remember the Ford Orion? Like an Escort with a boot and talk about noisy, it chugged along giving four streets advance notice of its arrival, but get it into third gear and it used to fly. This one is quiet and very smooth.

I'm afraid I'm not good with numbers. I wouldn't say I'm number blind, but apart from simple straight forward maths, I'm a bit of a number dunce. Imagine my dismay when The Wonder of Whiffling gives us a daunting list of names of obscure numbers:

Zenzizenzizenzic: the eighth power of a number, originating in 1557.
Lemniscate: the little eight on its side we see on cameras for example as the 'infinity' symbol, from 1781.
Preantepenult: the fourth last (why not say 'fourth last?') from 1791.
Shake: a unit of time equal to 100-millionth of a second (originating from second world war secret operations where very little time was described as 'shake of a lamb's tail.')
Vigintillion: the number expressed as a one, followed by sixty three zeros.

Would someone PLEASE explain this rubbish to me?

Have a great week

Chat soon

Ta-ra!

2 comments:

  1. Good luck with the new car.
    We used to have a Ford Orion, it was a really comfortable car, like sitting on a setee.
    Hope you have a good week.

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