Do you know why?
I don’t mean do you know why I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, from 1965 until 1968. That one’s easy: After being honorably discharged from the United States Air Force, I was hired by IBM to work there.
I meant do you know why this, my 914th post, reminds me that I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, from 1965 until 1968.
Your trivia fix for the day: The name Poughkeepsie is derived from the Native American term Uppu-qui-ipis-in, which means “reed-covered hut by the water.” The water in question is the Hudson River. The area includes Vassar College (alma mater of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis) and a large IBM campus noted for its ongoing development and manufacturing of IBM mainframes (first post-military workplace of the noted blogger rhymeswithplague).
This will be an open-book test. Take as much time as you need.
Editor’s note. Dear reader, the answer to my question can be found in the comments section of this post. --RWP
Is it because you lived at 914 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie or that this was the number of major errors you made at work before IBM sent you for retraining at a computer geek boot camp in Sweden?
ReplyDeleteYkshr Pddng, no, actually we lived at 2289 Studmuffin Lane for obvious reasons. Also, I didn't make it to Sweden until after I had been transferred (at my request) to the then-brand-new IBM facility in Boca Raton, Florida.
ReplyDeleteDoes it have something to do with your phone number?
ReplyDeleteForgot to tick the email box.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also wanted to say that I like the word Poughkeepsie.
I know. 914 is the number of the bus you used to take when traveling daily from 2289 Studmuffin Lane into 2455 South Road where you worked at IBM House.
ReplyDeleteCarolina is on the right track but Katherine missed the bus altogether.
ReplyDeleteAHA!
ReplyDeleteTrack? Was this the number of the train that conveyed you, besotted and dewy eyed, to the reed-covered hut wherein your true love, Ellie, eagerly awaited your trysting times? Was it the number of kisses she imparted to your tired and work-weary brow? Was it the number of times you went down on bended knee urging her to be yours and yours only? Was it the reference number of the mainframe you were completing when she rang to tell you that she was worn down by your besotted proposals and finally accepted? Was it your military number that you rent from your epaulette and threw into the rushing waters of the Hudson River as you rushed to the altar to marry your bride?
ReplyDeleteIf we all keep going with our suggestions,we could end up with a novel to push 'Gone With The Wind' to the remainder bins for evermore. ♥
Elizabeth, I used "track" in a way that has nothing to do with its literal meaning involving railroads. Also, exciting as your answer is, I hasten to add that we were married in the spring of 1963 and didn't move to Poughkeepsie until the autumn of 1965. Before we left there in 1968 for warmer climes, palm trees, and balmy breezes, we had three children under the age of five to feed, clothe, care for, and clean up after. Very little time was available for romance. But keep working on that novel!
ReplyDeleteEveryone, I think it best to answer my question before more of you let your imaginations get carried away with all the possible scenarios!
If you click on this area code map and then click again on the state of New York (in the upper right quadrant of the map), you will find -- well, not what I expected. When the Rhymeswithplagues lived in Poughkeepsie 45 years ago, the telephone area code for all of southeastern New York except New York City and Long Island was 914. The 914 area has shrunk greatly over the years; most of the area that used to be in the 914 area code, including Poughkeepsie, is now in in the 845 area code.
So Carolina gets, not a gold star exactly, but, more befitting these austere times in which we find ourselves, a tin star painted a lovely brass color. Figuratively, of course.
Thank you. I'm glad this tin star is painted in a 'lovely' brass colour. I'll be proud to figuratively put it on the figurative shelve with all my other figurative prizes, figuratively speaking, of course ;-)
ReplyDelete"This, my 914th post, reminds me that I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, from 1965 until 1968.
ReplyDelete"Do you know why?"
Certainly. Let 812 be n, and let n also represent the year 1967-2. Given this, it necessarily follows that:
if 3+5+7+.........+n terms/ 5+8+11+............+10 terms =7
the value of n is
a) 35 b) 36 c) 37 d) 40
Give me something more challenging next time. Ha.
P.S. I gave you the answer before I realized that you had already attempted to answer the question yourself. Unfortunately, your answer was wrong.
ReplyDeleteCarolina, of course.
ReplyDeleteSnowbrush, there is a fly in your ointment. n cannot be both 812 and represent the year 1967-2. That is a mathematical impossibility that would make Pythagoras (Πυθαγόρης in Ionian Greek) turn over in his sarcophagus, if he has a sarcophagus. Even so, you have uncannily exposed my bent for numerological explanations of events best left unexplained, and it could prove somewhat embarrassing to have to go through the remainder of my life with my bent exposed.
And n, as you should have known is equal to
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510...
Finally, as Euclid once said, all circles are similar, including this one.
"n cannot be both 812 and represent the year 1967-2.... Even so, you have uncannily exposed my bent"
ReplyDeleteYes, I see that my calculations contained a slight impossibility, but at least I'm not bent. There is always that to be thankful for.