1. “Next Day Air”
An AutomationDirect purchasing agent flies from our Cumming, GA facility to visit one of our vendors on the most economical flight she can find (two stops, one plane change). The average speed of the outbound trip (including the stops) is 120 mph. For the return trip, a jet is chartered to deliver all of the urgently needed products to our warehouse as fast as possible. It averages 480 mph on the return trip.What is the average speed for the entire trip?
Hint – It’s not 300 MPH!
2. Fill-in-the-blanks
Use each of the numbers 1 – 9 to fill-in the blanks and complete a valid pair of equations:
3. “Think outside the blocks”
Fred wants to use a pair of wooden blocks (cubes) to display the day-of-the-month on a simple desk calendar. How can he number two blocks (one number per side) so that he can display all the dates of any month: 01 – 31?
Bonus puzzle: Ignoring the many solutions made possible by re-arranging a given set of numbers on a block, how many ways can he assign the numbers to the two blocks?
Double bonus: What is the total number of ways to number the blocks including the re-arrangement possibilities?
Click Here for Brainteaser Answers
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Observations on Turning 50
I turned 50 this year, which is not a bad thing. I am in good health and have a very good life, so I feel very fortunate. Yet, I’ve definitely noticed some changes.
I was recently at the supermarket, and among my purchases was a bottle of wine. Displayed prominently was a sign reading, “We check IDs on ALL alcohol purchases!” I have news for you – they never check my ID anymore. Oh, I know this isn’t a big deal. I was asked for my ID less frequently as I progressed through my thirties and forties. Yes, I still get my wallet out, hopefully anticipating that the clerk will say, “I need to see an ID”, but I never get asked anymore.
Earlier this year I was filling out an application for a passport. In the space for hair and eye color, I instinctively entered “Brown” for both, as I had been doing since I applied for my driver’s license when I was 16. Later that day, I glanced in a mirror and saw a lot of gray hair. I reluctantly changed my hair color entry to “Brown/Gray”. The next morning while I was shaving and getting ready to go to the post office, I took a good look at all the gray I was seeing in the mirror. I crossed out the “Brown/”, and just left “Gray” on my form. My passport will be valid for 10 years, and it’s doubtful that my hair will magically start turning brown again.
I might add that the dutiful, somewhat bored-looking civil servant who processed my application smiled broadly and laughed when she saw how I had entered my hair color on the form, which brings up another observation: Over the years I’ve learned that it really helps to have a sense of humor!
By Steve Cleary