10/23/00: Couples to Heaven, A Miracle

Hi,

This past weekend our young adult group had a sushi-karaoke event. Daniel
Dao also brought in his Sony Playstation game where we dance on these
plastic mats, trying to match the patterns on the screen. It was quite
fun.

I bought the fresh fish from a guy named Mr. Fujisaki (recommended by my
classmate Tommy Nakahara). He gave me a great deal. If you want to buy
fresh fish for sushi, you can find him in a white van on Sawtelle Blvd, a
couple of blocks south of Santa Monica, on Thursday afternoon from 3:30 - 5
pm. His phone # is: 310-398-3764 and his pager # is: 310-587-7645. He
drives his van to other spots in LA on the other days. He was so nice to
me that I told him that I would suggest him to all my friends.

The responses to last week's thought provoking question include the Bible
and flaregun or something that would help you get rescued. But the
funniest response is from Christian Hansen, a classmate still at Anderson:

"Here's my response to the desert island question. I would take Financial
Markets and Corporate Strategy by Grinblatt and Titman. A desert island is
just what I need to master this tome of finance wisdom!"

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you could resolve any
single dispute, anywhere in the world, what would you solve?"

This week's humor was forwarded from Anna Man. The puzzle is from "The
Ideal Problem Solver". Finally, the inspirational piece was forwarded from
Erich Volkert.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
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An eighty-five-year-old couple, married for almost sixty years, died in a
car crash. They had been in good health the last ten years, mainly as a
result of her interest in health food and exercise.

When they reached the Pearly Gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion,
which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and a master bath suite with
a sauna and Jacuzzi. As they "oohed and aahed" the old man asked Peter how
much all this was going to cost. "It's free," Peter replied. "This is
heaven."

Next they went out back to survey the championship golf course that the
home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges every day, and each
week the course would change to new one that represented one of the great
golf courses on Earth. The old man asked, "What are the green fees?"
Peter's reply: "This is heaven; you play for free."

Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the
cuisines of the world laid out. "How much to eat?" asked the old man.
"Don't you understand yet? This is heaven; it is free!" Peter replied with
some exasperation.

"Well, where are the low-fat and low-cholesterol tables?" the old man asked
timidly. Peter lectured, "That's the best part: You can eat as much as you
like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick.
This is heaven."

With that, the old man threw down his hat, stomped on it, and shrieked
wildly. Peter and his wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what
was wrong. The old man looked at his wife and said, "This is all your
fault. If it weren't for your blasted bran muffins, I could have been here
ten years ago!"
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Puzzle: Handshaking

A social psychologist was interested in the custom of handshaking. He
noticed that some people are more inclined than others to shake hands when
they are introduced. One evening when he and his wife had joined four
other couples at a party, he took advantage of the occasion to collect
data. He asked each of the other nine people at the party how many people
they had shaken hands with during the introductions. He received a
different answer, from zero through eight, from each of the nine people.
You can assume that husbands and wives don't shake hands with each other
during introductions, and of course, people don't shake hands with
themselves. Given this information, find out how often the psychologist's
wife shook hands.
__________________________________________________

A Miracle

Tess was a precocious eight year old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking
about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick
and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment
complex next month because Daddy didn't have the money for the doctor bills
and the house. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was
looking like there was no one to loan them the money.

She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation, "Only
a miracle can save him now."

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place
in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it
carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No
chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and
twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6
blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the
door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he
was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing
noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she
could muster.

No good.

Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter.
That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
"I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he
said without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the
same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my
Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle
cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you,"
the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the
rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked
the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"

"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. "I just know he's
really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay
for it, so I want to use my money.

"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all
the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents-the
exact price of a miracle for little brothers." He took her money in one
hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to
where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's
see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in
neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't
long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led
them to this place.

"That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much
it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knows exactly how much a miracle cost: One dollar and
eleven cents plus the faith of a little child.

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a
higher law.
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Puzzle Solution: Monk hiking
(Courtesy of Jeff Couture. Steve Krause also sent in a similar solution).

Let's pretend that that there were two monks instead of one. One monk
ascending and the other descending, both on the same day. Both of them
must be at every point on the trail at some time of day and their progress
along the trail must proceed as a linear progression (i.e. on a trajectory
of ABC, they monk 1 cannot get to point C without going through point B and
vice versa). Since they both start at the same time of day, there must
exist a point on the trail where they pass each other. That is to say that
they are at the same location on the trail at precisely the same time of
day. The argument above is valid for any given day. Therefore even if
Monk 1 and Monk 2 departed at sunrise of different days, they would occupy
the same spot on the trail at the same hour of their travel day. The
example also holds true regardless of the identity of Monk 1 and 2.
Therefore Monk 1 and 2 could be the same person, traveling on different
days and they would still have to occupy the same point on the trail at
precisely the same time of day.