Numbers can be playful (the "Twosday" post)

It’s “Twosday” – the Tuesday of all the twos. The 22nd of February 2022, which can be written as 22.2.22. It can also be written as the palindrome 22. 02.2022. It even works if you write it the American way as 2.22.22.

If I had more wherewithal about me I would have posted this at 2.22pm. But sometimes work gets in the way of fun like blogging about weird numbers.

I do like playful numbers, though, and I like playing with numbers. That’s partly why I have done a Christmas Card Audit every year, or keep tabs on the amount of leaflets we receive at election times. Last week I went to see my doctor to discuss my flowmeter readings that I’m doing daily to analyse my lung function. The doctor asked if I minded doing another two weeks’ worth of readings. I said I didn’t mind at all. I love collecting data.

I realise this is an unusual trait – cataloguing mundane things in life. Cathy and I have a little notebook we use to keep score whenever we play Yahtzee. Over the past 10 years we have recorded hundreds of games in there. We have different tactical approaches to playing Yahtzee and one day I plan to analyse the data to see if there is any advantage to one strategy over another. I doubt there will be much of a difference at the end of the data trail.

I know other people share this focus. The aforementioned Christmas Card Audits are easily the posts on my blog that people engage with the most. I sometimes blog about my football stats – there is a whole app dedicated to supporting people like me who like to record which football matches they attend. And I have my own supplementary data projects too, like my ongoing ‘Book of Days’ project.

The obsession with numbers is part of the reason I really like baseball too. The baseball cards that I collect are full of statistics and I admire the way different designers attempt to spice up the data and display it a bit differently. And sometimes the cards trigger other number-related connections as well. Two new cards arrived in the post today, all the way from Rhode Island in the USA. That brace increased my total of cards featuring Tony Gwynn to a significant number that triggered instant recognition – 1066!

All I need to do now is make a reference to conquering my collecting goals and this blog post is complete!

506

Playing Yahtzee round at Mally's last night with Cath, the Vivster and Irony Boy, I chalked up my highest score ever: 506. That's three Yahtzees and everything in the bottom section except a full house. Oh yeah.

Incidentally, this blog has been offline of late because I've been concentrating on job applications. There are some really fantastic looking jobs out there. Now I've sent them off, I've got everything crossed (which make sitting here a bit painful!)

It'll be another four years till I blog again... on a leap day! (Had you going there, didn't I!)

417

We introduced a couple of friends to Yahtzee last night and I scored probably the best score I've ever racked up in a game. Of course, to do that when you're introducing people to the game is a bit embarrassing, especially as you have to keep saying things like: "It's very rare to get a Yahtzee, oh look, there's my second one..."

So, with over 100 on my upper section, and every box filled on the lower section, plus the extra Yahtzee, my 417 won the day. It also took the shine off Irony Boy's double-Yahtzee game as he could only manage to get into the high 300s. Would it be wrong to admit that made it even better!

We then went to a second round where I won again with a very respectable 270-something. Next time we play I know I'll struggle to break 150!