Yesterday was another one of those days that seemed to be all about other people’s mistakes.
First, Tracey and I had to buy ten forty lb. bags of water softener salt for the clinic because the clerk screwed up the order and they ran out. So it took two trips to lug all that salt up to the water room.
Later in the day Mom and I went all the way out to Proctor Hospital only to find out her appointments had either been changed or messed up in the first place.
We knew something was wrong as soon as the registration receptionist looked away from her computer screen with a blank look on her face and said she would “be right back”. So we go back next Wednesday. Wasted trip to Peoria and back.
I did manage to make a dubious record of eating at Bob Evan’s though. I stopped for breakfast in the Pekin store after taking Tracey to work. Mom and I stopped at the E. Peoria Bob Evan’s for lunch and then Tracey and I stopped at the one in Pekin again for supper. Bob Evan’s three times in one day. Fine dining.
MjL 06 Dec 2012, 5:37 a.m.
Tracey learned an important lesson about the order of mathematical computations. She sent me the following numbers and asked why she kept getting different answers with different calculators. She thought all calculators were the same. They are not and many people don’t realize that.
It is actually a simple set of numbers and operators —— 4 minus 4.2 times .8 plus 10
4 - 4.2 X .8 + 10 = 9.84
4 - 4.2 X .8 + 10 = 10.64
Oddly enough the first equation is gained by using a “standard” calculator and arrives at the answer Tracey wants but is actually incorrect according to the rules of calculation. The second answer is mathematically correct but was not the number needed to keep her patient healthy.
If you are sitting at a Windows computer you can do this interesting problem with the Windows calculator and get a different answer depending on which “calculator” you use.
Click on View and choose Standard. Then type in the equation without hitting enter until you reach the end.
You will notice that it calculates and shows the results each time you press an operation key.
Click on View again and this time choose Scientific and do the same thing. This time you will note there is no result displayed until you press enter at the end.
This is because it waits until it has all numbers and operation signs and then calculates answers in the proper order of operations —— which is explained as follows in this link.
It all comes down to a misplaced parenthesis in the formula which should read ——
(4 - 4.2) X .8 + 10 = 9.84
And now Tracey has to explain this to her boss so they can get the formula corrected in the teaching materials.
Fortunately Tracey tried to use the formula as it was printed and discovered it didn’t work BEFORE she started teaching her employees the wrong way to calculate drug doses.
Obviously whomever wrote the policy has no understanding of the importance of using proper method in mathematical formulas. Fortunately (as far as we know) no patients were killed in the making of this mistake.
MjL 06 Dec 2012, 6:04 a.m.
Geez....had to dig out the calculator this morning! Way too much math for my little brain this early in the morning.
Tammy 06 Dec 2012, 6:29 a.m.
Good Morning Tammy, I know what you mean —— Tracey and I thrashed this out last evening after supper.
She thought she was loosing her mind when she kept getting different answers from different calculators. She even had one of her co-workers doing this but they didn’t realize the difference between “standard” and “scientific” calculators.
Now you know why math teachers want all of the students to use the same brand and model calculator! Actually, being a teacher, you probably already knew this —— but many don’t.
MjL 06 Dec 2012, 6:32 a.m.
No, actually, I never knew this. I’ve always taught young kids - second grade and below. Also, way back in the dino days, the kids didn’t use calculators. They learned how to solve problems all by themselves with pencil and paper.
Well, never to old to learn and it’s good to learn something new every day!
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