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December 05, 2005
Word Problems
Question 1: After spending a lovely weekend in Blacksburg with your friend Mandy, you are scheduled to drive back to Washington, D.C. on Monday morning. At 8 a.m. you wake up and discover that there is a winter storm advisory for the entire area, with expectations of 6-12 inches of snow. You look outside and notice that the snow, scheduled to begin falling at 9 a.m., has not yet arrived. What do you do?
a) Realize that you own a Miata, perhaps the most snow-unfriendly car ever made, and decide that a 4+ hour drive through near-blizzard conditions is unwise. Go back to bed.
b) Realize that--even though circumstances might not be ideal--you have appointments on Tuesday morning that CANNOT be rescheduled. Scramble to pack your car.
Correct Answer: B
Question 2: It takes you 15 minutes to get dressed, pack your clothes, and load up the car. Unfortunately, it's now 8:30 a.m. and the snow has started. Mandy is uneasy about your leaving now that the snow has started, and she is more than willing to let you stay another couple of days. You also realize that you COULD change your Tuesday morning appointment to a phone call. What do you do?
a) Weather be damned--you're no tool of the elements! Get in your car and try to outrun the approaching storm.
b) Take your good friend's advice and go back inside. Better to live to see another day.
c) Hedge your bets. Get in the car, drive 3 blocks, notice how slippery it is, turn around and go back to the house.
Correct Answer: A
Question 3: Once past Roanoke, you notice that the weather has dramatically improved. You decide to:
a) Ensure that you stay ahead of the storm by going 80 mph the rest of the way home, narrowly avoiding several speeding tickets by your wits alone.
b) Utilize this rare opportunity to think about your life, your goals, and your dreams of the future--realizing that when it comes right down to it, you'd much rather have an adventure-filled life alone than find yourself with a husband and kids in the suburbs.
c) Devote a long stretch of "Virginia's Technology Corridor" (a part of the highway surrounded by cow pastures and rolling hills) to visualizing Jake Gyllenhaal and his scantily-clad friends in Jarhead, which you enjoyed with Mandy the night before. Engage in wistful reminiscence of days long past.
d) Engage in a hearty round of the "sing at the top of your lungs" game. Belt out the Hallelujah Chorus, Kayne West, The Mamas and the Papas, and Madonna, among others. Discover that you cannot get Johnny Cashs' Folsom Prison Blues out of your head, perhaps because Joaquin Phoenix did such a delightful rendition in Walk the Line, which you also saw this weekend.
Correct Answer: E (all of the above)
Comments
I would have stayed right there at Mandy's ^and not just because I have totalled two cars in snowy weather in my short driving history.
Posted by: kevin at December 6, 2005 09:04 AM
You are one brave lady, you know!
And I'll see Kevin's two totaled cars and raise him one. Maybe that's why I've given up driving all together.
Posted by: mandy at December 7, 2005 10:10 AM
Can we now start imagining Jake Gyllenhaal in all of his man-love-ness?
Posted by: Mr. Bad Apologies at December 13, 2005 02:57 PM
