Number Theory Comes in Handy!
Now that the colder weather is more or less upon us, I’m no longer running outside. Let’s face it, when it comes to cold weather exercise, I’m a wuss. So I’ve joined a gym for the next six months.
In addition to the treadmills, which while boring are warm, they also have a pool and I’ve started swimming laps. I like swimming and at one point in my life I would swim long distances. In the pool I can keep count of laps for a while, but after ten laps or so I start loosing track. So, I came up with a system.
I use my sandals to count each ten laps in binary. Straight up, pointing away from the pool, is zero. Pointing toward the pool is one. I count the laps in decimal, and count each ten laps - as one unit - in binary. That way I keep track of the easy part, and my sandals keep count up to 40 laps or 3000 feet. If/when I start swimming further, I’ll have to go to base four and point my sandals sideways too.