Wow the Crowd

It's not often that I wow the crowd.  I had the pleasure of doing it twice this last week...

First - The Math Quiz

Parents' Team at the Math Quiz 

I volunteered to be on the Parents' Team at the Year 10 Math Quiz.  Luckily I already knew 2 out of the other 3 members of my team, so it was easy to have a fun time!

For some reason the kids were allowed to use calculators during the exam and parents weren't.

The first question on the math quiz was...

which I solved using basic long division...

After the timed exam, we talked over the math questions with our sons and the other boys from Boys' High.

Gavin (one of the boys) to parents, "You skipped the first question, right?"
His dad to the kids, "No, Holly knows how to do long division!!!"

It seemed like the entire room hushed for a minute, as everyone stood in awe....*

And if that moment wasn't great enough, a few days later we were talking about typing speeds** and I said that I thought I typed about 100 words per minute.  When I proved it, Mercy and Sage started cheering like I'd just scored a touchdown!

I wonder if either of these skills can be definitively linked to long-term satisfaction in life or success in relationships?

I also know how to dial a rotary phone, use a card catalog, and start a record - does that count for anything?




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*except Oak who learned long division at a private school before we moved to New Zealand.
**current typing speeds in the family:  Joyce 3wpm, Sage 8wpm, Mercy 40wpm, Oak 43wpm, Danny 60wpm, Noah 56wpm, Mike 63wpm.