Monday, February 16, 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

Feburary 16, 2009: Engineers Week 2009. Kepler: I'm composing a poem extolling the virtues of engineers. Al: Engineers don't read poetry. Kepler: What if I drop in a bunch of Monty Python references? Al: What rhymes with "ni"? Feburary 18, 2009: Engineers Week/Stimulus Package Story problems: 1. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev) want to spend $8 billion building a high speed train from L.A. to Las Vegas. Given 8 million Angelenos visit Vegas per year at $200 per plane ticket, how many years could they fly for free to Vegaas if this money was spent on airfare instead of maglev train construction? 2. The "Bridge to Nowhere" would have cost $400 million and been 10,000 feet long. The stimulus package contains $27 billion for roads and bridges. What distance could a bridge span if all of the stimulus money was spent on one giant bridge? 3. To decorate his office, Tim Geithner commissions an "auto bailout mobile." Given that a single one dollar bill weighs one gram, how much money is needed to balance this publicly funded art? Feburary 20, 2009: Engineers Week 2009 continues... The Politician: This fast food restaurant's new handicapped-parking spaces provide equal opportunity for everyone! The Businessman: These new handicapped-parking spaces give us more chances to sell Jumbo Burgers! The Engineer: Why do fast food joints need handicapped parking? Isn't that what the drive-thru is for?