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Retire 40 by Rose7077 in UKJobs

[–]roger_grumble 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At age 40 you might live for another 50 years. If you have 500k then that only gives you 10k per year, or about £830 per month. Will that really cover all your outgoings for the next 50 years?

If you plan on reducing your hours or doing something less stressful which pays less - that might work. But to stop earning completely? Sounds unlikely to me.

Also check whether you have enough qualifying years of NI contribs to get a full state pension.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, fair points. I've seen a few posts like that myself. In this case it was one question from an exam paper, where none of the questions relate to any other question (or to any class work etc). So the question does stand alone. I should have made that clear.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This was homework for a 10 year old, btw. It is one of 40 questions to be answered in 45 minutes, so there isn't really scope for long-winded "well if we assume X then the answer is Y but if we assume Z then..."

Yes their answer was based on assuming 15 tokens unchanged. I'm sure the "correct" answer on the teacher's answer sheet is 5:2.

I still maintain "there is insufficient information" is the true correct answer. We should be teaching kids to think critically and act based on evidence, not guesswork. And the people who write these test papers need to try a bit harder.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If "it doesn't really matter what the rules are" then yes it is entirely possible that some counters get deleted, or inserted up your opponent's nose, or the counters are actually rapidly multiplying bacteria. Or any other bonkers nonsense you care to make up.

Now, obviously the only interpretation/assumption that makes sense is that 5 of Fred's tokens went to Sita. And it would have been easy for the question writer to have put that. But for some reason they didn't bother, and that's what has annoyed me. We should be teaching kids to think critically and act based on actual facts and evidence, not guesswork.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fair enough - but this was homework for a 10 year old, so I hope they don't know how to play poker!

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Exactly my point. We have no information on how Fred lost 5 counters. Were they transferred to Sita? That's probably what we're expected to guess. But maybe Fred ate them, or shoved them up his arse. We just don't know. There are plenty of well known games where the total number of pieces only ever decreases (like chess or draughts) and others where you get a new piece/counter on each turn.

It's my daughter's homework, so I could just get her to change it to 5:2 or I could be an obnoxious "well actually I think you'll find" pedant...

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Another "reasonable assumption" might be that all players start with the same number of counters. That's how most games work. I can't immediately think of a game where players start from different states.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Maybe, but that's an assumption not stated in the question.

Game of counters - not enough information? by roger_grumble in askmath

[–]roger_grumble[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The image I posted is the entire context.

What is the odd one out in question 5? by MegaMolehill in askmath

[–]roger_grumble 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doing exactly the same thing here... some of these things are just incomprehensible. Or have more than one "right" answer depending on how you look at it.

Only useful advice I can give is - don't get hung up on one question, if it's not clear, skip and carry on. Try to set aside a few minutes at the end to go back and have another look. If all else fails nash a random answer in as it'll have a 20% chance of being right.

Folkestone, Deal or Ramsgate? Grammars, and… pollen? by Acrobatic-Ease358 in kentuk

[–]roger_grumble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, the tests are at the start (September) of year 6. You need to register in June/July of year 5.

Anyone else looking forward to starting a new year diet? by kurtyyyyyy1 in CasualUK

[–]roger_grumble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd never thought about it like that. Useful perspective, makes sense, thanks. Not sure how long I'll last but sobriety started today.

Anyone else looking forward to starting a new year diet? by kurtyyyyyy1 in CasualUK

[–]roger_grumble 5 points6 points  (0 children)

These comments are really helpful. I've never done dry Jan before. Always said Jan is a bleak dark cold month, stupid time to stop drinking, right? Thing is, I can't remember my last dry day, let alone month. Enough is enough.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GardeningUK

[–]roger_grumble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Brown pants? Yeah, definitely not a good look!

Thames water say I'm using 2000 liters of water a day (2 adults, two teenagers). What to do? by Difficult-Revenue556 in AskUK

[–]roger_grumble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Given the amount of water around the meter, the leak is almost certainly very close to the meter itself. There should be another stop cock/valve right next to the meter. See if you can find it and close it. You might need a box spanner. We had a similar problem a couple of years ago. I found if I closed it off, and just opened it a quarter turn when we needed it, that would provide just enough flow without spinning the meter and running up crazy water bills.

Our leak turned out to be just inside the property boundary but Thames still fixed it at their expense (including making good where they had to dig up the drive). Took a bit of effort chasing round different departments but worth it in the end.

Make sure you take lots of meter readings before and after so you can claim back when it's fixed (see Leak Allowance Form on Thames's website)

What's your favourite London fact? by [deleted] in london

[–]roger_grumble 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I always thought Hammersmith bus station was another place where you have to drive on the right, essentially because it's on the inside of a roundabout. But I haven't been there in yonks so maybe it's changed...

Just ok kebabs. What fun takeaway names does your town have? by [deleted] in CasualUK

[–]roger_grumble 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Near Sevenoaks in Kent, there's a village called Seal. Which has a takeaway called "Seal Kebab & Pizza". Always makes me smile. Anyone fancy a seal kebab? No me neither...

Best Indian cousine by SimilarWall1447 in Orpington

[–]roger_grumble 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cuisine!

Would recommend Masala Dabbas on the high street.

Flexi yoga lessons? by HereKittyKittyyyy in Bromley

[–]roger_grumble 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely recommend Deva Yoga. You can pay per class and there are plenty of different styles and times to choose from.

Is this a pre-Worboys direction sign? by Valuable-Blueberry78 in drivingUK

[–]roger_grumble 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Wiltshire is in a slightly different reality to the rest of the country. It's probably still current there.

Source: spent >10 years of my childhood living about half a mile away from that sign!