Marsbarn Designs...

binary math, a super quick "What was she blithering about?" guide

So you live in this world where there are 
only 1's and 0's,  like you have no pencils
and only Cherrios and twigs to keep
track of your counting ways. 

So you say, okay, I'm going to count in units of base 2.
This works because any even number can be expressed
as a multiple of 2, and any odd number can be thought
of as a multiple of 2 with a +1 thrown in at the end. 

So, instead of our normal world of base tens
place values

   10³                 10²          10¹          10⁰

   1,000             100          10            1

thousands     hundreds      tens         ones

 

We have this place value world:

2⁶     2⁵    2⁴    2³    2²    2¹    2⁰

64    32   16    8     4     2      1

 

 

So, if we have the binary number:

“10”

It’s really
(1 x 2¹⁾ + (0 x 2⁰)

or (1 x 2) + (0 x 1)

or (2) + (0)= 2

 

Another example:

The number “11011”.

If we use our place value cheat sheet:

                           2⁴    2³    2²    2¹    2⁰

                          16    8     4     2      1

 and put our          1    1     0     1      1
binary number
in the right places 

You can think of it as a shopping list;
I have one   2⁴, one  2³, no  2², one 2^1, and one 2^0.

We have:
(1x16)+(1x8)+(0x4)+(1x2)+(1x1)=

16+8+2+1=27

so “11011” = 27 in our every day decimal, base 10 world.

Binary mathematics is a world of haves and have nots,
yes or no, black and white. It's either 1 (yes) or 0 (no).
I either "have" that muliple of two in my desired number,
or I don't.   It may not be as neat and nifty as our normal
0-9 world,  but it is a fun way to while away the hours in
a doctor’s office.

 

binary math, or something to stretch the unsettled brain

Nothing is simple. Really.
Some things appear simple.
They do.  But they aren't.

Take counting.
One, two, three, four, etc
to ten, and then we sort of begin that
rotation again with one "in front".
It's the way things are done.
The lead digit ticks over,
telling us what power of 10 we're working 
with, and we rotate though those ten digits.

That's the way it works.

Our bodies are the same sort of gig.
We put energy in, in the form of food,
the engine that is our body does its thing.
Out should come energy, waste, yada yada.
Until it doesn't.  Until the body revs those engines
high and squeals it's tires, and goes no where.
And then, what do you do?

You search around and find a new way to work.
You reorder your life, seek medical help,
and realize that there is no one way.
Nothing is simple.

Back to that number thing.  
There are other ways to count than 0-9.
A woman I know asked me about binary arithmetic
the other day.  There was a faint buzzing noise in the
back of my brain as I tried to remember how that worked.
"It's like a code", I said. "It doesn't work like the numbers
you are used to."  

So today, while at the doctor's office, I played with 
the power of base 2, instead of base 10.
It's that world where 1+1=10, which I think suits us
well during these days of learning new rules of health.

the watcher and the dog walker

There is a woman on our block who watches.
She knows who is home, who is gone, who
goes where and when, who is ill.  She is the one
who called the police when one elderly neighbor 
fell in her house, and she stood vigil as the
body of another elderly neighbor was claimed by
the medical examiner.  

There is another woman who lives nearby,
but not on our streeet.  She walks her large,
feathered collie down our street.  She loves her
dog like a child, or a best friend, and talks to it
in conversational tones.  Her dog loves the lush
sod grown grass on the street strip across from us.  
I think they walk down the street just so the dog
can roll in that grass.  She's a careful dog, and
doesn't pee, dig or scratch.  She just rolls her ginger
coat back and forth, and lolls with her legs in the
air.

The two women are of an age.  Our Watcher is
serious and finds comfort in things being the
way they should be.  The Dog Walker is joyous
and sees the beauty in a length of green grass.

One particularly lovely day, the Dog Walker
joined her dog in a roll in the grass.  I saw her
dog look at her with large, pleading eyes. So,
the two of them rolled back and forth, smiling
at the sky.

The Watcher came out.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm enjoying the grass with my dog."
"Were you feeling faint?"
"No, no. I am fine. It is a glorious day."

I watched our good, kind, rigid neighbor
struggle to understand why a woman in a
white, tennis skirt would roll in the grass
with her dog.  The Dog Walker rose to her
feet, shook herself off, and continued her
stroll down the street.   

summering with Little e

Our Little e has had a summer full of adventure; 
complete with grandparents (in three different flavors),
playmobil, books, and Madlibs.  She's been a little
skiff bobbing above the turmiol of Sweet G's illness and
Big E's injury.  She comes home spreads her lovely smile
and boisterous energy, and then goes again.   
She asks questions, gives support, and has been a
touchstone of normalcy to all of us.  We've missed
her like never before when she's been gone on her
adventures.  

She is such a whirl, that it is hard to tell what 
effect having illness and injury in the house
is having on her.

Little e has a teacher we were hoping for, 
and I'm looking forward to walking her to
school each day.  This is one part of our old
routine we've been able to preserve, for which
I am very thankful. We'll talk on those walks.
Correction, she will talk; I will listen with the
obligatory affirmatives to her stories.
But regardless of whose mouth the words come
from, I should get a clearer picture of how
this summer has been for her.  I hope her
summer was kind. 

knitting, schedules, and plans to follow

I have been knitting, at a glacial pace.
This shawl-lette is my first lace-like pattern,
although I think anyone who does real lace work
will give me a raised brow at this being referred
to as "lace" in any stretch of the mind.

As soon as I begin to get the pattern of stitches
entrenched in my squidgy brain matter, the knitting
bag is displaced by other more pressing things.
The pattern, in its worn protective sleeve has become
a must-have, when honestly this shouldn't be that hard.

School begins this coming Wednesday, and I have
mapped out our first week of who goes where when
and with whom.  We have moved from the realm 
of easy-peasy, to orchestrated techinical movements
with daily family and friend assists required. 
We've found ourselves in the complicated world
inhabited by our dual income or single parenting
friends.  One body is just not enough to do it all.
It will all work out, as this first week's schedule
demonstrates, but I know I will now be wedded
to my on-line calendar to know how this day's
exchanges work.  

I feel I should be ablet to keep track of the carries
and exchanges, but just as with my knitting,
my brain just can't hold it all.