Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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In which Seanan makes a math error.

I was going to post about how today was a hundred days from the release of A Local Habitation and isn't that exciting and isn't it terrifying all at the same time. I was going to post about how today marked the point at which "far from release" became "near release," and all my inner Muppets danced. And then I was looking at my planner pages, and I thought "something about my math looks off."

And then I re-counted.

And then I freaked out.

Today is ninety-one days from the release of October Daye, book two, A Local Habitation. If I had a penny for every day remaining, I wouldn't even be able to buy a can of soda (taxes being what they are). Thanks to my little math error, I have just been dropped off a scheduling cliff, falling past "safely remote" and into "ha ha, gotcha." Yes, it's only nine days, but there's a psychological element to "one hundred" that isn't there with "ninety-one." (Although ninety-one is seven times thirteen, which is pretty awesome. That makes it a semiprime: a natural number that is the product of two prime numbers. Even when math betrays me, I love it so.)

Part of my calm, measured, perky productivity is the fact that I am really a lot more tightly scheduled than most people who haven't actually seen my planner ever realize. Losing nine days is a shock to the system that I didn't particularly need today, and while I'll recover in reasonably short order, I can't say I'm very happy right now.

Arrgh.

EDIT: Here's irony for you: I made another math error. Yesterday was ninety-one days to book release. Today is ninety days to book release. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go Xerox my head.
Tags: a local habitation, busy busy busy, freaking out, math is awesome, state of the blonde
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  • 37 comments
Oh dear :(

On the bright side, your book's coming out sooner than you thought :)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Bright sides leave me no time for sleep. :(
As someone who is also stupidly tightly scheduled right now, major sympathies. *whimpers in compassion, then goes back to digging up Sir William and Lady Wilde*
*whimper*
Will Xeroxing your head help?
It did!
*winces* Fingers crossed.
Thanks, hon.
May I have a signed copy of your Xeroxed head? (joke)
Not today. Maybe later.
*passes you a soothing beverage of choice, and a plush dino to hug*
Thank you!
Gleep. I hope that some schedule time materializes in the form of extra-day coupons.

<3
Unlikely.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go Xerox my head.

Why copy that one? It's clearly broken...

Hee. "Not so far from release" has become "nearer release", that's all. And you know that nobody sticks to release dates anyway. I would say "relax", but that would be foolish in me. I shall simply say "trust the numbers" - they will get you there, even if you miscalculate.
The numbers are good. The numerologists are sadly occasionally wrong. Woe.

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I love your icon! Is it available for other people to use?

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snowcoma

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

The advantages of a 9-5 job suddenly become manifest to me.
They do exist, it's true.
Not only is 91 a product of two primes, it's the first non-obvious composite number (it's neither in the multiplication table we learn in school, nor divisible by 2, 3, or 5, which we have rules for).

This can lead to some lovely humor in number theory classes, when the professor asks the class for a prime number to demonstrate some property of primes.
HEE!
If you have Excel, date math is easy..
Now() s right now (with a time) and Today() is today (with no time)
Excel stores the dates as numbers, and each day is 1, so if you enter a date in A1, and '=A1-100' in A2, A2 will helpfully show you the date 100 days before the date you entered.
If you enter '=A1-today()' though, you have to reformat the cell to number before you can see the number of days until that date.
Beats the heck out of counting on your fingers or chanting 'thirty days hath september...'
Bah on your technological crutches! Hmmmph.
Although it causes issues and angst for you, the math error makes those of us who are waiting for MORE TOBY exceedingly happy--ALH will be a belated b-day present for me (I was born 18 min before Valentine's Day, lo, these many years ago).

Xerox away if it helps...just keep your head FAR from the fax machine!
Well, in that case, happy birthday!
Cool! I didn't know semi-prime numbers had a name.
(I usually think of them as "valid RSA keys"...)
I love biprimes. They're so cunning.
*big hugs* I would try to reassure you about the relative smallness of the mistake, but I have OCD myself and I know how important our routines are to maintaining sanity.

It'll be okay, hon. You caught this now, rather than later, which is a small blessing.
Very, very true. I just have to keep telling myself that.
I'm sorry, you can copy a copy, but you can't Xerox(TM) a Xerox(TM). Nor can you get a good copy of your head from a Xerox(TM) photocopier, unless you can mash your whole face up against the plane of the scanner. Butts are easier, though modern machines made by Xerox(TM) are nowhere near as sturdy as they used to make them, so be careful if you weigh more than 20 pounds or so.
The fight to stop "Xerox" from becoming a generic was won, sadly, at the expense of brand recognition. It's very tragic. Fortunately, some of us keep the cruel generic alive.
hahaha--well, 90 days is still three months, and that's a nice, round figure isn't it?
True enough!