Numbers not Words

Have you ever stopped to think how much of our lives are made up of numbers and not words? What do I mean by this, well having decided to have a Friday off work, fairly last minute for me but I knew I needed it as I think I would never have made it to the holiday off work in April without going pop!  I was obviously calculating holiday days and lieu time. (Numbers)

Plus I work with numbers everyday being a Treasurer. Which has suddenly opened up a whole new meaning to my job as I try to define it for those who are not sure. For varying differing reasons I do not want to be too specific about what I do, not because it is highly dangerous or very exciting in fact not really exciting at all, although I have some very hilarious tales I could share, of which I am tempted but currently decline to do. But I have signed the Official Secrets Act because I work with sensitive information. A Treasurer is defined in 3 (number) online dictionaries as:

a person who is responsible for an organization’s money

a person appointed to look after the funds of a society, company, city, or other governing body

One who has the care of a treasure or treasure or treasury; an officer who receives the public money arising from taxes and duties, or other sources of revenue, takes charge of the same, and disburse it upon orders made by the proper authority; one who has charge of collected funds; as, the treasurer of a society or corporation.

I am not sure which of the three definitions above is most accurate but it is certainly a combination of all 3. (Number!)

So the purpose of all of this is to map out a day of dealing with numbers and not words.  From morning to evening….

My Lumie Light is set for 0525 and the radio alarm for 0530 set to BBC Radio 2. The snooze button is hit once or twice and this only gives me another 9 or 18 minutes in bed. Ablutions completed, breakfast varies day to day but for purposes of this post I will pick a random breakfast 2 Weetabix and 250ml of milk plus 1 cup of tea and 1/2 (do fractions count) a grapefruit. Eaten whilst completing a sudoku puzzle which is just full of numbers! Then when the 0630 news is read and the vibrant and rather bouncy Chris Evans says it’s 632 then it is time to be washing the dishes and heading out the door. Plenty of numbers so far and I have not even left the house yet.

I look at the clock of the car noting that it is currently 1 minute fast and also the temperature. Then for the journey, involving 2 A roads, 1 Motorway and 1 B road to get to my workplace destination. If the pips have gone for the 7 o’clock news whilst I am parking the car then I have made good time and ready to start work.

Turning the computer on, and following the same routine. Cracking the number combination safe to get the keys to access the other number combination and key safe, then onto to the 3rd number combination safe. Whilst stopping to run the banking on the card machine which requires a numeric password. Back to the computer and enter the password which in these ever security conscious days has numbers in as well as letters and other characters. Logging into required programmes starts another password combination and away we go with the days work.  Do not need to turn on Radio 2, this has already been done for me.

The days work involved unique numbers allocated to different people,  common numbers allocated to recurring events, suppliers, stock items, assets, bank accounts, cash, number of emails to answer, number to send, number to ignore and invariably more passwords. A trip to my other office involves more door combinations and safe combinations and more of the same.

Tea is always around 0930 and 1000 and this normally involves a biscuit or 2 and I will have counted these in my daily allowance for my eating plan. Between 1130 and 1200 the post arrives. Then 1145 the lunchtime rush begins until about 1320 when it finishes and I get to eat my lunch. Although I invariably check the clock when I hear the news at 1pm to remind myself that it is nearly lunchtime. 30 minutes for lunch. A chance for some reading interruptions permitting. Then 1350 hits and time to take dirty plates and cutlery back to the kitchen and then when it hits 1400 there is only 2 hours of work left! The afternoon carries on with many more numbers and then it is 1600 and time to do all the opening up in reverse and back out onto the road.

Checking the clock in the car, remembering that it is 1 minute fast and the temperature and how it has risen (sometimes fallen) to what it was when I left the house that morning, what time was it again oh yes sometime between 0647-0700. Depending on what day it is and what has happened during the day actually depends on when I leave so maybe an extra 15-30 minutes are added on to the day.

Then it is off to the gym for either 1 of 3 activities, classes, training or swimming. Let me stick to the swimming. 40 lengths of the 25m pool equals 1 km. Add in the fact that I aim to do it between 20-25 minutes then the activity is complete. Back into the car, yes the clock is still 1 minute fast and then it is how long will it take to get home baring mind that the traffic has hit rush hour point.

Home at last, then what. Well cooking whatever is decided for tea and the paraphernalia that goes with this, watching the clock to make sure everything is cooked and not burned or undercooked, them pesky numbers again. Whilst this is happening then the BBC 6 o’clock news is on followed by The One Show! Is that enough numbers? Not quite, whatever happens if I am stitching I am counting, if I am knitting then I am counting and then it is bedtime and that is probably the penultimate set of numbers. The final look at numbers will be the Lumie Light clock as I take my glasses off and put them on the bedside table and turn the light to sunset as I drift off to sleep having had enough of numbers for today but tomorrow will bring more of the same….

I am sure there are more numbers I missed during this average day and for those that made it to the end there are exactly 1109 words.