How to Make Decisions
Issue 60

We welcome your letters, questions and desperate pleas for help in this uncaring world. As always, e-mail WBXylo at Gmail.com. Don’t fret about e-mailing me with puzzle problems; I won’t yell at you.

Reluctant Liason
Anastasia Beaverhausen (not her real name … I hope) writes in:

I have no problem with the way my employee presents herself – in appearance, in meetings, etc. My boss’s boss (the head honcho) does. She wants me to address the situation but has not given me the opportunity to voice my opinion about it.
Even if I did voice my opinion I know that she (the employee) would not agree with me.
Do I address the employee’s “problem”?

Yes. You are under orders to address the problem. The question is, how?

My first step would be this: You ask the boss-lady to clarify her position. What exactly needs to change? What you don’t want to do in this situation is make it seem like you require the boss to justify her decision. Doing that thing would open up a whole new can of worms. Just ask for specificity. At best, the boss may prove to be reasonable in her demands. At worst, you will have specific pet peeves to discuss with the employee.

If you already know the specifics, just be direct and honest with the employees. Don’t take her side or the boss’s. Just tell her what needs to happen.

Not in the M. Night way …

Is there such a thing as a sixth sense?

Well, in terms of ESP, or seeing dead people (all the time), no.

But humans do indeed have six senses. Sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing, and proprioception. Proprioception (sometimes referred to as kinesthesia) is one’s ability to know the position of one’s body and body parts.

If you close your eyes, you still know where your hands are, how many fingers you are holding up, whether or not your knees are bent, etc.

According to some, kinesthesia is actually our seventh sense with balance being our sixth, but other combine balance with proprioception. That is to say, there is some debate.

And to the readers of the Comics Nexus: Yes, Daredevil also has heightened proprioception.

Word of the Week

coenesthesis: (SEE-nes-THEE-sis) awareness of one’s body, especially an overall sense of one’s general health.
(Source- There’s a Word for it by Charles Harrington Elster)

This Week’s Puzzle (Difficulty: Easy as A, B, C?)
Esmeralda is standing in a nearly empty field. A tree is directly West of her, 108 paces away. She walks North, 45 paces.

Now how far is Esmeralda from the tree?

Last Week’s Puzzle (Difficulty: Requires concentration)

Sally has mixed a drink in a large pitcher. It is 25 percent vodka, and 75 percent orange juice.

Sally adds 4 ounces of vodka. The ratio of vodka to orange juice is now 1:2.

How many ounces is the final mixture?

Jim U. was the fastest respondent with the correct answer of 36 ounces.

Mr. Popcorn Junkie, Michaelangelo, adds more detail (showing his English measurement fluency):

The original pitcher of screwdrivers had 8 oz. of vodka and 24 oz. of OJ
for a total of 32 oz., or 1 quart. Add 4 oz. of vodka and you wind up
with 36 oz. of screwdrivers.

Mr. Szulczewski, however, was the only person to show his work:

x is the amount of the original mixture
y is the amount of the final mixture
The amount of vodka in the final mixture is expressed by this equation:

x/4 + 4 = y/3 (1/4 of the original mixture is vodka, 1/3 of the final
mixture, after adding four ounces of vodka, is vodka)

But, x +4 = y, so substitute as follows:

x/4 + 4 = (x+4)/3

Multiply both sides by 3:

3x/4 + 12 = x + 4

Subtract 4 from both sides:

3x/4 + 8 = x

Subtract 3x/4 from both sides:

8 = x/4

Multiply by 4:

x = 32

Since y = x + 4, y = 36

We’ll be back again next week, and keep the e-mails coming.

Last 5 posts by ML Kennedy

• How to Make Decisions (72) - June 19th, 2007
• How to Make Decisions (71) - June 12th, 2007
• How To Make Decisions (70) - June 5th, 2007
• How to Make Decisions (69) - May 29th, 2007
• How to Make Decisions (68) - May 21st, 2007