The Bessler Curse

[fAtnhapy]

Her sister stole her Cheetos? :0)

There are two trains heading directly toward each other. The west bound train is going 55 miles an hour and the east bound train is going 45 miles an hour. At the moment the trains are exactly 100 miles apart a bee takes off from the front of the east bound train and flies at 75 miles and hour to the front of the west bound train at which time he turns around and flies back to the east bound train. He flys back and forth between the trains until they cross. How far will he fly?
fAt

[Michael]

Your subconcious filtered it in Ken, unless you didn't read the posts on this thread at all.

Gene:

Michael,
Quote:
'What do you say he will say is the door to freedom?'
When you get the answers to that question you go out the other door. The one answer is 'what do you say' and the second answer is 'he will say'. You are kind of asking two questions in one.

Then Michael:

It's really only one question Gene, you don't start with what do you say, you start with, what will he say etc. I see you know the riddle.

[ken_behrendt]

Michael...

I did skim the posts in this thread, but the previous solutions are a bit confusing so I can see why they did not register on my mind. I like my solution better because of its clarity.

As far as the "riddle" of the women who kills her sister after the funeral of her mother is concerned, there are dozens of possible scenarios that could rationalize the hypothetical murder so I won't waste any more time trying to invent one. Most murders occur because someone is filled with irrational anger or fear and thinks that the murder will somehow relieve that situation. Usually it doesn't and the murderer eventually winds up dead or wishing he/she was dead...


fAT...

Interesting problem which I've seen in many forms over the years. It requires setting up an algebraic equation that equates the distance traveled by the bee over time against the shortening distance between the trains. I could probably solve it, but I don't have the energy for it now...


ken

[rlortie]

Now Ken!

I do often skim threads quickly in an effort to leave the gravy and just consume the meat. This process is made easier since about 90% of all thread verbiage is low nutrion gravy. However, sometimes when using such a time saving method, I can miss an important detail and appreciate it when someone can point it out to me.

Would I ever think of telling you that you speed read and even do so when copying and pasting, Why I would not think of such a thing! (dont go out my door) :o)

Ralph

[rlortie]

Michael,

Try this one on your above riddle.

Murder With A Twist:

Do you like to read a good murder mystery? Not even Law and Order would
attempt to capture this mess. This is an unbelievable twist of fate!!!!
At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS
President Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal
complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:
--------
On March 23, 1994....... the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald
Opus, and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr.
Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to
commit
suicide..
----
He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency. As he fell
past
the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing
through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor
the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below
the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald
Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had
planned.
-----
"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "Someone who sets out to commit
suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be
what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr.
Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.
-------
The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was
occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously,
and he was threatening her with a shotgun! The man was so upset that
when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife, and the
pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to
kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of
the murder! of subject "B."
-------
When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were
both adamant, and both said that they thought the shotgun was not
loaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his
wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.
Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is,
assuming the gun had been accidentally loaded.
----
The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old
couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal
accident..
----
It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support
and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun
threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father
would
shoot his mother.
----
Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the
murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now
becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald
Opus.
-------
Now comes the exquisite twist... Further investigation revealed that
the
son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent
over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This
led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be
killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.
-------
The son, Ronald Opus, had actually murdered himself. So the medical
examiner closed the case as a suicide.
A true story from Associated Press, (Reported by Kurt Westerville)

[AgingYoung]

fAt,
That is one dang fast bee. Must be cheeto powered. I think the bee will fly until

1. it doesn't change directions fast enough when it's approaching the front of one of the trains or
2. it runs out of cheetos or
3. it covers 74.9999876392148 miles

Am I close?

Michael,
That two timing hussy of a twin sister went behind her back and swiped her man!



Well I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you can really relax because this combination of mechanisms I tried only complicated the design. It was like going to the corner store by way of china. The bad news is it didn't work. Yes, that is the bad news. Don't try to say that is the good news.

One thing I've learned (again) is that complicating a simple idea only gives you a complicated version of the original simple idea.

Gene

[ken_behrendt]

Ralph...

Unfortunately, in today's world with the ever increasing overload of information we are all exposed to daily, one must try to operate as efficiently as possible. The BW Discussion Board is a big place and threads can, occasionally, go through a phase of explosive growth. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of all the posts have, in my opinion, any bearing on the search for a solution to the mystery of Bessler's wheels.

Yes, I do occasionally miss an important point, but it's something I strive to minimize when possible. And, of course, when I do post I try to make my comments as clear and relevant as possible so that anybody else who, like me, is also skimming for content will have the maximum probability of not missing my input. I recommend the same protocol for other members as well.


ken

[bluesgtr44]

Gene...20 some odd straws...not surprised it was overloaded...try using cheetos! They are a real booger to get balanced though...bet I know someone on this board who could help ya! HEY fAt!

Ken...it's a lot of info for the most part. I do the same thing myself.

Ralph, I remember that one! LMAO...


Steve

[Michael]

Well I'm pleased to announce that so far everyone who answered has passed the test and is healthy. Anyone else want to answer before I post what this test is about?

[Michael]

Ralph,
I actually knew that one. It's at the beginning of a movie with Tom Cruise called Magnolia.

The problem with skimming. Ken don't take this the wrong way, I think your a swell guy and I mean that but someone told me many months ago that they felt you skimmed their posts and posted the same ideaology later without giving them the credit.

[bluesgtr44]

The sisters were identical twins...later on at the funeral, the man went to the other sister and got her number and started going out with her...un-be-knownst to him. This sister knew that it was the other sister, she wanted him and did it on purpose....


Steve

[fAtnhapy]

fAt,
That is one dang fast bee. Must be cheeto powered. I think the bee will fly until

1. it doesn't change directions fast enough when it's approaching the front of one of the trains or
2. it runs out of cheetos or
3. it covers 74.9999876392148 miles

Am I close?
Gene

Actually you're off by .0000234717952 miles. No wonder you can't build a wheel.
fAt

[fAtnhapy]

fAT...

Interesting problem which I've seen in many forms over the years. It requires setting up an algebraic equation that equates the distance traveled by the bee over time against the shortening distance between the trains. I could probably solve it, but I don't have the energy for it now...
ken

Actually it doesn't even require a calculator. No Cheetos for you!
fAt

[AgingYoung]

fAt,

Actually you're off by .0000234717952 miles. No wonder you can't build a wheel.

Let's see here 440 yards in a ¼mile ...1760 yards in a mile times 3 is 5280 feet times 12 is 63360 inches times .0000234717952 is 1.487172943872 inches!! That's not off by that much. Next time I'll sharpen my pencil.

Gene

[Wheeler]

Ken may suffer from being a closet reader with a tendency to speed read.
Studies show a tendency to act up at dinner.
Sometimes know to actually pretend to be sleeping (while actually wanting to read).

The only known cure is to force them to take out the trash or do dishes.