A fine day in Kampala and so I traveled over to my favorite local restaurant - Chef d'oeuvre - for some rice and chapati (which was delicious, as usual). While I was waiting for my food, Moses, one of my favorite waiters, brought me my usual ice-cold Coca Cola, a nutritious part of every complete lunch. And, as I was sipping on the bottle's sweet contents I wondered to myself, "Hmm, you know...I wonder how much liquid my body has processed during my lifetime."
Based on my subsequent estimates, somewhere between 2,219.28 - 2,536.32 gallons. And, given that a gallon of water weighs about 8.33 pounds, this means my body has processed about 18,486.6 - 21,127.55 pounds of liquid.
(Cool trivia fact: the human heart pumps about 1,900 gallons of blood in ONE DAY. So it's taken me almost a quarter of a century to drink what my heart pumps through itself everyday...crazy.)
So then, as I was enjoying my lunch, I noticed a mosquito lazily buzzing its way through the restaurant and my mind naturally wandered to another question: "Hmm...I wonder how many mosquito bites I've received in my lifetime."
Based on my subsequent estimates, somewhere between 600 - 700. And, given that a mosquito extracts about 0.01 milliliters of blood which each bite, this means that I've lost between 0.026 - 0.03 cups (or about half a tablespoon) of blood in my lifetime.
(Cool trivia fact: the average leech drinks about 1 tablespoon of blood before it's full. So, it's taken me almost a quarter of a century to lose half the amount of blood to mosquitoes that I would to ONE leech.)
So, my lunch finished and bill paid, I headed home - taking the shortcut along a now-familiar dirt road past the steel warehouse, the small hotel, the two or three chapati and samosa stands, and my dear boda-driving friends on the corner. And, as I settled down here at home and logged onto my blog I wondered one last thing: "Wow, I wonder how many times I've used that password to log onto a website."
Somewhere between 4,500 and 5,000 times.
Cheers.
Journal excerpt (7.18.10)
I think, perhaps, that sometimes we take the wrong approach to sharing the Gospel. I mean, we are trying to share a truth of such depth that simply presenting it or thrusting it upon someone or acting like we're trying to sell it to them is both ineffective and perhaps even disrespectful to both that person and the message itself. To me, its like sharing the truth of oneself; if we simply have social experiences in order to try and show other people who we are and convince them to like us, then perhaps we are doing things incorrectly. Understanding truth comes with time and because of love; to truly love someone we must truly understand them - see them as God sees them - and allow our actions to change accordingly. If we want someone to understand and love us, that is wonderful and perhaps a worthy pursuit, but it is ultimately something we cannot control and should not try to. We can only purify ourselves and seek to selflessly understand and love others; only then will we avoid the addictive, selfish, and dangerously validating trap of selling the product of a shallow friendship - we will be culturing an environment of mutual edification in which truth is present, changes of heart and action occur, and charity is possible. Then, when someone begins to understand us, they learn the message through who we are and begin to cultivate the seed by loving us. That is, they begin to experience true joy through the edifying relationship that both parties have nourished. Is sharing the Gospel so different? Perhaps it needs to be in certain situations, but I think that the method for understanding truth may apply across all areas of life. I therefore think that we can do our best in sharing the Gospel through true friendships.
Chicos, les felicito - bien hecho.
The much-anticipated World Cup final is tomorrow and I'm ecstatic. Of course, the most prevalent question on my mind is: will Spain win? And, though I could let this simple question linger within my brain - disturbed only with the slight tremors of imagination - such is not my nature. And so, with a bit of statistical caution thrown to the wind, I will attempt to use some econometric nonsense to predict the score of the upcoming match.
Now, given that the group-stage statistics constitute the largest sample for the tournament, I will be using them for my predictions: this is the first bit of caution thrown out. The second is made up of individual player statistics which, due to constraints on my interest in the topic (yes, I actually do have them), have not been recorded and will not be used. So, given this sample, my identifying assumptions are that the group stage is a representative sample of team performance and that team performance itself is representative enough to make predictions.
So, I collected data on shots, shots on goal, crosses, fouls committed, cards booked, and goals made and ran several regressions. I will spare you the regression tables and various variable transformations as I think it may reduce your already pining interest to shameless boredom, statistical annoyance, or utter pity. On to the predictions.
Assuming that the two teams play similarly to their group-stage averages, I predict that Netherlands and Spain will each score only 1 goal during the final. However, based on the following intervals,
Netherlands: 1.36 predicted goals (1.56, 1.15)
Spain: 1.22 predicted goals (1.63, 0.82)
Each team could be predicted to score as high as 2 goals. These intervals also reveal that Spain is the less consistent team since its variance (and standard error) is clearly larger. This is seen more clearly in the following graph:
You can see that Spain's interval is much wider and even extends below 1. However, the other, perhaps more interesting result is that the intervals overlap, meaning that the two teams are not statistically different. What could this mean? Basically that the two teams are well matched and that, statistics aside, we're in for a sweet World Cup final. Olé.
Other fun facts about the group stage:
- Chile and Australia tied at 61 for the most fouls committed
- Chile had the most players booked: they received 13 cards (yellow = 1; red = 2)
- Argentina took the most shots: 64 in total (Brazil was next at 57; Ghana and Spain tying for third at 54 each)
- Argentina also had the most shots on goal: 30 in total (Brazil and England tied for second at 21; the US and Ivory Coast coming in at third with 20 each)
- Spain moved the ball the most, finishing the group stage with 114 crosses (Ivory Coast was next with 94 and Germany in third with 84)
- Japan was the most accurate team: its shots-to-shots-on-goal ratio was 0.54 (Slovenia was next at 0.5 and then Argentina with 0.47)
- Serbia received the most cards proportional to its fouls: the team received a card about every third foul it committed (ratio of 0.33); Germany was next, receiving a card about every fourth foul (ratio of 0.24).
C'est un sandwich.
I am at times so incredibly perplexed and yet inspired by the subtle nobility with which our Father has endowed us; can we look upon our true potential without seeing Him?
"A child I was when was a babe
scarce could count my hours of age
an opened eye, to stare with tears
and see, at last, that I was here
A child I was when was a friend
learning by a mother's hand
following a father's way
a peaceful innocence holding sway
A child I was when was a boy
and lived to see my parents' joy
and knew my own, but not so far
to cut so deep to leave a scar
A child I was when gave to pride
and dared to think I was a guide
but as tears and anger cycled through
you showed me life by what you knew
A child I was when was a man
and began to know a loving Hand
and felt another Father's way
and wondered at what my Brother paid
A child I was when gave myself
to giver, love, and equal help
and twixt us grew a bond so pure
and feet and hearts and eyes were sure
A child I was when, more mature,
learned that I was not so sure
but through storm we learned to love the spray
and dove so deep in what we prayed
A child I was when child I held
and so believed my heart would fail
she looked at me with familiar eyes
a smile to child was child's reply
A child I was when was so old
but scarcely still could I unfold
the mysteries of a love so deep
that sealed what I'd become to keep"
- Simon Delcruz (1225 - 1274)
Somewhere between 4,500 and 5,000 times.
