Superb Owl Sunday

The Colts may have beaten the Bears, but neither of them could come close to beating Sunday, the Superb Owl!

Oh, c'mon. You know you smiled at that. Maybe even giggled. Didja think the title was a typo?

I'm known for my horrible typos in certain circles. Oh, sure, the blog is usually pretty typo free. I use spellcheck on it and two or three proof readings, yet I still have them slip through now and again. I can't help it, though. It's just in me to misspell, it's part of who I am. I have Type O blood.

Okay, okay. I'll stop. You've been pun-ished enough.

I'm glad the Colts won. I was rooting for them. Well, rooting for Tony Dungy, to be precise. I always liked Dungy. I wish he never left Tampa. Gruden is all right, but he won the Superbowl that first year with Dungy's team and a lot of Dungy's coaches. So, yeah ... Dungy deserved this win.

I didn't watch the game, though. I rarely do.

Usually on Superbowl Sunday, I'll take the kids out somewhere. To the movies, bowling, laser tag, or whatever. The crowds are a lot less because everyone is at home, or at a bar, watching the game. Restaurants are less crowded too. Except those bar-n-grill joints with a kajillion TVs hanging from the walls like glowing cubes of Damocles awaiting the proper moment to rip themselves from the wall and brain unsuspecting customers.

If I'm home, and watching television, I'll flip over to the game occasionally. Just to check the score. But with computer advancements, you can get score feeds sent right to your screen, watch animated, real time updates at NFL.com, and even watch the highly touted Superbowl ads.

That's the real reason I watch the game at all. For the commercials. They are usually more entertaining than the game anyhow. But, if you are like me this year and did not watch the game, how can you see those commercials?

Why, you go to websites that have captured them and put them up for you to watch at your leisure.

Ebaum's World has done just that. They seem to run in chronological order with the first shown at the bottom and the last show at the top. I watched all of them and was not overly impressed this year.

Budweiser's ads were not very funny to me. If the slapping thing they lampooned takes off, I'm going to Busch Gardens and start slapping everyone in sight. There were a total of 9 Budweiser ads during the Superbowl. the only one I thought was funny, and somewhat of a comment about our state of mind, is the "Rock-Paper-Scissors" one. The Wedding one was okay, too. It says something when about 15% (9 of 62) Superbowl ads were for Budweiser.

Other humorous, but not outstanding ads were from Sierra Mist, Taco Bell, and Fed Ex. Doritos had a couple ads, but I didn't like them much.

There were two ads that I did like, though.

The first is a return of the Blockbuster's Ray and Carl, a CG guinea pig and rabbit voiced by Jim Belushi and James Woods, who live across the street from a Blockbuster. The old commercials were always funny, and they first appeared in 2002's Superbowl ads. I have my issues with Blockbuster, but I love the Ray and Carl commercials. Here is the one from last night's game:

But my favorite favorite ad is from newcomer Garmin. They debuted a fantastic old school monster battle advert between "Garmin Man, The Champion of Personal Navigation"and "Mapasuarus". It brings me back to when I was little and watched Ultraman before and after school and on Saturday mornings. I sure do love those man-in-suit shows ... Ultraman, Godzilla, Gamera, any of those old 50's and 60's mega-monster movies. Here is the commercial:

There are tons of more related fun stuff on YouTube and at Garmin. There are interviews with Garmin Man and Mapasaurus at YouTube, along with a few others things. Garmin's main site has links to an Extended Commercial, a music video, downloads, and pictures of other Driving Demons like Trafficdactyl and Wireannasaurus Mess, as well as the low down on Garmin Man's arsenal.

Maybe I could make my own giant monster movies starring Superb Owl Sunday. He could battle the evil, polluting forces that try to keep people from watching football like Litter In-law, Honeydo CO2, and Kid Tantrum.

He could even have a theme song!

"Superb Owl, Superb Owl,
He's our feathered super pal!
Screeches loud, he gives a Hoot,
Catches guys, who pollute.
Hey now! It's Sunday the Superb Owl!"

Hmmm, I know I've heard that tune somewhere before ...

---

Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 36 days is:

$687,194,767.35

If It's Fart Jokes, You Know I'm Sick Again

My apologies for the late posts the last few days. I just seem to be catching one thing after another. =/ I was basically unconscious most of the day today, so you get to watch this grossly funny song parody of Brittney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again".

Enjoy.

Oh, and hold your nose.

---

Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 35 days is:

$343,597,383.67

Shipwrecked! What Would YOU Bring?

You slowly awaken to the warmth of sunlight, the gentle crash of waves, and the taste of salt upon your dry lips. You look around to find yourself inside a half-shredded rubber life raft on the beach of a small tropical island.

You don't know where you are. You don't know how you got there. You have only a vague memory of the roar of strong winds, flickering flames, screams of the dying, and of tossing a few items into the flimsy raft before fear and darkness overtook your senses.

No, you haven't awoken to find yourself as Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Rather this is one of those What If games you have likely played with friends and family, or lying awake in bed trying to sleep.

In this What If, you are shipwrecked on an unihabited, tropical island in the middle of who-knows-where with no hope of rescue. You get to choose any 10 items to have with you (not including a set of clothing you are wearing and the shredded inflatable raft). There are caveats, however.

¤ No item may electronic in nature. That is, you may not take water-proof, solar powered, satellite phones, indestructible, self powered HAM radios, or things like that.

¤ The items must be a real items. No pocket teleporters, no cold fusion jetpacks, no Star Trek communicators.

¤ No item may be bigger than you could easily carry and place into a raft or weigh more than 10 pounds each. So, taking along a fiberglass, double-hulled personal watercraft and 30 gallons of fuel is out of the question. Or, that 240 pound safe full of money and jewels, either.

¤ No All-in-One kits. There are hundreds of survival and camping kits with dozens of items in them you can purchase, but for this game, they are not allowed. You can have multi-function tools, or small kits like a fishing kit with some line, hooks, and a bobber, but not a generic all-in-one style kit. That'd just be too easy!

¤ You may bring only one type of medicine, but you don't have to worry about any pre-existing real medical conditions; your What If avatar is in reasonably good health and physically fit.

¤ One item must be a luxury item that fits within the above guidelines. A picture of your family, a small case of scotch, or a volleyball are some examples. It may not be a tool or have other obvious uses besides being comforting to have, hold, or use.

¤ Other than the 10 items you choose, you only have the shredded inflatbale raft and the clothes on your back (shirt, socks, shoes, pants, etc).

With these restrictions in mind, and having the foreknowledge that you will be on a tropical island for a very long time, what 10 things would you bring?

Here is my list:

1. Hand Axe - One of those nice camping ones with the rubber grip and saw that fits inside the handle. (Like this one!) So many uses for this.
2. Multi-Tool Pocketknife - Sometimes generically called Swiss Army knives. A couple utility blades, an awl, small scissors, fish scaler, hooked blade, and magnifying glass at minimum.
3. Duct Tape - A huge roll of it. The good kind. It sounds funny, but I can think of a hundred uses for it right now on our imaginary island, and probabaly find a thousand more. Used sparingly it could be one of the more important tools.
4. A Fire Starter Tool - There are many types out there; from simple matches to modren takes on flint and steel. I'd want the Light My Fire tool, preferably the bigger one.
5. Nylon Cord - The thin kind, sometimes called parachute cord, and as much as I could get, but for this game I'll say 50'. It can be used for fishing, snares, tying stuff together, etc.
6. Aspirin - The most useful, common drug you can get. Figure at least a large bottle, or a few small ones.
7. Fishing Kit - Some fishing line and hooks, basically. I'd want something with a good test pull to it.
8. Survival Manual - Because I know very little about what to do. And, I doubt SurvivorMan or Man vs. Wild has prepared me. (A hard copy of the U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76 would be good. It's online, too.)
9. Survival Blanket - I can sleep in in, I could 'wear' it, use it for shelter or ground cover. Very useful. (Something like this one.)
10. Tennis Ball - No, I wouldn't call it Spalding or Penn. This is my luxury item. No real use to it, but I could amuse myself for hours with it. I have one on my desk, right now, that I hold, squeeze, or spin in my hand when I think or an agitated. Like Tom Hank's volleyball, I think my tennis ball would help me stay sane.

I had a few other items I debated on placing on the list: a collapsible shovel, one of those flashlights you shake to make work, a sleeping bag, a tent, a hunting knife. But, I decided the others would be more useful to me.

Share what you would bring with us in the comments section. Even if it's just your luxury item.

---

Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 34 days is:

$171,798,691.83

Who Invited That Bozo?

Technically, today is a double post. The post you are reading now is the real post for the day, while the What if a Penny Was Doubled Every Day for a Year? post below is more of an ongoing post.

I know, I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense. That happens with fevers. =/

Yeah, I'm sick. Again. Or, perhaps I should say 'still'. My mouth is still infected, but healing. But, somehow (probably from hugging those germ carrying kids of mine) I've gotten a sinus deal with sore throat, headache, and fever. At least there's no involuntary projectile regurgitation going on this time.

If you got a sec, go over and visit a friend of mine's new blog. It is called Way of the Sammarye. Only one post so far, but it is a pretty good one.

Sammarye is an old friend from my NWN days. We spent a few hours last night trying to get a header to look right on his blog. It is basically the one that is there now, but with the Kanji and samurai sword in place of the left side blocks. Not my best work, but I think it looks cool and meshes well with his color scheme. The Kanji characters literally say "Samurai Way".

I blame my burgeoning cold but it turns out all our wrestling with the template code to get the header to look right was in vain. It was a simple error on my part. The image host only allows images of 800 pixels wide. Bigger, and they get cropped. Hence our frustrating battle last night.

Anyone know of free image hosting sites that allow larger images? Flickr doesn't. I tried them, too. =/

Apropos of nothing ...

The kids' schools send out occasional e-mails with whatever information they wish to pass along. We usually get one every week, week and a half. I skim them, but mostly ignore them as it is the same information they bring home on handouts.

This morning I received one from my older boy's school. In it, the principal relates how two students' fathers passed away this last week, and how family is precious and we should all take time to appreciate our families. In all, a rather poignant and eloquent speech.

Except that under his digital signature, emblazoned in caps and encapsulated by curlicues were the words, "DON'T FORGET TO BRING IN YOUR BOXTOPS!"

...

That's like having clowns at a funeral. Well, unless it was a clown funeral, then it would be all right.

---

Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 33 days is:

$85,899,345.91

What if a Penny Was Doubled Every Day for a Year?

NOTE: I believe I have devised a solution to the table boundary problem. It is not an elegant solution, by any means, but it allows you see all the data. I will continue to research alternative methods of displaying this interesting data and update this page accordingly.

The penny.

One cent. The lowest currency amount in the US. A coin so maligned that if you drop one, odds are you won't pick it up. A coin so insignificant most stores have small trays laden with the cast off coppers that you can actually use should you be short of the purchase amount.

Sure, they can add up. Most people have a jar filled with pennies somewhere in their home. They add to it from time to time, sometimes even daily. Slowly the amount increases, until it is decided to cash them in. You can get a good haul that way. Maybe even a hundred bucks. More if you slip in the higher value coins.

But what if you took that lowly penny and doubled it every day? What if you did that for a year? How much money would you have?

To find out, on each day's post I will put the cumulative total to that point for the year. Also, the chart below will be updated daily to reflect each new day's amounts. Expect to see some very large numbers the further along this project goes.

Penny Doubled Daily

Day	Date	Doubled Amount	Cumulative Amount
1	Jan 1	$0.01	$0.01
2	Jan 2	$0.02	$0.03
3	Jan 3	$0.04	$0.07
4	Jan 4	$0.08	$0.15
5	Jan 5	$0.16	$0.31
6	Jan 6	$0.32	$0.63
7	Jan 7	$0.64	$1.27
8	Jan 8	$1.28	$2.55
9	Jan 9	$2.56	$5.11
10	Jan 10	$5.12	$10.23
11	Jan 11	$10.24	$20.47
12	Jan 12	$20.48	$40.95
13	Jan 13	$40.96	$81.91
14	Jan 14	$81.92	$163.83
15	Jan 15	$163.84	$327.67
16	Jan 16	$327.68	$655.35
17	Jan 17	$655.35	$1,310.71
18	Jan 18	$1,310.72	$2,621.43
19	Jan 19	$2,621.44	$5,242.87
20	Jan 20	$5,242.88	$10,485.75
21	Jan 21	$10,485.76	$20,971.51
22	Jan 22	$20,971.52	$41,943.03
23	Jan 23	$41,943.04	$83,886.07
24	Jan 24	$83,886.07	$167,772.15
25	Jan 25	$167,772.16	$335,544.31
26	Jan 26	$335,544.32	$671,088.63
27	Jan 27	$671,088.64	$1,342,177.27
28	Jan 28	$1,342,177.28	$2,684,354.55
29	Jan 29	$2,684,354.56	$5,368,709.11
30	Jan 30	$5,368,709.12	$10,737,418.23
31	Jan 31	$10,737,418.24	$21,474,836.47

Day	Date	Doubled Amount	Cumulative Amount
32	Feb 1	$21,474,836.48	$42,949,672.95
33	Feb 2	$42,949,672.96	$85,899,345.91
34	Feb 3	$85,899,345.92	$171,798,691.83
35	Feb 4	$171,798,691.84	$343,597,383.67
36	Feb 5	$343,597,383.68	$687,194,767.35
37	Feb 6	$687,194,767.36	$1,374,389,534.71
38	Feb 7	$1,374,389,534.72	$2,748,779,069.43
39	Feb 8	$2,748,779,069.44	$5,497,558,138.87
40	Feb 9	$5,497,558,138.87	$10,995,116,277.75
41	Feb 10	$10,995,116,277.76	$21,990,232,555.51
42	Feb 11	$21,990,232,555.52	$43,980,465,111.03
43	Feb 12	$43,980,465,111.04	$87,960,930,222.07
44	Feb 13	$87,960,930,222.08	$175,921,860,444.15
45	Feb 14	$175,921,860,444.16	$351,843,720,888.31
46	Feb 15	$351,843,720,888.32	$703,687,441,776.63
47	Feb 16	$703,687,441,776.64	$1,407,374,883,553.27
48	Feb 17	$1,407,374,883,553.28	$2,814,749,767,106.55
49	Feb 18	$2,814,749,767,106.56	$5,629,499,534,213.11
50	Feb 19	$5,629,499,534,213.12	$11,258,999,068,426.23
51	Feb 20	$11,258,999,068,426.24	$22,517,998,136,852.47
52	Feb 21	$22,517,998,136,852.48	$45,035,996,273,704.95
53	Feb 22	$45,035,996,273,704.96	$90,071,992,547,409.91
54	Feb 23	$90,071,992,547,409.92	$180,143,985,094,819.83
55	Feb 24	$180,143,985,094,819.84	$360,287,970,189,639.67
56	Feb 25	$360,287,970,189,639.68	$720,575,940,379,279.35
57	Feb 26	$720,575,940,379,279.36	$1,441,151,880,758,558.71
58	Feb 27	$1,441,151,880,758,558.72	$2,882,303,761,517,117.43
59	Feb 28	$2,882,303,761,517,117.44	$5,764,607,523,034,234.87

Day	Date	Doubled Amount	Cumulative Amount
60	Mar 1	$5,764,607,523,034,234.88	$11,529,215,046,068,469.75
61	Mar 2	$11,529,215,046,068,469.76	$23,058,430,092,136,939.51
62	Mar 3	$23,058,430,092,136,939.52	$46,116,860,184,273,879.03
63	Mar 4	$46,116,860,184,273,879.04	$92,233,720,368,547,758.07
64	Mar 5	$92,233,720,368,547,758.08	$184,467,440,737,095,516.15
65	Mar 6	$184,467,440,737,095,516.16	$368,934,881,474,191,032.31
66	Mar 7	$368,934,881,474,191,032.32	$737,869,762,948,382,064.63
67	Mar 8	$737,869,762,948,382,064.64	$1, 475,739,525,896,764,129.27
68	Mar 9	$1, 475,739,525,896,764,129.28	$2, 951,479,051,793,528,258.55
69	Mar 10	$2, 951,479,051,793,528,258.56	$5, 902,958,103,587,056,517.11
70	Mar 11	$5, 902,958,103,587,056,517.12	$11, 805,916,207,174,113,034.23
71	Mar 12	$11, 805,916,207,174,113,034.24	$23, 611,832,414,348,226,068.47
72	Mar 13	$23, 611,832,414,348,226,068.47	$47, 223,664,828,696,452,136.95
73	Mar 14	$47, 223,664,828,696,452,136.96	$94, 447,329,657,392,904,273.91
74	Mar 15	$94, 447,329,657,392,904,273.92	$188, 894,659,314,785,808,547.83
75	Mar 16	$188, 894,659,314,785,808,547.84	$377, 789,318,629,571,617,095.67
76	Mar 17	$377, 789,318,629,571,617,095.68	$755, 578,637,259,143,234,191.35
77	Mar 18	$755, 578,637,259,143,234,191.35	$1,511, 157,274,518,286,468,382.71
78	Mar 19	$1,511, 157,274,518,286,468,382.72	$3,022, 314,549,036,572,936,765.43
79	Mar 20	$3,022, 314,549,036,572,936,765.44	$6,044, 629,098,073,145,873,530.87
80	Mar 21	$6,044, 629,098,073,145,873,530.88	$12,089, 258,196,146,291,747,061.75
81	Mar 22	$12,089, 258,196,146,291,747,061.75	$24,178, 516,392,292,583,494,123.51
82	Mar 23	$24,178, 516,392,292,583,494,123.52	$48,357, 032,784,585,166,988,247.03
83	Mar 24	$48,357, 032,784,585,166,988,247.04	$96,714, 065,569,170,333,976,494.07
84	Mar 25	$96,714, 065,569,170,333,976,494.08	$193,428, 131,138,340,667,952,988.15
85	Mar 26	$193,428, 131,138,340,667,952,988.16	$386,856, 262,276,681,335,905,976.31
86	Mar 27	$386,856, 262,276,681,335,905,976.32	$773,712, 524,553,362,671,811,952.63
87	Mar 28	$773,712, 524,553,362,671,811,952.64	$1,547,425, 049,106,725,343,623,905.27
88	Mar 29	$1,547,425, 049,106,725,343,623,905.27	$3,094,850, 098,213,450,687,247,810.55
89	Mar 30	$3,094,850, 098,213,450,687,247,810.56	$6,189,700, 196,426,901,374,495,621.11
90	Mar 31	$6,189,700, 196,426,901,374,495,621.12	$12,379,400, 392,853,802,748,991,242.23

Day	Date	Doubled Amount	Cumulative Amount
91	Apr 1	$12,379,400, 392,853,802,748,991,242.24	$24,758,800, 785,707,605,497,982,484.47
92	Apr 2	$24,758,800, 785,707,605,497,982,484.48	$49,517,601, 571,415,210,995,964,968.95
93	Apr 3	$49,517,601, 571,415,210,995,964,968.96	$99,035,203, 142,830,421,991,929,937.91
94	Apr 4	$99,035,203, 142,830,421,991,929,937.92	$198,070,406, 285,660,843,983,859,875.83
95	Apr 5	$198,070,406, 285,660,843,983,859,875.84	$396,140,812, 571,321,687,967,719,751.67
96	Apr 6	$396,140,812, 571,321,687,967,719,751.68	$792,281,625, 142,643,375,935,439,503.35
97	Apr 7	$792,281,625, 142,643,375,935,439,503.36	$1,584,563,250, 285,286,751,870,879,006.71
98	Apr 8	$1,584,563,250, 285,286,751,870,879,006.72	$3,169,126,500, 570,573,503,741,758,013.43
99	Apr 9	$3,169,126,500, 570,573,503,741,758,013.44	$6,338,253,001, 141,147,007,483,516,026.87
100	Apr 10	$6,338,253,001, 141,147,007,483,516,026.88	$12,676,506,002, 282,294,014,967,032,053.75
101	Apr 11	$12,676,506,002, 282,294,014,967,032,053.76	$25,353,012,004, 564,588,029,934,064,107.51
102	Apr 12	$25,353,012,004, 564,588,029,934,064,107.52	$50,706,024,009, 129,176,059,868,128,215.03
103	Apr 13	$50,706,024,009, 129,176,059,868,128,215.04	$101,412,048,018, 258,352,119,736,256,430.07
104	Apr 14	$101,412,048,018, 258,352,119,736,256,430.08	$202,824,096,036, 516,704,239,472,512,860.15
105	Apr 15	$202,824,096,036, 516,704,239,472,512,860.16	$405,648,192,073, 033,408,478,945,025,720.31
106	Apr 16	$405,648,192,073, 033,408,478,945,025,720.32	$811,296,384,146, 066,816,957,890,051,440.63
107	Apr 17	$811,296,384,146, 066,816,957,890,051,440.64	$1,622,592,768,292, 133,633,915,780,102,881.27
108	Apr 18	$1,622,592,768,292, 133,633,915,780,102,881.28	$3,245,185,536,584, 267,267,831,560,205,762.53
109	Feb 3	$3,245,185,536,584, 267,267,831,560,205,762.54	$6,490,371,073,168, 534,535,663,120,411,525.07
110	Apr 20	$6,490,371,073,168, 534,535,663,120,411,525.08	$12,980,742,146,337, 069,071,326,240,823,050.15
111	Apr 21	$12,980,742,146,337, 069,071,326,240,823,050.16	$25,961,484,292,674, 138,142,652,481,646,100.31
112	Apr 22	$25,961,484,292,674, 138,142,652,481,646,100.32	$51,922,968,585,348, 276,285,304,963,292,200.63
113	Apr 23	$51,922,968,585,348, 276,285,304,963,292,200.64	$103,845,937,170,696, 552,570,609,926,584,401.27
114	Apr 24	$103,845,937,170,696, 552,570,609,926,584,401.28	$207,691,874,341,393, 105,141,219,853,168,802.55
115	Apr 25	$207,691,874,341,393, 105,141,219,853,168,802.56	$415,383,748,682,786, 210,282,439,706,337,605.11
116	Apr 26	$415,383,748,682,786, 210,282,439,706,337,605.12	$830,767,497,365,572, 420,564,879,412,675,210.23
117	Apr 27	$830,767,497,365,572, 420,564,879,412,675,210.24	$1,661,534,994,731,144, 841,129,758,825,350,420.47
118	Apr 28	$1,661,534,994,731,144, 841,129,758,825,350,420.48	$3,323,069,989,462,289, 682,259,517,650,700,840.95
119	Apr 29	$3,323,069,989,462,289, 682,259,517,650,700,840.96	$6,646,139,978,924,579, 364,519,035,301,401,681.91
120	Apr 30	$6,646,139,978,924,579, 364,519,035,301,401,681.92	$13,292,279,957,849,158, 729,038,070,602,803,363.83

Day	Date	Doubled Amount	Cumulative Amount
121	May 1	$13,292,279,957,849,158, 729,038,070,602,803,363.83	$26,584,559,915,698,317, 458,076,141,205,606,727.67
122	May 2	$26,584,559,915,698,317, 458,076,141,205,606,727.68	$53,169,119,831,396,634, 916,152,282,411,213,455.35
123	May 3	$53,169,119,831,396,634, 916,152,282,411,213,455.36	$106,338,239,662,793,269, 832,304,564,822,426,910.71
124	May 4	$106,338,239,662,793,269, 832,304,564,822,426,910.72	$212,676,479,325,586,539, 664,609,129,644,853,821.43
125	May 5	$212,676,479,325,586,539, 664,609,129,644,853,821.44	$425,352,958,651,173,079, 329,218,259,289,707,642.87
126	May 6	$425,352,958,651,173,079, 329,218,259,289,707,642.88	$850,705,917,302,346,158, 658,436,518,579,415,285.75
127	May 7	$850,705,917,302,346,158, 658,436,518,579,415,285.76	$1,701,411,834,604,692,317, 316,873,037,158,830,571.51
128	May 8	$1,701,411,834,604,692,317, 316,873,037,158,830,571.52	$3,402,823,669,209,384,634, 633,746,074,317,661,143.03
129	May 9	$3,402,823,669,209,384,634, 633,746,074,317,661,143.04	$6,805,647,338,418,769,269, 267,492,148,635,322,286.07
130	May 10	$6,805,647,338,418,769,269, 267,492,148,635,322,286.08	$13, 611,294,676,837,538,538, 534,984,297,270,644,572.15
131	May 11	$13, 611,294,676,837,538,538, 534,984,297,270,644,572.16	$27, 222,589,353,675,077,077, 069,968,594,541,289,144.31
132	May 12	$27, 222,589,353,675,077,077, 069,968,594,541,289,144.32	$54, 445,178,707,350,154,154, 139,937,189,082,578,288.63
133	May 13	$54, 445,178,707,350,154,154, 139,937,189,082,578,288.64	$108, 890,357,414,700,308,308, 279,874,378,165,156,577.27
134	May 14	$108, 890,357,414,700,308,308, 279,874,378,165,156,577.28	$217, 780,714,829,400,616,616, 559,748,756,330,313,154.55
135	May 15	$217, 780,714,829,400,616,616, 559,748,756,330,313,154.56	$435, 561,429,658,801,233,233, 119,497,512,660,626,309.11
136	May 16	$435, 561,429,658,801,233,233, 119,497,512,660,626,309.12	$871, 122,859,317,602,466,466, 238,995,025,321,252,618.23
137	May 17	$871, 122,859,317,602,466,466, 238,995,025,321,252,618.24	$1,742, 245,718,635,204,932,932, 477,990,050,642,505,236.47
139	May 19	$1,742, 245,718,635,204,932,932, 477,990,050,642,505,236.48	$6,968, 982,874,540,819,731,729, 911,960,202,570,020,945.91
140	May 20	$6,968, 982,874,540,819,731,729, 911,960,202,570,020,945.92	$13,937, 965,749,081,639,463,459, 823,920,405,140,041,891.83
141	May 21	$13,937, 965,749,081,639,463,459, 823,920,405,140,041,891.84	$27,875, 931,498,163,278,926,919, 647,840,810,280,083,783.67 td>
142	May 22	$27,875, 931,498,163,278,926,919, 647,840,810,280,083,783.68	$55,751, 862,996,326,557,853,839, 295,681,620,560,167,567.35
143	May 23	$55,751, 862,996,326,557,853,839, 295,681,620,560,167,567.36	$111,503, 725,992,653,115,707,678, 591,363,241,120,335,134.71
144	May 24	$111,503, 725,992,653,115,707,678, 591,363,241,120,335,134.72	$223,007, 451,985,306,231,415,357, 182,726,482,240,670,269.43
145	May 25	$223,007, 451,985,306,231,415,357, 182,726,482,240,670,269.43	$446,014, 903,970,612,462,830,714, 365,452,964,481,340,538.87
146	May 26	$446,014, 903,970,612,462,830,714, 365,452,964,481,340,538.87	$892,029, 807,941,224,925,661,428, 730,905,928,962,681,077.75

Penny Doubled Daily - Exponential Growth of One Cent

A comments discussion of how a church grows akin to cell division over at The Original Mud Puppy turned to that old mathematics trick of penny doubling based on exponential growth.

Penny doubling is when you start with a single penny ($0.01) and you double the value each day. So, on the first day you get $0.01, on the second day you get $0.02, the third day gets you $0.04, with $0.08 on the fourth day, and so on.

Back in the mid 80's, in high school, I had a computer course (using old TRS 80s) where we had to construct a BASIC program that found the exponential total of the penny doubled daily. I think we had to go to 30 days. Huge number. $10, 737, 418.23

What is odd is that the aggregate cumulative total is always 0.01 (or 1 if using whole numbers) less than the next doubled amount. In the above, if we went to 31 days, the next number would be 10737418.24 to be added for a total of $21,774,836.47

There is a classic riddle involving this process where a child is given two choices: a linear progression of $1 a week allowance, or an exponential progression starting at $0.01 and doubling each week. We did something similar to the kids once, as an object lesson about thinking things through before making snap choices.

They get $1 a day allowance, paid every two weeks, for a total of $28 a month. (Out of this they are responsible to manage their money and purchase anything they want, as well as gifts for celebrations, snacks at school, movies, skating, etc, and replacement materials for things they break or misuse. We hope it teaches them some fiscal responsibility and the value of money).

We told them that for the next two weeks, instead of paying them bi-weekly, we would give them their allowance for the day, each day. They could either get $1.00 a day, or they could start out at a penny ($0.01) and we would double it each day. We explained how that works, much as I did in my second paragraph above.

The youngest (just turned 8 at the time) immediately sat down and tried to figure it out. He bent over a piece of paper, pencil in hand, and furiously scribbled figures down for a minute or so. For whatever reason, he stopped after only 7 days and declared it was a rip off and wanted the $1.00 a day. We shrugged and agreed, handing him his first dollar which he happily snatched and stuffed in his piggy bank.

His older brother, (12 at the time) tried to be a show-off and was working the figures in his head. I could see he was having trouble, but had no clue how far he had figured it out. When his little brother disgustedly dropped his pencil and called the penny doubling a rip-off, you could see his eyes sort of flicker in relief and he also stated he would rather have the dollar per day.

He got his dollar, stuffed quickly into his jeans' pocket, and they both went their way. I started a chart on the whiteboard we use for chore lists and calendar. I made two rows of 14 boxes in a line and wrote $1.00 in the first top box, $0.01 in the first bottom. Each day I'd write the next amount to be given, as well as the total to that point.

It was on day 9 when the oldest boy noticed the penny doubled row was now at $2.56 for the day, and a cumulative total of $5.11. His brow furrowed in deep thought; his fingers flicked, counting phantom numbers his lips silently mouthed. Suddenly he smacked his hand on his forehead (I hate when he does that;, little drama queen sometimes, hehe) and yelled to his brother they were getting ripped off.

Yes, he had figured out that even though as of that day, the penny double was at a total of $5.11, the next day would add $5.12 to that be a total of $10.23. A whole $0.23 more than they each would have earned by that day. He grabbed some paper and a pencil and figured out for a couple more days and threw a fit.

The both cried unfair, we tricked them. We didn't tell them they would end up with so much money at the end of 14 days. We shrugged and told them they should have worked it out. I would have helped them with the math, had they asked. And, yes, we would have made good on the payment if they chose the right one.

Anyhow, this all got me to thinking today ... what if someone had made that deal with you for an entire year?

I know, pure nonsense. No one has that kind of money, but it is an interesting fantasy. And, just how much money would that be?

To find out, on each daily blog entry, at the bottom, I will write the new total earned if it were a real deal. Since I'm starting on February 1st, I'll be using a figure of 32 days. I am also creating a new post which will show the entire process from $0.01 to as high as I am able before my brain explodes and my computers melts to plastic slag. Each daily blog total will link to that consolidated information page. (I'll have that page up tomorrow sometime ... hehe)

---

Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 32 days is:

$42,949,672.95

Blasted Blogger

Today's post will be late. Really late.

Blogger was having hiccups today. And I know better than to write my entire post in Blogger without backing it up via Draft or in Notepad or something. So, Blogger ate it.

But, that's okay because it was a really pretentious and egotistical post. I was all crowing about visitors and pageviews and other stuff like that. I admit it. I like ego strokes. And the post was a subtle plea for one.

I was asking what people liked or didn't like about the blog. Whether I should change this, or do that. If having set days like Punday Monday, Top 10 Tuesday, Funky News Friday, and the like would be better.

Blah

I'm glad Blogger ate it. I was reading another blog today and had a better idea for today's post. I need some research on it, and have it partially typed up, but now i must move into the real world and do the family things ... pick up kiddies, help with homework, make and eat dinner, do some family time after, yell at the kids for stupid things they say and or do ....

So, expect a real blog entry later tonight. Or, you can read it tomorrow for a double dose. It'll be interesting. ^.^

I hope ...