NEWSFLASH: Math degree comes in handy

[TheNewChupe]

Project coordinator: "So these people are supposed to take this package and mail it through the post office, right? Well, we need to make sure the distance between the post office they mailed it from and the post office they mailed it to is not less than 500 miles."

Me: "Uh huh. Using latitude and longitude degrees?"

Project coordinator: "I don't care."

Me: "Well, that's what we have stored. How the heck do you do that?"

Project Coordinator: "I don't know. But we need it right away."

Me: "Ok."




Solution: cos(AOB) = cos(latA)cos(latB)cos(lonB-lonA)+sin(latA)sin(latB)

Of course, I looked it up on the web, but then had to transfer it into SQL code and use it to make a report.

(this is also known as the "Why My Work Is Stupid: An Exposition" thread)

 

[The Dope]

I suppose it would be trivial to ask why the post offices had to be at least 500 miles apart.

 

[TheNewChupe]

see, that's the kind of thinking that puts you in more prominent managerial positions. question authority. stupid me was just like, "OK!" and now it actually comes out that the person who put that little 500-mile thing in the mix doesn't even work there any more and they're questioning if they should get rid of it.

you'll go far, dope.

 

[The Dope]

The whole thing just sounds like some sort of math problem - the kind which always causes questions like "why do we have to do this? we'll never have to do anything like this in the real world!"