Working with numbers

Originally published November 27, 2019

I love working with numbers.  Never has that entirely been my job, but it's now been a part of my last two jobs.  Ever since I was a kid learning math, I have always been at least above average at math, sometimes even being the best student in class.  Numbers never change and once you know something (such as algebra), it can help you in more complex and difficult applications (such as calculus).  I took Pre-Calc in high school, and then took three calculus classes in college.  Anytime my job involves working with numbers, I enjoy that aspect of it, and I'm always good at it.

As I said, back in school, I was good with numbers.  I once won a contest to memorize digits of Pi.  I don't remember exactly how many I remembered, but it's helped me remember this much so far (without cheating): 3.14159265358979323846.  I did more than that, but I still have those memorized at least.  My favorite part of math was algebra, solving for x and whatnot.  

At my past job, numbers did come in to play quite often.  First off, I had to memorize PLU (Produce Look Up) codes for produce items.  I picked that up very quickly, since they are only 4 or 5 digits long, and usually started with the same number (4).  I would often impress my coworkers and customers when I would remember a PLU code for a very obscure produce item we wouldn't sell very often.  I even memorized the bar codes of cases of water, soda, and cat litter because I typed those in often enough.  Those were around 10 digits long.  And then, it came in handy when I got trained for bookkeeping, as my math skills helped immensely (counting money, for one).  

And now at this job, my skill with numbers is helping yet again.  Currently, I'm having to add and find totals for various apple varieties for different fruit companies, which can be overwhelming due to the vast amount of numbers.  But it helped me find matches between different reports to help verify the correct totals.  

I just have a very good memory for numbers.  I remember all of the addresses I've ever lived at.  I remember phone numbers very well, even ones I hardly ever call or never call.  When I'm watching a show or movie and a character has to remember a series of numbers, I try to see if I can do the same, which I usually can.  If you ever need someone to remember a series of numbers or do some quick math for you, I'm your guy.