Day 40 Outtake

Truthfully, I don’t like the university stereotype that communication people aren’t well-versed with numbers. Often I hear my students make excuses reason out that they took a communication course because they don’t like math and/or science. The irony in my case is, my UPCAT test results revealed that I scored the highest in math and, shamefully, the lowest in English.

Unfortunately, my mathematical ability seems to have diminished over the years. Take designing a bookshelf for example. Last week I finally got around to drafting a sketch after noticing the mounds of paper and whatnot accumulating in my office. I brought out my retractable metal tape and measured the space this bookshelf would occupy. I believed I got the measurements right. Because I am terrible at sketching, I designed a 2D version of the bookshelf on Photoshop: eight shelves, each one at 13 inches. Then I brought the illustration to this carpentry shop (as pictured above) and explained the design to the carpenter. He gave me a price quotation which shocked me a little before it sank in that what I actually wanted made was 9-foot piece of furniture. Sherwin said the price was reasonable; I agreed — it would certainly cost more were I to buy a bookshelf at Ikea, oh but we don’t have Ikea in Manila.

So I agreed to the price, made a downpayment, said I was willing to wait a month for the bookshelf to be constructed.

A week later, I found myself staring at the tall bookcase in my bedroom which got me wondering, did I get the measurements right for the bookshelf I’d designed? Because the ceiling in my room is pretty high and the seven-shelf bookcase almost hits the ceiling. Would my eight-shelf bookcase fit it my office?

So I remeasured the space it would take up and, to my relief, I did get the numbers right. BUT, for whatever reason, the bookshelf I designed was a couple inches taller than should be. So we called up the carpentry house and instructed them to deduct one shelf from the design. Luckily, they hadn’t started construction yet!

My bookshelf gets made by March 15. We’ll see if it truly fits the space by then!