techrecovery | math reigns suppreme (Reply)

Long story short, we here at X and Co. deal with a lot of money and numbers. And usually our totals on any two reports do not match. they're not supposed to. if they did, we would just have the one report. it might be labeled something clever like "All the Numbers you Need".

Today, i get in and the GM is having a small fit. "This Code total doesn't match the Grand Total." Right away I know there is no problem. So I set about finding out why.

So I have the clerical department print me out all three hundred pages of report and I am ready to review it all line by line.

But first, I check out the last page and do some math. The big number, minus the little number equals the sum of these two figures here. The only other figures on the page.

Now that has to be worth something, right?

Turns out those two figures are user assigned. they aren't supposed ot affect our total because we set them not to. they represent a cash cycle. Money we spend but eventually get back, so it was never really spent. It shows up in one field because all that report does is count. But not the other, because it counts what we told it to.

Here is my last conversation with the GM.

Me: Does that make sense?
GM: Why does it say "according to the legal department".
Me: Well, because those are their codes. "vendor" 'doesn't know what they mean because we made them. The legal department knows what they mean.
GM: Who did you verify that with?
Me: . . . well . . . the legal department. Like it says there.
GM: right, but how do we know these numbers match up?
Me: "We" did math.
GM: Did we verify that with "vendor".
Me: I think they use the same math I do. I doubt addition is different in Virginia.
GM: oh. (leaves)

::sigh::

I need another vacation.

later,
~joe