# The most mundane pointless thing I know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008 "2019-12-17T22:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/61 "2020-01-09T00:32:09Z")
The main wastewater treatment plant in Los Angeles is named Hyperion. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/62 "2020-01-09T20:02:55Z")
I was quite young but remember the change from [Gros Miche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana)l to Cavendish. Very disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/63 "2020-01-09T20:18:43Z")
The last pitch Nolan Ryan ever threw was a grand-slam home run ball to Dann Howitt. I was at that game. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/64 "2020-01-09T21:02:03Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Three has three consecutive consonants and two vowels > Four has four letters (and is the only number where the number of letters matches its name) Take a deck of cards and arrange them with the 4 aces on top, then the 4 deuces, then the threes, etc. down to the 4 kings on the bottom. Now spell the word ACE, dealing a card off the top for each letter, and turning the last one face up. It is an ace. Now spell TWO, again dealing a card for each letter. The card you turn up on the O is a deuce. Now spell THREE doing the same thing and you will turn up a three on the last E. This works all the way down to KING, where you turn up a king on the G, and that is the last card in the deck. That is the most awesome mundane pointless thing I know. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/65 "2020-01-09T23:43:40Z")
12345679 is the best number. You might say, where’s the 8? Well, multiply it in! The result: 98765432! But wait, there’s more! Let’s consider a few more multiples of it, say the first twenty or so. We’ll format them all as nine-digit numbers for consistency. 000000000 (x 0) 9 012345679 (x 1) 8 024691358 (x 2) 7 037037037 (x 3) 6 049382716 (x 4) 5 061728395 (x 5) 4 074074074 (x 6) 3 086419753 (x 7) 2 098765432 (x 8) 1 111111111 (x 9) 9 123456790 (x 10) 8 135802469 (x 11) 7 148148148 (x 12) 6 160493827 (x 13) 5 172839506 (x 14) 4 185185185 (x 15) 3 197530864 (x 16) 2 209876543 (x 17) 1 222222222 (x 18) 9 234567901 (x 19) 8 246913580 (x 20) 7 The first thing that jumps out is that the multiples of 9 are all the same digit repeated nine times. The second thing that jumps out is the the multiples of 3 are all three digits repeated three times. The third thing is a little more subtle, but the other numbers _have no repeating digits_. The fourth thing, well, look at the faded digits listed to the right. Those are a digit (for most of them, the _one_ digit) that doesn’t appear in that number. Notice anything? These patterns continue without flaw for multiples up 81, which (as you’d expect) is 999999999. Above that it seems to break down a bit: 999999999 (x 81) 1012345678 (x 82) 1024691357 (x 83) 1037037036 (x 84) 1049382715 (x 85) But wait - didn’t I say we were going to be formatting these as 9 digit numbers? How do you format 1049382715 as a nine digit number? Well, why not just slice off the extra parts and shove them back in so everything fits? That’s normal math, right? 1 + 012345678 = 012345679 1 + 024691357 = 024691358 1 + 037037036 = 037037037 1 + 049382715 = 049382716 These numbers look familiar - they’re the same as above! Which means that they continue to sustain all the patterns! And yes, this works for bigger numbers as well: (12345679 x 6842) = 84469135718 (84 + 469135718) = 469135802 = (12345679 x 38) (12345679 x 12345679) = 152415789971041 (152415 + 789971041) = 790123456 = (12345679 x 64) And for even bigger ones just keep chopping over and over until they fit: (12345679 x 87164391874643) = 1076103602314550717597 (1076103602314 + 550717597) = 1076654319911 (1076 + 654319911) = 654320987 = (12345679 x 53) (12345679 x 87164391874644) = 1076103602314563063276 (1076103602314 + 563063276) = 1076666665590 (1076 + 666665590) = 666666666 = (12345679 x 54) Viewed like this, the patterns of course continue indefinitely. So how does all this nonsense work? Well, the chopping off the surplus part is easy to explain: it’s an alternate way of taking the remainder when you divide a big number by 999999999. And since 999999999 is a multiple of 12345679, the remainder is also going to be divisible by 12345679 as well. So why do the first 81 multiples end up as they do? Well, a partial answer can be found in the factorization: the prime factors of 12345679 are 37 and 333667, and 333667 times 3 is 1001001. This explains why the multiples of 3 behave as they do. As for the rest, with their refusal to repeat digits: I have no idea! I discovered the magic of 12345679 while playing with a ten-key calculator during a high school math class, back in the day. It turned out to be much more interesting than the course material. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/66 "2020-01-10T23:55:37Z")
12:34:56 is the “highest” time you can get using consecutive numbers. Including 24 hour time. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/67 "2020-01-30T05:02:09Z")
Aaaaccckkk! I can’t live in a world with that many numbers in my face! (:)) Mundane and pointless thing: There is a protein drink called ‘Soylent’\* I read the ingredients. No humans. (\*Really, look in your store) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/68 "2020-01-30T05:51:50Z")
The creator of the Pringle’s potato chip can was cremated upon his death, and his ashes were placed in a Pringle’s can and then buried. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/69 "2020-01-30T06:42:04Z")
Ewwww! I use Pringles cans for lots of things. Like paint brushes and pencils. I will be rethinking that. I heard one of the original Mousekateers was buried in his mouse ears. Peeps is weird. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/70 "2020-01-30T17:17:18Z")
Two of my favorite cozy mystery authors Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swenson series) and Leslie Meier (Lucy Stone series) always end their books’ titles with “Murder,” and each series now has 26 books, a total of 52 books. So I got a year’s worth of cozy mystery reading to start on Saturday, February 1st. Since I follow the Celtic pagan calendar, where the equinoxes and solstices are in the middle of the season), I’m starting it the first day of spring (Imbolc). ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/71 "2020-01-30T19:02:48Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Underwear don’t care if its inside out. Sorry everyone, this wins the thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/72 "2020-01-30T20:34:36Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The last pitch Nolan Ryan ever threw was a grand-slam home run ball to Dann Howitt. I was at that game. Nitpick: Howitt was the last player to get a hit off of Ryan and was the second-to-last batter Ryan pitched to. Ryan’s last pitch was to Dave Magadan. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/73 "2020-01-30T21:50:38Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Four has four letters (and is the only number where the number of letters matches its name) In Spanish, _cinco_ (5) has five letters and is the only number to follow the example. In German, _vier_ (4) is the relevant example. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/74 "2020-01-30T22:25:14Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Stars in the sky are easy to identify. They twinkle. All other objects (planets, satellites, etc.) are reflecting light from our own sun and do not twinkle. pointless, mundane and… wrong. Looks and sounds like everything that I know. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008/75 "2020-04-27T08:20:14Z")
My Siamese cats stare at me. Do they think I’m pretty or ugly? (BTW: my underwear care if they are inside out) ETA: my bank is the M&P, occasionally it’s mundane and pointless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-mundane-pointless-thing-i-know/845008.md?page=3)