Monday, July 21, 2014

"125-2119" Touched by Autism

I just finished watching "Touch" on Netflix.  Having two grandsons with autism piqued my interest in this truncated series about a young boy who communicated with numbers.  He not only communicated in numbers, but he saw patterns that connected seemingly random individuals.

Well in the spirit of that fictional autistic boy, I tried an experiment using a truly random number in dealing a hand of Solitaire.  Actually, it was the game called "Klondike" commonly called "Solitaire," but I digress.  The cards that came were: 8 J Q 5 2 J 9.  Giving the face cards their value, this changed to 8 11 12 5 2 11 9.

I first converted that to a phone number, 811-125-2119, but found nothing.  Abandoning the 811 area code, I tried just 125-2119.  While this gave me several phone numbers to choose from, I found other "hits" to be more interesting.

First, I found the RGB color: 125, 2, 119, "Dark Magenta" (a purple with just a little green in it).  The Hexadecimal version is 7d0277.  Just for fun, this paragraph is in the Hexadecimal version.6

That being a neat, but useless little factoid, I moved further down the list, finding a Michigan state law, Act 224 of 1985, section 125.2119, which reads:

ENTERPRISE ZONE ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 224 of 1985


125.2119 Duration of exemption or credit.

Sec. 19.

An exemption or credit granted to a qualified business shall continue until the certification of the qualified business is revoked, as provided in this act, or for 10 years from the date that the business is certified as a qualified business. Even if approval of an enterprise zone is revoked by the authority as provided in this act, an exemption or credit granted to a qualified business located in that enterprise zone shall continue until revoked or until the 10-year or other specified period elapses.

So, now you know how you can continue to do business even after an "enterprise zone" is no longer in affect in your neighborhood.

Well, since I don't live anywhere near Michigan, I looked further for some trivia connected to 125-2119.  Imagine my surprise when I found that at the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service, form MMS-125 received 2119 responses.  At an estimated one hour response time, this translates to $74,165 in estimated cost ($35 per hour).  This is for regulations to keep oil and natural gas wells safe.  On a whim, I searched Google to see what that money might buy.  Well, in nearby Atlanta a 2014 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Edition lists for exactly  that amount.

But alas, I don't have the government's money and I'd probably not buy a luxury SUV, so I moved on to something else.  I found something I might be able to afford: a Trusco model #125-2119 Hex wrench tool from Monotaro.  The size of a pocket knife, I can have it for just 19.09 SGD (Singapore Dollars).  But alas, they don't ship to the USA!

Finally, the fine folks at Pipl, the people finders, gave me a real live person.  He is a 7th Grade Math teacher in Pennsylvania!  If I were Jake Bohm's dad, I might be emailing the guy to ask him if he knows anything about Michigan state Law or tools from Singapore.

Well, if anyone wants to fall in love with a fictional 11 year old boy with autism, try the first season of "Touch."  The producers did a good job of presenting autistic behavior.  Meanwhile, check out Autism Speaks and other support groups.

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