The Luncheonette

Time for the new puzzler. This one is not automotive in nature. Here we go.

I was sitting at the counter at Sam's Luncheonette one day in our fair city. It was a cloudy day and I was expecting it to rain any minute.

Anyway, I was finishing my food when I noticed a woman and her son sitting near me at the counter.

They were working on the boy's arithmetic homework together. They were adding a bunch of decimals. And these were the decimals they were working on:

6.2

1.1

2.2

3.2

So they were adding these and they came up with a total of 14.1. Now when I add these up, I get 12.7. But for some reason, they are getting 14.1.

I was about to correct them, but I decided against it. They get up to leave, and put on the hats and coats, and stuff.

And then, all of a sudden it hit me, and I said, "I got it."

And the puzzler is, what did I get, right at that moment?

Good luck.

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

The Adjustment

Time for the puzzler. This one is an old one, for certain.

Years ago, a customer came into the shop with an old Volvo. It was a 1960's vintage P1800.

It's an interesting looking car, this old Volvo sports car. His complaint, very simply, was that the car didn't seem to stop very well, and he was sure that his power brakes weren't working.

A quick test drive revealed this to be the case. When you first stepped on the pedal, the first time you slowed down, the car seemed to stop quite well. But if you applied the brakes several times, as if slowing down to avoid crashing into the back of some other vehicle, after two or three applications of the pedal, it would be pretty hard to depress. The car didn't really want to stop unless you stood on the pedal with all your strength.

So after the test drive, we get back to the shop. And I said, "Okay, there's definitely a problem and it is very likely the booster."

And the customer said, "Oh great. I have a used one, and I know it's good. I'll bring it in."

So a few days later, he brings the car and the booster over, and we install the booster. I test drive the car. I call the customer and ask him to drive it, because I didn't notice any significant improvement. And we are sure now that the booster is okay. There's nothing wrong with the booster. So we know now that the booster was not his problem.

So, we begin looking around for what could be the problem. We look at the hose, to see if it is blocked or restricted. We replace it, but there is no improvement.

After a few more minutes of tinkering, doing various tests, Ralph finally figures out. And it has to do with the gas that he's been using. Ralph does an adjustment that fixes the car.

What's going on here? What adjustment does he perform that fixes the car, and it is not adjusting the timing either.