Oddfellows

I'm not big into superstition and certainly not numerology, but I still find the following rather interesting to consider.

If I was asked to choose a lucky number, I would have to go with three. The other contender would be two and therefore combinations of them--23, 32--would also be lucky for me. Not sure why I settled on those particular numbers as being fortunate for me, but at some point in my youth I determined that they were.

Three could possibly be explained because I was born on the third of July. I also happen to now have three sons. The first was born on July 23rd. The second on May 3rd. The last entered this world on September 13th. All born in odd numbered months and all born on a date with a three in it. Just like their father. Odd, isn't it?

SISYPHUS DOES THE MATH: The probability of a person being born in an odd-numbered month on a day ending in three is 18/365.25 or about 4.9%. To find the probability for 4 out of 4 people, raise (18/365.25) to the fourth power. Therefore, the odds of the Elder and his three sons all being born in an odd month on a day ending in three is about 1 in 169,539. (If you allow any date with a three in it -- meaning you include 30 and 31 -- the odds drop to 1 in 28,955.)