borntobealoser is one smart Highway Warrior!

Apparently you still have to know math even after the Apocalypse, which frankly is a big time bummer. Luckily we have borntobealoser on our side, as he utterly dominated the keypad puzzle facing us in front of the Big Steel Door at the local university. Here was his solution:

Right, I’ve literally only looked at the puzzle for a few seconds, and I’m shouting the first thought that came into my head. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but don’t you get the last number of each row if you add the first 2 numbers of each row and take away the third number in the row?

Like this:
2 + 12 = 14, 14 – 5 = 9.
4 + 20 = 24, 24 – 7 = 17.

So, going on that, surely it’s:
12 + 12 = 24, 24 – 4 = 20.

If that’s wrong, I’m going to look like a total idiot…

Guess what? You do not look like an idiot, you look like a genius!

This solution was a lot better than my "Click randomly on every possible number" approach, the legacy of a university education much heavier on English and Art than was probably good for me.

We already have a Geiger counter, fortunately, but I went ahead and loaded up on the rest of the stuff.

Throwing the salt into the pack puts us pretty full. Here's what we look like at this point.

Now we can tell whether or not we're entering a high-radiation zone, we can put on our rad suit if we are, and we can lather ourselves with salt so in case we get cooked we automatically get turned into Human Jerky! Good times. Plus we have twice as much ammo as Barney Fife, which makes me feel much more secure.

Here's the direct link to the aforementioned map, by the way.

So which way shall we go, intrepid adventurers?

12 Responses to borntobealoser is one smart Highway Warrior!

  1. Dan says:

    First math, and now studying maps? Wow, this is a thrill a minute. Next week do we get to track the migration of Armadillos?

  2. Worf says:

    Hmmm, pretty random choice, specially considering NEITHER OF THEM appear on the freakin’ map…. So I’m going for choice 1, Lakeside Village.

  3. Myro says:

    I’m with Worf on this one, in both respects. I was looking that map over for a while and couldn’t find either of those locations. Lakeside Village it is.

  4. Gero says:

    I agree that we should check the bridge before going out of our way to the lake. I’d rather not waste the convoy’s gas if we can help it…

  5. John says:

    I’d recommend we stop at Joe T. Garcia’s for a margarita and the fajita dinner, then hit Billy Bob’s for a little boot-scootin’ before we cross the river. I mean, c’mon, all we have to look forward to ’til Dallas is Watauga, Bedford, and Grand Prairie. DON’T get me started about those snobs in Southlake…

  6. DubbleYoo says:

    Why would you cross a river at a lake? Wouldn’t that just require a longer bridge than just crossing the river?

    I’m voting Lakeside, just to spare my brain from the conundrum.

  7. Kelex says:

    I voted Lakeside Village. I figure with a name that peaceful and serene, there’s bound to be SOMEthing there that’ll want to kill us.

  8. spidercow2010 says:

    Great map. No Hwy. 820, no roads crossing the Trinity.
    I voted for Lake Worth, because what Gero suggests is <i)exactly what they want us to do!

  9. spidercow2010 says:

    HTML fail!

  10. borntobealoser says:

    Wow, I’ve got a whole entry named after me. I feel like a mathematical god…

    …As for which route to take, I voted to avoid Lakeside Village. There’ll be someone just waiting to ambush us.

  11. Tarkabarka says:

    I vote for Lakeside village. Check that bridge.

  12. X-stacy says:

    We might as well walk into the closer ambush, save ourselves some time.