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OP here to answer a few questions that have come up. I spent the whole time inching away but she didn't seem to realise there was anything wrong. Also no I did not call her out because she was 10 years older than me, twice my size both vertically and horizontally, and accompanied by her husband. Also I'm a coward and socially awkward and tend to avoid confrontation wherever possible. Seats at the TEDx were assigned and I paid for nice stall seats, I wasn't going to move. Even if I wanted to, the place was packed with 1800 people so there was nowhere to go. To whoever said she wasn't interested in the conference, it seems like she was. It was actually quite annoying because she kept making comments out loud throughout the talks: "Cool!", "Wow!", "Who'd have guessed?!". Which in itself is rude because talks are about listening and not interfering with the experience people around you are having. Any other questions, feel free to ask!

Hi, I'm the OP. I realized I was reading my own FML and thus created this account. To elaborate the story, these estimations are called Fermi problems and they're designed to teach dimensional analysis and approximation. They're typical in physics and engineering education and mine is a mix of both. The gerbil-sun is actually an approximation presented by Dr. Larry Weinstein - a physics professor and co-author of 'Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problem's on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin'. I believe the title should speak for itself... *sigh*... and that is exactly how it felt to be on the lecture. It is not that I think that learning to approximate is something to be scoffed at, per se. Indeed, it is skill that all experimental scientists and other people alike do need and find useful - often in basic, everyday life. However this was the third lecture in the series and they all have gone more or less within the realm of vagueness, "hip" examples and little to grasp for the inevitable physics homework that doesn't solve itself. On a related note, my lecture-mates also eagerly discussed the approximate number of piano tuners in Finland (in the original problem the place is Chicago) and at which height Felix Baumgartner might have broken the sound barrier during his sky-dive from the altitude of 39 kilometers (estimate). As this endless drone went on and on, I sat there, bored out of my mind, desperately wondering if and when the tune of the lecture(s) would change and how the heck would I utilize this in the homework, most of which requires some actual and exact calculation, not just some half-baked estimates. Thus the FML. P.S. There's actually a short article in thepointnews.com about Weinstein and his gerbil-sun, and I must say it was way more interesting (not to mention less time-consuming) a read than listening my class drone on and on about it and the other Fermi problems for 90 minutes straight.

Hi, OP here, When I walked out she was giggling like she was hiding from her friends as she was under a table. the disabled toilets is 10 steps away from the beer garden and the main loos are just up the stairs. I'm pretty sure "are you ******* kidding me" may have slipped out as she pulled her leggings up and ran away like a child. The wonders of some of the human race

OP here, made a new account just to respond. Been on this site for years and this is my first submission so at least I'm batting 1.000 on FMLs huh? Clarifications: The idea stemmed from a party I hosted the year prior as a post Halloween party. Didn't even realize it was Daylights Savings and when it was in full swing we realized we had a whole extra hour. We referred to it as the "Critical Hit" of party hosting. We had been together for 2+ years before the break up and it was HER that was trying to push for marriage after the first year. Like, in retrospect some really manipulative stuff about how she shouldn't have to jump through hoops and prove herself to me if I really loved her, and that she KNEW I was the one. I wanted to take my time and live together first, but I was head over heels for this girl. Finally around the two year mark I felt that I knew her well enough and felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Clearly I was misguided. She broke up with me about 3 weeks before my proposal plan. Had to get my money back I had put down on an engagement ring ($1000 on $10K). That trip to the Jewelry store was not fun, but the workers there were super super gracious. I blamed myself for the longest time for driving her away and was an absolute mess for over a year. I'm.... a bit better now. I found out much later after the break up that she had cheated on me (that's a whole other crazy story), and that she lied to me about some CRITICALLY IMPORTANT information. And that she was already seeing someone else when we hooked back up about 4 months after our breakup. Her absolute lack of care for fidelity really got me when I found out she cheated on some other guy with me without my knowing. I actually like the interactions with OPs on this site so I'll try to be as open as possible.