As long as I can remember, children – and others – have played rock-paper-scissors, also called roshambo. Sometimes it’s played as a game, usually between two players. Other times it’s used as a way to choose, for example, who goes first in a game or who pays for lunch.

In rock-paper-scissors, players use their hands to make a gesture (a movement that means something) for rock, paper, or scissors (see the photo or click here for a larger one). You win if your gesture beats (wins over) the gesture of your opponent (the person you are trying to beat).

Here’s how the gestures work:

• Rocks break scissors, so rock beats scissors.
• Paper covers rock, so paper beats rock.
• Scissors cut paper, so scissors beats paper.

Here’s how we used to play rock-paper-scissors: To prepare to play, each player puts his/her fist (closed hand) on the palm (inside) of his/her other hand – like putting a cup on a saucer (small round plate). They then raise and lower their fists together (at the same time), hitting their palm each time. The third time, they make the gesture they have chosen – rock, paper, or scissors. The winner is the player whose gesture beats his opponent’s. If the players make the same gesture, they repeat the process until one player wins.

I hadn’t thought about rock-paper-scissors for a long time. Then the other day I saw an article in the Washington Post that promised to tell me How to win rock-paper-scissors (almost) every time. I like to win, so that got my attention!

We usually assume (believe without proof or evidence) that people who play games like rock-paper-scissors make random (without a plan or pattern) choices when they choose which gesture to use. Scientists in China recently studied 360 subjects (people tested in a research study) to see if that is true. And they discovered that it’s not.

Here’s what they discovered:

• If a player wins the first time, he/she will repeat the same gesture.
• If a player loses, he/she will change gestures in a predictable (expected) way: rock to paper, paper to scissors, and scissors to rock.

You can use that information to help you win the next time you play rock-paper-scissors. Let me show you how. Imagine that my friend and I are trying to decide who pays for lunch. We’re going to play best of three (one of us must win twice):

1. The first time my friend plays paper; I play rock. He wins.
2. The second time my friend plays paper (because paper won the first time); I expect him to play paper again because he won, so I change to scissors. I win. Since we have both won once, we have to play one more time.
3. The third time my friend changes to scissors (because paper lost last time); I expect him to do that, so I change to rock. I win again! And my friend has to pay for lunch.

I haven’t played rock-paper-scissors for many years, but the next time Jeff and I have lunch together, I think I’ll see if he wants to roshambo to see who pays. I hope he doesn’t read this. I’d like to win!

Have you ever played rock-paper scissors?

~ Warren Ediger – ESL coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English web site.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Today, I’m going to tell you about a town that did not exist (was not real), then came into being (became real), then disappeared (stopped existing) again.

The story begins with a drafting (drawing plans and maps, usually for building) company hired to draw maps (see photo). In the 1930s, it was common for companies to hire a drafting company to make a map for use in their business, such as a chain of gas stations that wanted maps to sell or give to its customers. Unfortunately, it was also common for other companies to steal those maps, put their own company name on them, and use them without permission or payment. When accused of (saying someone broke a rule or committed a crime) stealing, those companies would simply say that their map is identical (exactly the same as the original) because it represents what exists (is there) in real life — all maps should look alike (the same) and have the same towns and roads, they would say.

A small company, called General Drafting Company, owned by Otto G. Lindberg, decided to strike back (defend themselves; counterattack). With the help of his assistant, Ernest Alpers, Lindberg created a map of New York State, and in an out-of-the-way place (place with nothing, no town or other structures) inserted (put in) the name of a made-up (created; not real) town called Agloe. (The word “Agloe” is an anagram (made by the mixing of letters) of the men’s initials: Otto G. Lindberg and Ernest Alpers.) They waited to see what would happen.

Many years later, a major and well-known map printing company called Rand McNally printed its own New York map. On that map was — you guessed it — the town of Agloe. Lindberg thought, “Finally, we have evidence of stealing!”

Lindberg took Rand McNally to court and something surprising happened. Rand McNally said they went to the place where Agloe is indicated (shown) on the map and there found a building with the name “Agloe” on it, showing that this town existed, that it was real.  But how could this be, if the town was invented by Lindberg and Alpers?

It turns out that the owners of the building with the word “Agloe” on it had a store there in the 1950s. Before they started their business, they looked at a map distributed by the large gas station company that had bought a map from Lindberg and Alpers’s company, the General Drafting Company. Seeing the name Agloe where they planned to build their store, they decided to call it the Algoe General Store. So, technically (according to facts), you could make the case (use evidence to convince others) that the town existed, at least until the store went out of business (stopped operating). Rand McNally won the case.

As recently as the 1990s — and even more recently on Google Maps if the authors of this NPR article are correct — Algoe still appeared on many maps. And so, this is the story of a town that didn’t exist coming to life and then disappearing again. If you go there today, the town of Algoe does not exist — unless someone reads this blog post and decides to open another store there!

– Lucy

Image Credit: Fictional Agloe New York from Wikipedia

The term “boomerang kids” refers to adult children who move back into their parents’ house after a period of living on their own. (This is a boomerang, which when you throw it, returns to you.)

Traditionally, Americans expect to finish their schooling (high school or college), get a job, and then move out of (leave) their parents’ home as soon as they become financially independent (able to pay for their own living expenses). Unlike in other countries where it is common for adult children to live with their parents until they marry, or even after they are married, in the U.S., adults living with their parents after graduating and getting a job is not the typical pattern (the most common way something is done).

However, things may be changing. The current generation (group born around the same time) of young adults are being called the “boomerang generation” because the lack of (not enough) jobs has driven (caused) many of them to move back in with their parents, after having lived on their own while in college or after getting a full-time job. Fewer parents are experiencing what we sometimes call an “empty nest,” a home where the adult children leave and only the parents remain. (A nest is a “home” for birds, like this.)

In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2011, about 30% of people ages 25 to 34 reported that they had moved back with their parents at one time or another. While many of these adult children say that this is a satisfactory (acceptable and good) situation, with over 75% of these young adults saying they liked their living arrangement, sometimes it’s not easy for the parents.

Some parents say that it is difficult adjusting to (becoming comfortable with) the return of their children, especially when deciding how much help to give them. In the Pew study, about 50% of the young adults said they pay rent and about 90% said that they help with household (home-related) expenses.

Still (even so), for some parents it is hard to work out (create) an arrangement that is best for everyone in the house. Should their children be required to help with household chores (work around the house)? Should parents be expected to do their children’s laundry (clothes washing)?

How does this living arrangement affect the relationships between parents and adult children? About a quarter (25%) of the young adults say that their relationship with their parents has improved, a quarter say it has worsened, and about 50% say it hasn’t had any affect either way.

Where you live, is it common for adult children to live with their parents? Has this changed in recent years? If you are an adult, would you want to move back in with your parents? If you are a parent, would you want your adult children living with you?

– Jeff

Photo Credit:  Arthur Rothstein Family in a wagon Lee County, August 1935 from Wikipedia

It’s a cool, clear Sunday, a perfect day for a bicycle ride and a personal challenge (test). I’ve been riding my bicycle from our home in La Habra to the town of Seal Beach, on the Pacific Ocean, for several years. It’s an enjoyable ride, and when I finish, I often meet my wife there for brunch (a late-morning meal, a combination of breakfast and lunch) at O’Malley’s, an Irish restaurant.

Today I have a new goal: I want to make the ride – about 18 miles (29 km) – in less than one hour, something I have never done before.

The first seven miles (11km) are on city streets – usually busy, but not on Sunday. I want to ride fast at the beginning because I know I’ll have to slow down later. Soon the computer on my handlebars (the bar you use to turn the bicycle) tells me that I’m going about 23 miles (37km) per hour.

The city streets take me to the Coyote Creek Bike Trail. I’ll follow it to where it joins the San Gabriel River Bike Trail I wrote about last year and continues to the Pacific Ocean.

When I ride onto the trail, I’m greeted by brightly colored bougainvillea (a kind of flower) and the sweet smell of orange and grapefruit blossoms from the back yards of houses along the trail. Spring is here! The trail takes me past a large park, where I see the Easy Runners, a mostly Asian American group, who walk and jog (run slowly) along the trail every weekend.

After passing the park, the trail crosses to the other side of the river. It’s an older trail here and much rougher, so I have to slow down. I’m glad I rode as fast as I did at the beginning.

A large nursery (a place where plants and trees are grown and sold) appears on my left, followed by a tree-filled cemetery (a place where people are buried) and more parks and soccer and baseball fields. There are few other riders here, so I’m able ride on the smoothest parts of the trail and keep my speed as fast as possible.

About 15 minutes later, and about five miles (8 km) from the ocean, I come to where the Coyote Creek Trail joins the San Gabriel River Trail. For the first time I begin to smell the ocean. The trail is new here and much smoother, but there is more traffic, and I begin to fight the wind from the ocean.

It’s difficult to keep up my speed. For the first time my legs begin to tire (get tired), and I have to work to keep from slowing down. A glance (quick look) at my computer tells me that I can’t slow down too much.

The river is deeper here, and filled with dozens of water fowl (birds), like sea gulls and egrets. Soon I can see the marina (a place where people keep boats), which is filled with yachts (large personal boat) and sailboats. And beyond the marina I can make out (begin to see) the palm trees that surround (are all around) the River’s End Restaurant at the end of the trail.

When I arrive at River’s End and check the iPhone app I use to track (follow and record) my ride, I see that I made the ride in 58 minutes – about 19 miles (30 km) per hour. I did it! And now it’s time to join my wife for brunch!

~ Warren Ediger – ESL coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English web site.

Photos by W. Ediger.