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#54: Cringe is for champions
Shem Opolot
January 12, 2024
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
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Happy Friday 🎉 The balloon museum was worth every penny! See the “THINGS” section below.
But…taking a child out for a fun outing is a mixed bag. On the one hand, they’ll love every minute; on the other hand, you’ll have to drag them out kicking and screaming when it’s time to go. This exercise answers the age-old question, “Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?” with a resounding YES!
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
LIFE.
Cringe is for champions.
Giphy
A friend of mine posted her misheard lyrics from Janet Jackson’s “All for You,” and since music turns me into a time traveler, it was suddenly 2001: My Bata shoe flayed open like a fish’s mouth after I tested it one too many times on the dusty football pitch, people begged for sips of soda, and overzealous Christians hadn’t listened to Sisqo’s Unleash The Dragon yet.
Several months later, I’d be wearing a bandana and slow dancing with my crush to Sisqo’s “Got to Get It,” but where did I get that confidence?
Let’s back up a little:
On election day, at a distance, we could hear students chanting, “SHEMMY, SHEMMY, SHEMMY!” My friend and I looked at each other and smiled as I measured my chest for my head boy blazer.
You see, I ran for Head Boy in P7. Not because I had any leadership qualities or conjured a lick of charisma but because the teachers were convinced good grades equaled leadership potential. And this misconception would be fine if the teachers let only the kids forced to run to compete, but no. We ran against the kids who volunteered for the race as well. Kids with real visions for the school, like chips and chicken all year round, and casual wear to replace uniforms. You know, real issues.
You had to sell dreams and hand out sweets to win elections at that level. Wait, wait. Have elections changed at all?
Nevermind.
I ran against a guy—let’s call him Jamie—who was light-skinned (you know it’s relevant) and possessed more charisma in his pinky finger than my entire clan of Itesots. But my good friend, Peter, held my hand through the process, and I found the balls to brave the battle.
I campaigned all over, muttering unintelligible words to incredulous kids and making false promises. I remember speaking in one classroom with my friend by my side, and as I concluded (to no standing ovation), a kid in the front row folded his face and said, “That one, aaaah!”
Dejected, we marched on, door to door, with egg on my face but momentum driving my muscles.
On election day, at a distance, we heard students chanting, “SHEMMY, SHEMMY, SHEMMY!” I told my friend they were calling my name, and we smiled at each other at cross purposes: My friend—to console me, and me—full of delulu.
The following morning, results were in, and I’d lost by a landslide because it turns out, at a distance, “JAMIE” sounds a lot like “SHEMMY.”
I lost that election, but I was proud of myself for going through it. For not letting embarrassment paralyze me.
Speaking in front of all those people was cringe, and it damn near killed me, but it gave me the confidence I’d summon on the dancefloor months later and the gall to write a weekly newsletter.
If you’re afraid of a little embarrassment, you’ll never do anything great.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Starting next month, TLDR Weekly will no longer be free. Window shopping is allowed, though. Please remove your shoes before you enter; the floor is clean.
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THINGS.
A quote
I’ll write a post about this soon. So much truth 🤌🏾.
Of all the lessons I have learned in love, with serious women, this is the most critical: If you say you're going to mow the lawn, mow the lawn: Don't say you will mow the lawn if you don't intend to do it. Almost everything else can be forgiven, except unreliability.
The Good Library
Read a book this weekend.
A picture
I’m too cool for this picture on Instagram, but I’m bearing it all for y’all on here. I’ve said it before—I love it when people build big things for fun. For wonder. I love it!
WORK.
How many business days in between?
“We will get back to you in 3-5 business days.”
I hate that phrase. So how can you calculate the number of business days between 2 dates without deducting weekends using your fingers and toes?
Here’s your data:
Easy. Use the NETWORKDAYS function.
NETWORKDAYS returns the number of net working days between two provided days.
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date)
Notice that in the first row, August 19 was a Saturday, and therefore there were 2 business days between August 17 and August 19 (inclusive)
Go and fetch your money on time.
If you want to learn how to use Excel, this is a good place to start.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Brain teaser
From Braingle.
Ms. Arroyo asked the class to see if they could find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers. As everyone settled down to their addition, Terry ran to her and said, "The sum is 2,500." Ms. Arroyo thought, "Lucky guess," and gave him the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Within 20 seconds, Terry was back with the correct answer of 5,625.
How does Terry find the sum so quickly?
Hint: Consecutive odd numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7....
Start with the first several odd numbers and look for a pattern.
Answer below
Shem’s picks
✔️ Create your own ambient noise
✔️ Movies to look forward to this year
✔️ Why films got less sexy
Brain teaser answer
Answer: The following pattern holds: The sum is equal to n x n, when n is the number of consecutive odd numbers, starting with 1. For example, the sum of the first 3 odd numbers is equal to 3 x 3, or 9; the sum of the first 4 odd numbers is equal to 4 x 4, or 16; the sum of the first 5 odd numbers is equal to 5 x 5, or 25; and so on.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Et cetera
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