"Come to SE Asia, where there is a strong Chinese influence, and you'll see Floor 13 and Floor 13A, but no floor 14, in office and hotel buildings."

Put it this way - we just got a casino here, and the baccarat tables are played almost exclusively by Asians. The spots go 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. (It's mini-baccarat, not full baccarat, so no 14-place tables.)

I just wonder why the people who made our craps tables didn't have the good sense to skip over spot 7 on the Fire Bet.

LAST EDITED ON 02-09-13 AT 09:23 PM (EST)

Not to go off topic, but I'm going off topic.

Zoid, dude, you're in Asia? When did you go there? You haven't been there all along have you? Where in Asia?

Hopefully there's no superstition associated with the number 21?

Hey, grats on your 15K (plus 15 more, at this point)!

You have a way about your posts that your post count escapes attention (unless I missed reference to it in another thread).

Sharp, witty, fishy, yup, that's you.

Thanks, C.

That snuck up on me. Last time I noticed it it was still 20-30 short of 15K. Now I can breath again.

Like as in someday the Cubs will win it all.

Nero is a difficult subject, not insane like Caligula, but rather more interested in himself than the Empire.

It is interesting to note though that there were large rebellions after his death led by people pretending to be him, and that these had a large amount of popular support, although this could have been a clamour for stability in an unstable world it seems to me to point to Nero having popularity amongst the hoi polloi. Historians of the period were from the leading class and are always harsh on emperors who didn't spend all their time working on the empire.

As Nero was the first ruler to martyr Christians his press didn't improve later. I highly recommend Ted Champlins' book Nero which puts forward a number of interesting points on the great fire of Rome and does a masterful job of interpreting Nero from the historical sources.

I can empathize though.
I worked for a restaurant that was simply named 230.
For MANY years past my departure from 230. the number 230 pops up everywhere for me. Drycleaning tickets, hotel rooms in vegas, parking spots, order numbers and of course, the two times I MOST often ask "What time is it?" The answer is, you guessed it...2:30. Not 2:31. Never 2:29.
It has the same chilling effect on me every time I see (or hear) that combo.

I have definitely read page 666 when included in books and don't recall it ever being skipped over. Personally, I think finding a 666 on anything other than a large tome would be astoundingly remarkable.

In fact, in my "bible" (the new american catholic edition) on page 666, the first verse is actually Proverbs 13:21 oooo... 13!
"Misfortune pursues sinners, but the just shall be recompensed with good."
and the last verse is Proverbs 14:24
"The crown of the wise is resourcefulness, the diadem of fools is folly."

Boy, you sure can read evil into both of those, can'tcha?

So what does he think about 999?

I can read evil into any sentence in any religious work. All I need is a little under a second, plus an optional pen.

Thankee for the trackdown. This does call into question any 6:66 or 66:6 present in chapters...

Real easy to get condemned in his view, isn't it? Just accepting a piece of paper with a certain number on it is all it takes? Does anything associated with those three numbers together work?

The NFL & AFL announced their merger on 06/06/66 - does this mean watching professional football makes me a minion of Satan?

I once had a cold and a friend gave me some cold medicine called 666 - may as well stop trying to be a good person, I'm doomed anyway.

I'm fairly certain that in his belief system, you were a minion going in. So am I. There's probably a mathematical formula expressing strength of religion vs. pettiness of offense required for damnation. I'll leave it as an exercise for someone's future thesis.

(Imagine if the number was part of Islam. There would be militant fundamentalists cutting out the tongues of anyone who'd learned to count.)

And oh, wouldn't I love to see someone declare football as anti-Christian in Texas...

I always stop when I get to page 1101100011011000110110.