Lou Used Middle School Math In Real Life For The First Time Ever

I loved math growing up; I loved word problems, logic puzzles, geometry, algebra, you name it. I was even on Math Club in high school. Fast forward, though, and I ended up in radio - not a place that requires a lot of math. The only consistent application of math in my life is mentally calculating a 20% tip on my bill.

Until today.

In a glorious combination of thriftiness and couch stealing, I realized I needed to use that good ol' Pythagorean Theorem to figure out whether the back panel of my disassembled couch will fit in the car I'm renting to drive to Boston this weekend.

After looking up the dimensions of the interior of the Hyundai Santa Fe and the length of the Ikea Friheten sofa bed, I jotted the down the problem at hand, including a handy dandy visual aid:

In the end, I'm an inch short on storage - but there's always wiggle room. Pushing the from seat forward all the way, compressing the cushion part of the back panel, good old elbow grease...

I'll let you know how it goes. Might be close. But maaaath helped me to figure out just how close it might be!