At the University of Washington mathematics department, I was told I didn’t really want math, I wanted statistics. The statistics department directed me to a research professor.
He and other academics who heard my brain-teasing phone message didn’t take the bait. At Everett Community College, same thing. Either they’re all busy solving mathematical and statistical puzzles, or — I prefer this possibility — I stumped them.
A ho-hum high school algebra student who managed to avoid the entire subject in college, I’ve come up with a math problem so complex no one has dared try to solve it.
What are the odds of a baby being born on the fourth day of the fourth month in the 2004th year at 4:04 in the afternoon? The birth date and time look cooler written this way: Wayne Mitchell Adair Jr. was born on 4/04/04 at 4:04 p.m.
What are the odds? Who knows? Every baby is special, that’s all we need to know. Baby Wayne, who weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces, is just a smidgen (that’s a math term) more special than most.
I met the baby and his parents, Shea and Wayne Adair, on the fourth floor of Providence Everett Medical Center’s Pavilion for Women and Children. Shea Adair, 31, is a cardiac care nurse who works on the fourth floor of the hospital’s Colby campus.
"I’m a numbers person," she said Tuesday as she held her first child in her arms. "This room number, 429, is my brother’s birthday. My labor and delivery room was 317, St. Patrick’s Day. I’m Irish," she said.
Wayne Jr. is his dad’s fourth child. The baby joins Nathan, Elizabeth and Alice, who are 15, 12 and 11. "We’ve been married four years," Shea Adair said.
The couple live in Sedro-Woolley, where Wayne Adair, 39, operates Ads Aloft, an aerial advertising business. He tows banners, and his Cessna 172 is equipped with a grid of lights for nighttime messages.
He’ll soon fly a banner to announce "It’s a boy for Wayne and Shea."
Due April 22, Wayne Jr. was delivered by Caesarean section by Dr. Julia Gilmour after Shea spent more than 20 hours in labor. With the date in mind, the new mother said her doctor had a few minutes’ leeway so the baby could make his entrance at 4:04 on the dot.
It wasn’t completely by chance, but that doesn’t make it any less unusual.
I have a brother who was born May 5, 1956 — 5/5/56. My mother still marks his birthday by mentioning how she missed a sweep of fives by a year.
I’m not one to mess with numerology, but there’s no shortage of Web sites and resources for folks who put stock in it. The Web site www.angelfire.com says of those born on the fourth of the month: "You usually think before acting, which makes your life quite easy." Other Web sites claim people born on the fourth are "practical" and "down-to-earth."
Practical and down-to-earth fit with what Carol Kafer said about the number four.
"It’s a good number, a stabilizing number. Think of a chair, with four legs," said Kafer, an Everett hypnotherapist and self-described psychic who has studied numerology. "The baby has come into this world with a foundation, a stability."
For a fee, numerologists will figure in the month and year for a more complete picture. No thanks.
I like to think parents play the greatest role in providing stability for a child. But I don’t ignore numbers altogether.
If I were Shea Adair, I’d be tempted to play Lotto. I’d use lots of fours.
Bob Capps, who lives in the Olympia area, didn’t play his birthday numbers, but for years bought tickets with numbers that had religious and personal meaning for him.
"For seven years I played them — 5, 7, 12, 17, 27, 49 — and I still do," said Capps, 67, who won a $12 million jackpot in 2000.
Ah, $12 million, a nice number divisible by four.
Wayne Adair likes the idea of his new son being a practical guy. When he’s 16 — that’s four times four, or four squared — "he won’t want that Corvette," Adair said.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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