A few weeks ago, new telephone poles began going up on the stretch of road I take to the office everyday.

Something unique about these poles is their “black band” as I have referred to it as.

I questioned what this was for as I watched the telephone pole-guys continuing to install these down the street.

I asked my buddy Matt VanKirk what he thought and his opinion was one I put to rest days before he came up with it – “they’re to keep squirrels from climbing the poles.”

I thought that was an option earlier, but had NOT given it much thought because of the numerous poles WITHOUT such “black bands” and the numerous powerlines with tree branches within close proximity.

Well, two days ago, I got up enough nerve to pull over and ask these telephone-pole-putter-uppers what was with the “black band” of metal.

ANSWER: “Squirrel Guards”

My reaction included a “sigh” of letdown.

I wanted these to be some sort of mechanical genius that I would have had no clue about, and I didn’t want Kirkage to be right. Again.

Alas, I again am impressed with the knowledge of a certain Mr. VanKirk and his brain-full of stuff!

Turns out I have two Math Wizes that amaze me.

First of all, Candace – she came up with the original “60” answer, factoring in that each button can only be pushed once. When she came to the office today to show her paper-work, she came up with “125” if each button can be pushed more than once. Keep in mind that she actually wrote out MOST of these possibilities, instead of using a formula.

Secondly, Staci – she’s a real genius. She remembered the formulas for figuring out such difficult math problems, and came up with “60” by figuring that with the first push, there are 5 choices, second push there are 4 choices and third push there are 3 choices. Multiply those together and you get 60 combinations.

She then figured the multiple pushes on the same button formula as 5X5X5 (because each button has the same 5 chances of being pushed). And she came up with “125” as the answer (though she commented that this number was “275” on accident).

So – the REAL answer is “125” different combinations to get into the Taco Bell “Employees Only” door!

I did call 1-800-TACOBELL to confirm these findings and the lady told me that this was the first time she was informed that Taco Bell’s “Employee’s Only” doors had combination locks on them. (seriously!)

Last night, Jess and I enjoyed Taco Bell with Ben and Candace – two of our teens from theBOX.

While at Taco Bell, I noticed a lock similar to this on their “Employees Only” door. I pushed some buttons for fun and then tried to get “scientific”.

We laughed and instantly tried to figure it out with our math skills.

My guess: “360”.

What’s your’s? (I expect my brother-in-law to figure it all out perfectly!)

Well, I decided to splurge and upgrade myself with a FLICKR pro account!

So – check out the newly updated STEVANSHEETS.COM FLICKR.COM photo album!

We played a fun game of softball tonight, but we lost.

It was sad, but it was worth it all.

I’m pretty sure it was like 100-degrees out there, though.