Nifty Numbers

I can't explain it, but I have a certain affinity for numbers. In high school, I had a teacher who loved to proclaim that "algebra is neat!" I didn't think so at the time, but some years later, when I finally understood it, I found I agreed with him (unfortunately, by then I was in a calculus class, which escaped me utterly.)

I like numbers that have a pattern, or for which there is some interesting little coincidence. Here is an example of each:

Car odometers have an almost endless possibility for number patterns. I saw this one come up the other day.

This one is completely different, but it immediately caught my eye when it passed through my hands yesterday. Can you spot it?

For those who don't recognize this, it's a flight progress strip for a particular aircraft, in this case Southwest flight 713, from Los Angeles to Houston Hobby. We use these for outbound aircraft, first to issue the clearance, then for taxi and takeoff. Enroute controllers may use them for the portion of the route under their control. We don't need them in the tower for arriving aircraft because if we're talking to it, we know where they're going to land!