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Comment by RodericDay | Hacker News Reader

> Mr. Gates says he reads about 50 books in a year, eschewing digital readers for old-fashioned books on paper. When he is busy with work, he reads about a book or two a week but will consume four or five in the same period while vacationing with family.

huh?

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Work: 1 to 2 per week

Vacation with family: 4 to 5 per week

Other: zero to x per week

Total: 50 per year

What is a week other than work or vacation? Those account for all days of the year, by tautology if nothing else. (except for the unemployed, I suppose, but him being retired I would think it's impossible to be unemployed).

This is why the Europeans make fun of us. b^)

As an European, I can't say I get it either.

Are your weekend days vacation? My vacations are not like a normal busy saturday.

that works for days, but to rephrase: what is not a work _week_ nor a vacation week? You weekend off is still part of either. I also am confused by the statement.

When he is on a bender in Vegas, he is neither at work nor "vacation with family".

maybe he counts philanthropy as neither?

I would guess that whoever said this meant "0-2 per week" when busy with work. Taken literally it means he takes almost no vacation, unless you assume there's a third label beyond work and vacation :)

or, the first sentence was "he reads a book in 1-2 weeks" maybe.

I suspect it's more like "he reads a book in 0.5 - 1 weeks, but sometimes he's not reading any".

IOW, innumeracy is widespread among journalists. Surprise!

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