While driving yesterday, I began thinking about how I could quickly memorize a California license plate. A lot of them are vanity plates, which makes it easy in some ways, but most are of the #XXX### variety where # = a digit and X = a letter. For example, 5GRQ866.
I can get the 5 - 866 by making it 58-66 and using my PAO list, but the GRQ is not something I’ve seen in memorization lists before - random letters. The possible combinations of 3 letters is 26x26x26, or 17,576. Obviously, I’m not going to have an image for each possible combination. It’s a little more doable at 26x26, or 676, but still…
I could do something like Golf-Romeo-Quebec for GRQ, and I supposed put each letter in a locus to preserve order.
Anyone else have any thoughts on memorizing random letters? Or license plates?
I guess you could use the letters to form a word or words. In GRQ, my first thought was GReat Q-Bert. I’m sure that phrase would suffice until I either wrote the plate down or mentally reviewed the plate enough times for long term memory to kick in.
Only one time did I have to remember a license plate number. I was at a gas station waiting to pay, when the cashier said, “That car’s driving off without paying.” I looked out the window and there was a car tearing out of the parking lot with a license plate that read BRIAN. Didn’t need any mnemonics for that one. We laughed at him, and the cashier called the police. And then Brian was caught by accident about 8 miles up the road. A state trooper pulled out onto the big four lane highway at the beginning of his shift and the license plate BRIAN was right in front of him.
Here’s some license plate trivia for you. In Indiana (where I live), license plates used to follow this pattern “11 A 1111” The first two digits represented the counties in alphabetical order. Monroe county was 53, Greene county was 28. When we saw someone driving like a moron, it only took a quick look at their license plate to determine they were they were from (usually 84, Terre Haute). These days, the pattern is three numbers followed by three letters. The county number is still there, but it’s a little, tiny sticker in the corner of the plate. Hard to see at a glance, though. Now we just assume the worst drivers are from Terre Haute.
I have images for 0-9, 00-99, and 000-999, except the 3-digits aren’t done yet.
They are constructed like this:
If you look at the chart, 866 is:
8 = f/v
6 = ih (as in sIx)
6 = b (looks like a b)
Pronounced “FIHB” and means deFIB…
I once tried to sail around the world by hitchhiking on a sailboat. I ended up getting a job on a boat where the owner had us all specially trained on how to use a defibrillator in case he needed it at sea. Very weird experience… memorable.
