When we moved into our house twenty-five years ago, the professional movers somehow managed to get our bedroom dresser around our living room wall and upstairs where we wanted it. Nevertheless, after watching their tricky maneuvering, I knew that dresser wasn’t ever leaving upstairs so long as that wall remained.

Over the last sixteen years, my husband has longed for a new bedroom set. Every time he’s brought it up, I’ve pointed to that living room wall. Sometimes walls keep us from doing what we want to do. Taking down a wall can be risky, and it can be quite messy. In our case, when the wall came down, we also got a hole in our ceiling from one joist to another. Our air conditioning intake vent was in that wall so it had to be moved and holes in the floor needed to be repaired. On both ends of the wall, we had light switches that required moving. This seemingly simple wall removal required us to hire an electrician, a HVAC expert, and a drywall expert. Here’s how it looks today right after it was removed:

Not taking down walls also has risks. We decided that the benefits and risks of taking down the wall outweighed those of keeping it.

Many people have put up an anti-math wall in their lives.

Is such a wall keeping you from doing something you really want to do? Is it keeping you from getting a college degree or pursuing an occupation that would bring you fulfillment? Tearing down that wall may require you to hire some experts to help you patch up the holes you have in your skills. However, whatever you have to do, it is worth it if it helps you fulfill your dreams.

Sometimes if you look into what you thought was a boring topic, you might find something really interesting about it.

For example, 1207 might seem like a boring number, but I bet I can find at least one interesting fact about it:

• 1207 is a composite number.
• Prime factorization: 1207 = 17 × 71
• The exponents in the prime factorization are 1 and 1. Adding one to each and multiplying we get (1 + 1)(1 + 1) = 2 × 2 = 4. Therefore 1207 has exactly 4 factors.
• Factors of 1207: 1, 17, 71, 1207
• Factor pairs: 1207 = 1 × 1207 or 17 × 71
• 1207 has no square factors that allow its square root to be simplified. √1207 ≈ 34.74191

Did you notice that 17 × 71 = 1207?  Likewise 71 × 17 = 1207
Its prime factors are looking in the mirror at each other!

1207 is the sum of three consecutive prime numbers:
397 + 401 + 409 = 1207

1207 can also be written as the difference of two squares two different ways:

44² – 27² = 1207
604² – 603² = 1207

And guess what? I haven’t written everything that could be written about this number. You can actually learn more about it if you choose to break down the anti-math wall to find out more!