I was out cycling earlier on today, when I got a call from my brother, who had been called by a friend who had forgotten that I am no longer using my old mobile phone number. As I didn’t have any pen and paper handy, I asked him to read out the friend’s phone number, and see if I could remember it. I have been trying to practise a few memory techniques, as espoused by people like Tony Buzan, but this was the first time I had put them to practise without any notes.
Some numbers are much easier to remember than others, regardless of their length — for example, the Beverly Hills ZIP code 90210 is used in the TV series of the same name, we all know the significance of 999 or its 180 degree rotation, and I think we have been irritated enough by the two 118 men to know exactly what happens when we call that number. So what about other sequences? Single numbers are quite easy to remember, but to try and think of a memory chain for 11 numbers can be quite cumbersome, so it is usually easier to break a phone number up into chunks of two and three digits, depending on where this yields and easier block to remember.
Naturally, as someone who’s very geographically minded, I are more likely to associate numbers with places, especially motorway numbers or country / city dialling codes, but there really are no hard and fast rules — just thinking up the first association that comes into your head will do fine.
All UK mobile numbers start 07, and many start with 077 — there is no real need to remember the zero, as virtually all phone numbers start with a zero, so that can be taken for granted. As I said, I’m a geography nerd, so I would start many mobile phone number chains with Prestwick airport, as this is reached from Glasgow by the M77 motorway. However, football fans might just prefer to remember David Beckham and his number seven shirt. To remember to two sevens, either think of David Beckham indulging in one of the seven deadly sins, or as David Beckham played for Manchester United, and Seven is one of the best-selling albums by the Manchester group James, you can also think of David Beckham sitting down. Number 7 is also associated with luck, days of the week etc, but once we get to three sevens, we get back to travel geekery again courtesy of Boeing.
For my friend’s number, the memory chain involved George Orwell, a German referee and David Beckham, playing with a dice on Airbus about to take off — I won’t give the full game away, as his number is his business, but as my mobile number is public elsewhere, I don’t mind giving it out here:
0 77 9000 14 94.
If I ever give that number to someone, I always read it out in that sequence — i.e. spacing out the 9000, as that is a very obvious chunk of the kind that I was talking about above. I said I wouldn’t give away my friends number, but perhaps here’s a little clue to some of it — he has three numbers which are in a descending sequence, and this relates to the Airbus being about to take off.
There are two obvious ways for remembering 9000, which can also be linked to each other — the ISO 9000 quality system, and the Saab 9000. To create a memory reference talking about the Saab could easily refer to other models, but to talk about a well built Saab (not to suggest that the Swedes would build anything different) would pin the association down to 9000. The number 14 is easiest associated with a fortnight, the best referred to as two weeks, as a fortnight is a little bit close to the number itself, so it could easily be forgotten. Alternatively, the number 14 is the shirt always worn by the right-winger in Rugby.
Mathematicians might know that 94 is a Smith number (9 + 4 = 13 = 3 + 3 + 3+ 2 + 2), but so are numerous others, so that only serves as an additional boost to any memory chain. 94 is also the atomic number of plutonium, but I prefer the fact that the observation deck of the John Hancock Centre in Chicago is on the 94th floor — and if you feel up to it, you can take part in the annual “Hustle up the Hancock” benefit stair climb race in February. Also, if you’re going to visit the USA, you will need to fill out form I94 to get into the country - but that probably isn’t much use to any Americans reading this, as they would never have to use it.
So, for British geeks, the easiest way to remember this number is to think of driving to Prestwick airport in a well built Saab to go away for a fortnight in Chicago. For something a little bit more amusing, might I suggest Sarah Palin (a right-winger who might be able to get her hands on the nuclear button if we’re not careful), indulging in some extramarital activities with David Beckham in the back seat of a Saab.
Well, that works for me, I hope it works for you. If you do happen think that this is just nonsensical verbiage, then bear in mind that Private Eye also likes to use the number 94 to refer to any drivel which could be continued ad infinitum elsewhere.