Last updated 1998-09-14

Index of /tally/

The oil cellar, under the trapdoor by the front door. Every measure in and out, notched, and counted twice.

Name	Last modified	Size	Description
Parent Directory		-
oil.tal	before the lamp	29k	disputed
light.tal	a while ago	25k	2 a night, 2
tea.tal	recently	31k	cups, made and drunk
kiosk.tal	never	16k	tea, sold on
slop.tal	before the lamp	27k	ladles
empties.tal	a while ago	26k	4, 4
stock.tal	recently	35k	moving
letters/	never	32k	31 sent, 0 back

The oil cellar. Under the trapdoor by the front door. One drop of oil on the hinges to get in; counted.

Everything that comes or goes gets a notch. Everything gets counted twice. If the two counts agree, it stays where it is.

OIL, measures, cellar book

In from the far end, out to the lamp and the light. Second count in the last column.
Date	In	Out	To	Count	Again
09/01	3	3	lighthouse 2, lamp 1	3 / 3	3 / 3
09/02	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/03	3	3	lighthouse 2, ladder 1	3 / 3	3 / 3
09/04	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/05	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/06	3	2	lighthouse 2; 1 held back at the far end	3 / 2	3 / 2
09/07	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/08	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/09	3	3	lighthouse 2 and a ladle, ladder 1	3 and a ladle / 3 and a ladle	same, same
09/10	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/11	2	2	lighthouse 2	2 / 2	2 / 2
09/12	3	3	lighthouse 2, ladder 1	3 / 3	3 / 3
09/13	3	2	lighthouse 2; 1 held back for the sea	3 / 2	3 / 2
month	41	40		41 / 40	41 / 40

Forty-one in. Forty out. One held back, three times, which makes three, not one; the difference is a ladle each way and I have it in pencil. Mother Sprat says forty and forty. Her count is one count.

TEA, cups

Date	Made	Drunk sitting down	Drunk standing up	Left, to the kiosk	Again
09/01	3	0	1	2	3: 0, 1, 2
09/02	4	0	2	2	4: 0, 2, 2
09/03	3	0	0	3	3: 0, 0, 3
09/04	5	0	2	3	5: 0, 2, 3
09/05	3	1	1	1	3: 1, 1, 1
09/06	4	0	1	3	4: 0, 1, 3
09/07	3	0	2	1	3: 0, 2, 1
09/08	4	0	1	3	4: 0, 1, 3
09/09	3	0	3	0	3: 0, 3, 0
09/10	5	0	2	3	5: 0, 2, 3
09/11	3	0	1	2	3: 0, 1, 2
09/12	4	0	0	4	4: 0, 0, 4
09/13	3	0	2	1	3: 0, 2, 1
09/14	4	0	1	3	4: 0, 1, 3

One cup drunk sitting down in fourteen days. 09/05. One. One. Mrs Steep asked me who. I said I only count; I do not say who.

SLOP, ladles

Date	Ladles up	Ladles down	Count	Again
09/02	12	11	12 / 11	12 / 11
09/04	9	9	9 / 9	9 / 9
09/06	14	13	14 / 13	14 / 13
09/08	10	10	10 / 10	10 / 10
09/10	11	12	11 / 12	11 / 12
09/12	13	13	13 / 13	13 / 13
09/14	8	9	8 / 9	8 / 9

Up and down do not match on three days out of five. The difference is one ladle, one ladle, one ladle the other way. I have not rounded it off. It is where it is.

EMPTIES, in the cellar

Tin	Contents	Count	Again
1	Nothing	Empty	Empty
2	Nothing	Empty	Empty
3	Nothing	Empty	Empty
4	Nothing	Empty	Empty
Behind tin 4	A card	Not mine to count	Not mine to count

Four tins. Four. A man on the long road has asked to buy them. Empties stay on the tally until they leave it, and they have not left it.

THE STOCK, counted to keep it still

Time	Counted	Since last count	Again
08:00	All of it	Nothing moved	Nothing moved
12:00	All of it	Nothing moved	Nothing moved
16:00	All of it	One chair is facing the other way	One chair is facing the other way
20:00	All of it	Nothing moved	Nothing moved
02:00	Not counted (asleep)	Unknown	Unknown

It moves when nobody is counting. So I count. The two o'clock count is the one I lose sleep over, and also the one I sleep through.

NOTCHES, by the hour (a Tuesday)

One full day of the stick, so that anyone reading can count along. Times by the cellar clock, which I have also counted.

Hour	Notch for	Running total	Again
06:00	Trapdoor opened; one drop of oil on the hinges	1	1
07:00	First pot of tea, attic	2	2
08:00	Stock count (nothing moved)	3	3
09:00	Ladle up from the vat	4	4
10:00	Ladle up from the vat	5	5
11:00	Ladle down again (one too many)	6	6
12:00	Stock count (nothing moved); cup set down by the bench	8	8
14:00	Cup collected from the bench, full	9	9
16:00	Stock count: one chair, turned. Turned back.	11	11
17:00	Leftover tea to the kiosk, two cups	13	13
19:40	Two measures of oil, far end to the lighthouse	15	15
20:00	Stock count (nothing moved)	16	16
21:00	One bucket held back at the sluice; disputed	17	17
22:00	Trapdoor shut	18	18

Eighteen notches on a Tuesday. Eighteen. Wednesday was nineteen, because of the kiosk.

VISITORS down the trapdoor

Date	Who	Came for	Left with	Again
09/03	The apprentice	A measure for the lamp	One measure	One measure
09/05	Mrs Steep	To ask who drank the sitting-down cup	No answer	No answer
09/09	A man from the long road	The four empty tins	Nothing	Nothing
09/12	The apprentice	A measure for the lamp	One measure	One measure
09/13	Nobody	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing; the trapdoor creaked once, counted

Five visits, four people, one creak. The creak is on the stick as a creak.

NOT COUNTED (and why)

Thing	Reason	Reason, again
The card behind tin 4	Not mine	Not mine
The sea, as a whole	The far end counts it by the bucket; I count the buckets	I count the buckets
The lamp's hours	Hours: yes, on the bench; there is no second count to check it against	none to check against
Draughts	They come in under the door and do not stay to be counted	do not stay
Sleep	Two o'clock count missed, most nights	missed

OIL, August, for comparison

Date	In	Out	Count	Again
08/17	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/18	3	3	3 / 3	3 / 3
08/19	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/20	3	2	3 / 2	3 / 2
08/21	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/22	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/23	3	3	3 / 3	3 / 3
08/24	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/25	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/26	3	3	3 / 3	3 / 3
08/27	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/28	3	2	3 / 2	3 / 2
08/29	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2
08/30	2	2	2 / 2	2 / 2

August, the last fourteen days: thirty-three in, thirty-one out. Thirty-three, thirty-one. Two held back at the far end, which the far end calls none. September is above and is forty-one and forty. Neither month is the end of anything. They are months.

THE STOCK, every movement logged, this year

Date	Time	What moved	How far	Counted back?
01/14	16:00	A chair	A quarter turn	Yes, yes
02/09	02:00 (missed)	A flatpack box	Unknown; found one aisle along	Yes, yes
03/22	12:00	Nothing	Nothing	Not needed, not needed
04/30	16:00	A price gun	Off its hook and back	Yes, yes
05/18	20:00	A display model	One step nearer the trapdoor	Counted; not moved back; it moved back itself
06/02	16:00	A chair	A half turn	Yes, yes
07/11	02:00 (missed)	Unknown	Unknown	Counted at eight: all there, all there
08/08	08:00	Nothing	Nothing	Not needed, not needed
09/06	16:00	A chair	Facing the other way	Yes, yes

Nine entries, nine. Seven at hours when I was counting something else. The stock does not move while it is being counted; it moves while I am counting the tea.

LETTERS to the Sardine Reserve, 1 to 30

Copies kept in a tin of their own, which is counted with the empties as not empty
No.	Sent	About	Reply	Reply, again
1	01/05/96	The cellar, opened. Four tins, empty, empty.	None	None
2	02/03/96	The oil, January. Thirty-eight in, thirty-eight out.	None	None
3	03/04/96	The tea, first count. Cups made: ninety. Ninety.	None	None
4	04/02/96	A correction to letter 3: ninety-one. Ninety-one.	None	None
5	05/06/96	The slop, first count of ladles.	None	None
6	06/03/96	The hinges: one drop of oil each opening, counted.	None	None
7	07/01/96	The stock, first count. Nothing moved.	None	None
8	08/05/96	The stock, second count. A chair moved.	None	None
9	09/02/96	The chair, counted back.	None	None
10	10/07/96	The far end. Buckets, as the far end reports them.	None	None
11	11/04/96	The far end and I disagree by one.	None	None
12	12/02/96	Still by one. One.	None	None
13	01/06/97	A year of notches. The stick is full; a new stick, notched once.	None	None
14	02/03/97	The oil, January. Forty in, forty out.	None	None
15	03/03/97	The tea. Sitting down: two cups in a month.	None	None
16	04/07/97	The kiosk takes the leftovers. Counted as out, not as drunk.	None	None
17	05/05/97	The draught under the trapdoor. Not counted. Reasons given.	None	None
18	06/02/97	A ladle, missing.	None	None
19	07/07/97	The ladle, still missing.	None	None
20	08/04/97	The ladle, found, in the ladle count. It had been counted twice.	None	None
21	09/01/97	A question: may I round? I have answered it myself. No.	None	None
22	10/06/97	The empties, four. A man on the long road asked for them.	None	None
23	11/03/97	The empties, still four.	None	None
24	12/01/97	The year, totalled. Totalled again. Same.	None	None
25	01/05/98	The oil, January. Forty-one in, forty-one out.	None	None
26	03/02/98	The oil, February; the tea, February.	None	None
27	05/03/98	The empties (four).	None	None
28	06/02/98	One chair (moved). One chair (moved back).	None	None
29	07/01/98	The oil, June; a ladle unaccounted for.	None	None
30	08/03/98	The ladle, found.	None	None

Thirty letters, thirty replies expected, none received, none. Letter thirty-one is above, in full.

COUNTS DISPUTED by Mother Sprat

Date	My count	Her count	Settled
09/06	3 in, 2 out	2 in, 2 out	No. No.
09/13	3 in, 2 out	2 in, 2 out	No. No.
month	41 / 40	40 / 40	No. No.

She counts once, by the bucket, in the evening. I count twice, by the notch, at all hours. We will both be here next month.

Letter no. 31 (copy kept)

To the Sardine Reserve. This is letter thirty-one. Thirty-one. Letters one to thirty are listed below, with dates. None has had a reply. None. I note it without complaint; a count is a count whether anyone reads it.

This month: forty-one measures of oil in, forty out. I repeat: forty-one in, forty out. Seven days of tea, twenty-five cups made, one drunk sitting down. Slop, fifty-six ladles up, fifty-five down. The empties are four and have stayed four. The stock moved once, a chair, at four in the afternoon, and was counted back.

I enclose the month's stick, notched. Please count it twice before you put it wherever a reserve puts things. If the two counts agree, it will stay where it is.

The Tallyman, the oil cellar. Letters sent: 31, 31. Replies: 0, 0.

How I count (rules kept on the trapdoor)

Every thing that comes in gets a notch. Every thing that goes out gets a notch the other side of the stick.
Count it. Count it again. Write both. If they agree, it stays where it is.
Never round. A ladle is a ladle and a half-ladle is a half-ladle.
Never say roughly. Never say about. Never say a few.
If somebody else counts the same thing, write their count beside mine and do not cross either out.
Do not count what is not mine to count. Write that it was not counted, and why, twice.
Count the stock at eight, twelve, four, eight and two. Miss two. Write that it was missed.
Close the trapdoor. Count the drop of oil on the hinges. That is the last notch of the day.

Eight rules. Eight. The ninth would be about the ninth rule, and I have not needed it.

Add a notch

000000 notches, counted once and again

Nothing counted. Nothing counted.

Your count is kept in this browser.

Questions put down the trapdoor

Roughly how much oil is down there?: I do not do roughly. Forty-one in, forty out, this month. Forty-one. Forty.
Why count everything twice?: Once is a guess that went well. Twice is a count.
Does counting the stock really keep it still?: It has not moved while I was counting it. That is all I can tell you, and I can tell you it twice.
Has the Reserve ever written back?: Letters sent: thirty-one. Replies: none. None.
Why not just trust the far end's count?: I do trust it. I write it beside mine. It is one count. Mine is two. Two beside one is still three numbers, and I keep all three.
What happens if the counts never agree?: Then I keep counting. The stick does not mind being long.
Can I come down and help?: You may come down and watch. Helping would be a third count, and then I would have to count you.

Under construction diary

09/01/98 Opened the September book
09/06/98 First dispute logged
09/14/98 Letter 31 sent; this index updated
09/14/98 Index recounted; same

Notched in

Name	Message
Mother Spratthe sluice	Forty. I was there. You were in a cellar.
TideTablerthe Lighthouse	Figures agree with mine to the measure (incl. the held-back bucket). n.b. the level is back by morning.
Mothe kiosk	Your tea count's spot on, petal, I had the leftovers every one of them days.

Counted against

Feuds: Mother Sprat (Mother Sprat (counts once))

You are visitor number ------A real count, one per visit, kept by a Worker.

Tally/2.0 Server at the oil cellar, under the trapdoor

A directory listing, made with AI for slopped.site, in the style of 1998.

This The Working Late WebRing site is owned by the Tallyman.Want to join the Working Late ring? Click here.

This Things With Lids WebRing site is owned by the Tallyman.Want to join the Things With Lids ring? Click here.