Well, yeah. The thing is that they weren't asking the question I posed, really. =)

I know what they're looking for, and for their purposes, one of the three methods I mentioned would serve. But none of them is the Best Way. I've had to deal with this problem for years, and my needs have changed over the course of time. I want something that will work for all of the situations I've been in.

Think of it this way: you can write a script to do something once. I've done that (I think) twice for this kind of problem. What I want is a way to help everybody do this kind of calculation. So I'm thinking of the problem more in this sense: "how can I make this a module?" Somebody will need that high granularity at some point. It might be me.

You're definitely right in terms of work (and also relationships, by the way ;). Slways try to figure out what's really being asked, rather than what's being said: it's always better to understand than just to listen.
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Love justice; desire mercy.