The Coolest Thing Ever

When I got into work today I was greeted by an envelope on my chair.
I don't get a lot of interoffice mail, so I immediately opened it. Inside was the coolest thing ever. It was a PURPLE soother. As in THE purple soother that is discontinued and that I can't find anywhere.
But it gets better. There was a note. But, not any note. A super cool cryptic note that left me clues to figure out who this person was. It was a math code.
I have to admit that I'm not exactly the type of person to crack codes, so I did the next best thing - I made a pdf of the note and forwarded it to someone who could help me out. And, help he did.
Anyway, I didn't exactly figure out the riddle, but I did figure out the person.
And, I was pleasantly surprised by who that person was.
That's all I'm saying about it. (you know - I do have a policy about blogging about work stuff - and I probably should have asked his permission before writing about this.

So, cause you are so cool - here is my secret message back to you, my friend. Here's a clue. The key to solving this is the number 17.

pfl iftb, zre