A 44 in piece of wood needs to be cut into 2 pieces. A longer and a shorter piece. The longer piece needs to be 4 in shorter than triple the shorter piece. How long is the short piece of wood?

The oates family went out for dinner the price of the meal was $33.95 the sales tax was 7.25% of the price of the meal . the tip was 15% of the meal and the sales tax . how much money did the oates family pay for the meal, including tax and tip