[ The longer he stares at the words (?), the less he understands. None of them make sense, but maybe they should think outside of the box...! ]

What if this is some kind of code? 'X̅D' is a roman numeral for ten thousands and five hundred. [ A pen would be a godsent now, alas. He's going to draw a line above the 'X' sign on the note pinned to the task board. ] But I'm not sure what the additional Ds are for. 'LOL's might be similar in that regard since 'L' stands for fifty...

[ He's definitely giving it too much thought. ]