sometimes it is easier to visualize with more bits on
Code:
IP        11000000 10101000 11111101 11111110 192.168.253.254
Mask      11111111 11111111 11111100 00000000 255.255.252.0
Net       11000000 10101000 11111100 00000000 192.168.252.0
Hosts     00000000 00000000 00000011 11111111 1023
CIDR      22