Planes, trains, automobiles, cat toys, and wooden decks...

My flood and rain saga has not ended. Even though the amount of flooding was minimal this time, over the weekend some of the rain still found its way inside my home. As a consequence I had to take a day to work to create more drainage on the other side of my house in an effort to keep the water level in the soil below the footing of my living room space when the ground is saturated. I started at 9:00 a.m. and was not done shoveling dirt back into the newly placed drain pipes until a bit past 11:00 p.m. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout the years is that any home project I envision might take 3 to 4 hours, all I have to do is multiply it by 3 and I will have the exact number of laborious hours it will take to complete. I am a pretty handy guy, but looks are deceiving when it comes to the simplicity of manual labor. Below the innocent sight of some pavers on what might seem to be just dirt, hide all kinds of mysterious barriers and challenges. This time, even though the trench to be dug was only 30 feet long instead of the previous 70 feet project from the previous week, under the shorter distance laid concrete, wire mesh, and wood. Who lays a concrete patio floor without removing the old wooden deck first? It is that same rotting wood that is actually making canals to bring water from everywhere else in the backyard against the footing and foundation of my home. Needless to say, now I was back on a full treatment of muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory drugs to be able to come in to work today.

Some of the simplest things in life are amazingly complex when I take the time to look at them carefully. I am surprised as to how many times something completely innocent looking finds a way to create problems. A simple hollow plastic ball that my cat uses to frolic and kick around in the back yard seems innocent enough, but when the little red and blue ball falls into the pool it sinks to the bottom where if left there unattended it will get stuck on the suction intake of the automated pool floor cleaner. I have found the pool vacuum stuck in the same place for what was probably hours due to the cat dropping her toy accidentally inside the water. As Murphy's Law will prove itself over and over again, the lesson is simple, no matter how small, innocent, or inconsequential something might seem, when something can go wrong, chances are it will go wrong. In fact, in physics this concept of incredibly small statistical probabilities holds the answer to some of the most amazing discoveries including the creation of sentient life on our planet. If there is a chance of something happening, no matter how small a chance, eventually it will happen given enough time.

I wonder if this concept of statistical probabilities holds water in the universe that is a person's mind? If I gathered enough information with regards to someones personality and behavior, could I somehow calculate the probabilities of possible outcomes? Is this not the same kind of logic that profilers use when they seek to identify an unknown subject based on the signs he or she leaves behind while interacting with their victims and the world around them? I find it interesting that when investigations are conducted to discover the root cause of a plane, train, or automobile accident, most of the time once the fault is found to be "human error," the research is typically concluded. The human error is swiftly categorized under "fault" or "no fault" depending on whether the individual that committed the error had any chance at avoiding the final outcome or not, and then penalties or pardons are applied. When I take a closer look at this concept, I cannot help but realize that even though we might categorize other reasons for the accident as "mechanical, design, or material failure, " it still all boils down to human error since humans are the ones that create, design, and build things in the first place. All that is left is "an act of God." Rain, lightening, wind, birds, dogs, anything that nature throws at us without rhyme or reason is then categorized as "an act of God."

So where am I going with all of this, you may ask? I suppose I am just having a little fun with the concept of blame. After all, we tend to put a lot of value and weight in assigning blame to someone or something when things don't work out too well. I remember a long time ago joking around following the blame trail to its final and ultimate conclusion and making the argument that in the end it is really all God's fault. Remember this is just a joke, but in essence a reality too so if you want to feel better when something bad happens that you might think is your fault, all you have to do is follow the train of thought that ultimately God was the one that created my cat, the rain, birds, dogs, you, me, and our ability to think for ourselves and make things such as planes, trains, automobiles, cat toys, and wooden decks. I feel much better now!

Dad