Day 274 | Friday, 18 December 2020

Day 274 - Audio Version

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Day 274 | Friday, 18 December 2020
From the Church Mouse

The last Church Mouse discussed Murphy’s Law in three instances. Afterward, I wondered where the term came from and when it began to be popular. I did some research and Simran Khurana provided me with some of the answers.

“People fascinated by the capriciousness of the universe must find Murphy's Law and its variations interesting. Murphy's Law is the name given to any adage stating that if anything can go wrong, it will. “

Interpretations of the adage were found in documents dating to the early 19th century. It grew in popularity when Edward Murphy, an engineer working on a project at Edwards Air Force Base, found a technical error made by one of the junior technicians and said, "If there's any way to do it wrong, he will find it." Dr. John Paul Stapp, who was involved with the project, made a note of the universality of errors and fabricated a law, which he titled "Murphy's Law." Later, in a press conference, when reporters asked him how they had avoided accidents, Stapp mentioned that they adhered to Murphy's Law, which helped them steer away from commonly made mistakes. Word soon spread about Murphy's Law, and the term was born.

Instead of looking at this adage with a pessimistic view, think of it as a word of caution: Don't overlook quality control and don't accept mediocrity, because a small slip is enough to cause a catastrophe. This is probably a good idea in this time of COVID 19. We have been at this a long time, and it isn’t stupidity or self-centeredness to want to relax, to return to what we most care about, to not have so many rules in so many places to bind us. It is simply human nature to want all these things. BUT….at least we do have a light at the end of the tunnel we have been inhabiting; and for once, we can safely say that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train. Keep on keeping safe until the time comes when we can all hug each other again.

So…enjoy these Murphy’s Laws:

• Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
• If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
• The other line always moves faster.
• If it’s too good to be True ,  it probably is.
• Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. 
• Sleep is like a cat: it only comes to you if you ignore it.
• If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
• Anything you lose automatically doubles in value.
• When all else fails, read the instructions.

  
And for any who have been in the military:        
If it moves salute it; if it doesn’t,  pick it up; if you can’t, PAINT IT.