I was feeling discourage about all of the recent anti-science, including the attacks on evolution and politicians interfering with the decisions of FDA scientists. And then I found this cheerful distraction: a scientific experiment from Monty Python’s Holy Grail:
This kind of excellent work in video editing needs to be recognized, thus I’m sharing this video, in which the original Star Trek crew (William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, et al) performs Monty Python’s Holy Grail:
I’m enjoying my newly and consciously chosen path: things don’t need to be perfect. Not that I ever really was a perfectionist. But especially when it comes to consumer purchases, I’m much less a perfectionist than I ever was. Here are a couple cases in point.
The rear (electric) window of our ten year old car no longer goes up and down. My immediate thought was to have it fixed. I got an estimate: $270. Gad. My wife and I decided that we can do without that window going up and down (even though my daughters (who sit in the back) would prefer that it work. $270 is a lot of allowance money. I asked the repair guy how much it would cost to make the window permanently stay up (because it kept sliding down). He said that he could do it for $100. I turned down that offer, went home and glued it shut. Far from perfect, though quite satisfactory.
A friend visited today. The lock on her car’s passenger-side door was broken. She said: “Passengers can get into the car on the other side.” She added that not fixing minor things is a big time saver. Why make appointments and burn hours fixing something that isn’t really a priority?
These car stories won’t resonate for may people. I’ve known dozens of people who freak out if there is even a single little scratch on their car. Nor would they ever try to fix it themselves. They will run it to the dealer, especially if someone else was at fault. A man accidentally collided with our other car 6 months ago. I suggested that I find a body shop that could bang it into shape, but said that I didn’t want it to be “like new.” After all, the car is 8 years old. I found a shop that straightened out the bends and sprayed over the scrapes for $400, instead of getting a “like new” job that would have cost $1,500. It’s good enough for me.
There are days when I intend to get x number of things done. I’ve found that my life goes much more smoothly if I let some of those things drop off the list, unaccomplished.
It’s been awhile since we’ve discussed the rules for stoning found in the Bible. Rather than rehashing those rules, I decided to post this stoning demo by Monty Python (from “The Life of Brian”).
[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaORknS1Dk[/youtube]
BTW, if you enjoy Monty Python (I very much do), you should be aware that they have their own “Python Channel” on [...]
