Vibes worked! / Choice

[Aberforth's Goat]

HUGS ALL ROUND!

Amy Z, who's had all too many nightmares about just that
happening, reckoned she

> 'd probably rather break a leg than have to stand up in front
of a
> crowd to say something wise sans notes.

My point exactly. That was one of the more, um, *challenging* 45
minutes I've spent in a long time. It is certainly a very
efficient way of waking up quickly.

Anyway, Saint Jude seems to be sucker for Anabaptists, cause at
10:10 my notebook suddenly resurrected itself. 10 minutes later I
was hurtling down the hill on my race bike and by 10:25 I was in
church acting debonair. (The really odd thing was that I was
talking about trust, even when trust seems irrational. I believe
the technical word for this is "weird." And no, I'm *not* making
the whole thing up!)

Anyway, a word of advice: don't try this at home, kids. Leave it
to us religious professionals ... <dour grin>

I got to spend 2 1/2 hours this afternoon taking apart the whole
machine - including the keyboard, key by key - washing each piece
and putting it all back together. Not *fun,* exactly, but
considering what I thought was going to happen (and that
everything, except for one mouse button and the F8 key, still
works), very satisfying.

BTW, it's nice to have someplace to scream when one is going
nuts.

* * * * * *

CHOICE

Rita's quote from Gardner was terrific. (And, btw, make her claim
to be a scientific philistine sound quite as preposterous as
David's.) And it's the point I've been stuck on since I was 20.
Try to explain freedom and you're stuck either with random,
inexplicable actions - or with deterministic, inexplicable
actions. Neither option is particularly satisfying.

OTOH, no matter what we make of it all, we still have to decide
what to do with ourselves - and no amount of determinism could
ever remove the fact that we can, must and will make decisions as
if they were free. Even if they aren't.

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray, who would like to point out
that he has never had any dealings whatsoever, free or
determined, with those blasted Screwts.)
_______________________

"Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that
may not have been bravery...."