Prone to pander to the imponderable!

Welcome to Wednesday, November 18, 2009 where I rehearse with you this admonition from the 136^th Division of the Psalms: Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. This is a remarkable passage in that the psalmist repeats this sentiment 26 times. Hello? He was inspired to remind us by repetition of why we can be thankful, every moment of every day: Because God’s mercy endures forever, and ever, Amen. Recently I have been acting as the point person on interfacing with the federal government on behalf of our company in terms of issues they have documented during a safety inspection of our plant equipment and operations. Talk about needing mercy! I worked for the federal government many years ago and I recall way back then how inefficient it could be, but, my experience in this current project makes it crystal clear why small businesses sometimes just throw in the towel rather than trying to deal with this endless and often mindless bureaucracy. No wonder so many people attend those tea parties! I do not know what the cost of sustaining this mammoth agency is per dollar spent in conducting a business, but as they say back home: It ain’t small!

Let me see if I can now return to my lighter emphasis that I started earlier this week. Just thinking out loud but have you ever wondered about the deeper things in life? Like, if you tried to fail but you succeeded, which one would you have done? Or, before they invented drawing boards what did we go back to? How about: If you spin an oriental person round and round until they become dizzy, do they become disoriented; or does a pig who has lost its voice become disgruntled? Let’s face it, there are some really tough questions out there. What does one cheese say to the other cheese when they are making a photograph? Why do we call a person who plays the piano a pianist but typically don’t call a racecar driver a racist? Perhaps except for a few in NASCAR. Is it really possible to have a civil war? Why does it turn out that wise men and wise guys are completely the opposite of one another? Why do they have an interstate highway system on the island of Hawaii? And finally: What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Of course none of these questions are as mind boggling or as gut wrenching as hearing this one from a seven year old: “Dad, what does it mean when it says it is reformatting Drive C?” We live in a world dominated by unsolved mysteries and complicated conundrums. Much of it does revolve around the fact that the trouble is very close to home. Yeah, we know the guy driving slower than us is an idiot but the fellow going faster, he has to be a maniac. Maybe we would rather think about the questions more than struggle with the answers. I wonder how the fellow driving the snowplow gets to work in the morning? If ignorance is bliss why aren’t more people happy? If nothing sticks on Teflon how does it stick to the pan? Okay, that will suffice for today since I now have a headache. Don’t fret. It could not be as bad as the answer Moses received when he called and spoke to the doctor at the Excedrin headache hotline: Take two TABLETS and call me in the morning. Say goodnight Gracie! Have a blessed Wednesday. Amen. …..More later.