Murphy rules

[earlmck]

Today was a nice day in sunny Central Oregon (for December) so I thought I'd go shoot my levergun challenge target and maybe blast a few tin cans also. As you head due south out of Prineville you go up the Crooked River Canyon, which is one of the finest short drives in the State. This time of year I often make the 25 mile trip to my favorite shootin' spot without meeting more than one or two cars. And as I was driving along I had the thought that "hey, I just crossed the bridge where if there is one other car on the road, that is where we meet" without meeting anyone. But this crooked little highway has a couple other spots -- one 25 mph curve and one of 15 mph where you turn across the dam. Sure enough, I met my one car at the 15mph curve. Not a bit before; not a bit after. Nope, right there where we both went extra slow to show proper respect.

So Murphy was proved alive and well once again. Then I arrived at my spot, set up my target, pulled the trusty Rossi 357 I was gonna' use for the December Challenge shoot, and.... No Danged Ammo! I had pulled out the proper ammo for the rifle (it gets a different loading than I use for my revolver) but had failed somehow to make the transfer from hand on into the box I use to carry ammo and muffs and stapler and targets and all the stuff. I had several other rifles along but none qualifying as "pistol cartridge, iron sight" . Murphy again, don't you know!

Then on the way home I once again met just one rig-- new 3/4 ton Dodge probably driven by a high school kid. Didn't meet him at either of the sharp curves. Didn't meet him at the little bridge. Nope, there was one bicyclist on the highway today and that was where I met the pickup -- right at the bike so I had to pull to the shoulder so the pickup could have the middle of the road (he wasn't about to slow down a bit to keep from crowding a mere bicycle) and allow the cyclist to cling to his little sliver of road edge.

I am regularly reminded that "Murphy rules" and today was just such a day.

Oh yeah -- if there is anyone on the forum who doesn't know about Murphy and his Laws -- well somebody else can fill you in.

[JerryB]

Hey to Earl, glad you were able to enjoy a fine Murphy Day, I had a fine one here in Arkansaw too. About noon I started ( and a fifteen year old grandson) an replacing the bathroom sink faucet. After three trips to Home Depot and one to Tripp's Ace Hardware I said I was done (6 PM) until after my morning coffee One fitting insisted that no amount of Teflon tape could keep it from spraying. The morning brings a new and better day.

[Sixgun]

Earl,
Your a bad man! You must have done something bad as Karma got you.

Just kidding as it reminding me what happened last week. My wife, who is 61 asked me, while I was driving on a back country road, "what is Murphy's law?" I responded, "what rock have you been living under for the last 61 years?" No sooner I said that the exact same thing happened to me......some squirrelly looking guy with those even squirrelier looking black tight shorts was on a bicycle and I had to slow down to a crawl as a car was coming the other way. I told her, "that's Murphy's law".------6

There's just something about these guys on bicycles with their little black shorts. I was thinking about carrying a broom stick in the Jeep and whacking one or two.------6

[Catshooter]

Earl,
I was thinking about carrying a broom stick in the Jeep and whacking one or two.------6

Six . . . they won't thank you for that, I'm pretty sure!

(I can see you doing it though.)


Cat

[Blaine]

Blaine's Law: Murphy was an optimist...

( My buddy and I went out to shoot earlier this year. He had his Glock in 357 Sig, and bought fifty bucks worth of regular .357 mag..... I let him shoot my stuff to his hearts content. )

[claybob86]

Murphy's Laws

1. Nothing is as easy as it looks.
2. Everything takes longer than you think.
3. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
4. 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. Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
5. You never run out of things that can go wrong.
6. If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
7. If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
8. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
9. It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
10. Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
11. Every solution breeds new problems.

O'toole's Commentary On Murphy's Law: "Murphy was an optimist."

[Rusty]

Well when you apply Occam's Razor to Murphy's law. Ref the above post in the simplest terms I'd just go with #3.

Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

[FWiedner]

Well when you apply Occam's Razor to Murphy's law. Ref the above post in the simplest terms I'd just go with #3.

Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

The term for this process is "reduction."

[Borregos]

There's just something about these guys on bicycles with their little black shorts. I was thinking about carrying a broom stick in the Jeep and whacking one or two.------6

Hey 6 the broomstick is for sticking through their spokes, front wheel

[Les Staley]

Murphy's law has to do with natural selection, although it isn't happening fast enough..(Stupid kills, but not often enough)

[gamekeeper]

I thought it was only me who only overtook cyclists when oncoming traffic appeared....

[Griff]

HEY! I'm one of those cyclists you're threatening with severe bodily injury. And, although I have every legal right to ride in the lane or road... I tend to believe that when you cycle, Murphy's Rules are compounded exponentially, likely to the 10th or 25th power! What to you is a minor inconvenience, to the cyclist, is a LIFE OR DEATH situation... and LIFE might not be so enjoyable after the encounter...

Try sitting behind one on a busy "no shoulder" road at UP to 12 mph or less for 4 miles trying to deliver new TVs to a store before it closes... on the last day to submit your documents to get paid.... Yes... I was "conflicted!"

[Sixgun]

Griff,
Where you ride a bicycle (you ride bicycles?) on the road down in Texas, where there are 3 people per square mile, it's a whole 'nother smoke than it is up here in the N.E. where these liberal cyclists think they have every right to exercise their freedom....true...no problem with that...but dang....do it on Sunday morning, or the middle of the day...sometime when traffic is low.

When we built the house back in '74 there was nothing here but corn fields. Now it's a sea of BMW's, Audi's, Volvos, Mercedes, fancy SUV's, whatever. I'm the poor guy with a domestic Jeep. These libs brought the city with them, bicycling during rush hour and even women with baby carriages on my little two lane road with cars zipping around.....yea....baby carriages.......no common sense......

That's why I have the attitude with the broom stick. Put me in the Black Rose and I'd be national news.....but I'd have fun doing it -----6

[Blaine]

It's them dang, fancy race bikes with tires about 1/2" wide that HAS to be on hard pavement.....I ride a lot, but on a semi-mtn bike where I sit upright, and have nice, wide knobby tires that will go on any kind of surface. I can gear down a couple notches and ride in the gravel, or dirt. I HATE those snobs that sit in the lane at 15mph, and refuse to move over. Up here in the urban Northwest, the cyclists feel particularly "noble" about themselves, and are a real PITA...

[Ben_Rumson]

Unfortunately I live along a scenic narrow road the cyclists love because of its curves combined with an uphill grade that gives their muscles a nice burn before they hit the summit where the get a tad of down hill before going level... So when cyclists are encountered chances are you cant see around him/her or her with baby on board leaving no choice but to pull in behind and follow at their speed... But sometimes I catch a break and have to pull in behind a gal in spandex shorts stretched so tight I can see veins... but Murphy can mess that up if the wife is along as she has a different idea of a safe distance to follow in that case ...

[gcs]

"You ride bicycles?"

Last time I had to ride a bike as a fully grown man, My testicles, and bottom got so numb I swore never again!

I needed to pick my truck up from the repair shop and no one was around to give me a lift, I spotted the kids 10 speed and figured it's only about 2 1/2 miles, I'll cycle over there, throw the bike in the back and drive home, easy peasy. Well,....

I know a fellow that cycles 100 miles for fun, guy must be a eunuch!