Rules for inanimate objects

[jrb]

Another one is Leak's 1st law of physics:

"Any length of cable coiled neatly and left unattended for any length of time will immediately tangle itself".

[Zogbert Splod]

You are in the middle of wiring up a couple of point motors.
You need just one simple toggle switch to finish the job.
You know you bought several last time you went to the shop.
Search everywhere.
In frustration drive 5 miles to the shop to buy another so that you can finish the job.
Get home.
Up to the workroom.
There are three switches right next to the place you were working originally.

It's the sort of thing that happens to me all the time !

Completely standard behaviour - if you can't find something, get another one - suddenly, you have TWO!  Oh yeah!!!!!

[DarthBadger]

There is another class, although it can be though if as a subclass of "those that break", it is "things that when knocked over will cause confusion and delay, and mayhem, etc."

Examples:

Jars of water for washing paintbrushes - particularly when near electrical devices.

Jars of paint

Open bags of flock or ballast

Cups of the beverage of your choice (a subset of the first item)

[Zogbert Splod]

There is another class, although it can be though if as a subclass of "those that break", it is "things that when knocked over will cause confusion and delay, and mayhem, etc."

Examples:

Jars of water for washing paintbrushes - particularly when near electrical devices.

Jars of paint

Open bags of flock or ballast

Cups of the beverage of your choice (a subset of the first item)

Hello person with strange and unusual name!   Your last item bothers me a little.  It suggests that, just possibly, and probably not deliberately, you may have either taken a drink from your brush washing container or dipped a brush in your coffee.   

[edwin_m]

There is another class, although it can be though if as a subclass of "those that break", it is "things that when knocked over will cause confusion and delay, and mayhem, etc."

Examples:

Jars of water for washing paintbrushes - particularly when near electrical devices.

Jars of paint

Open bags of flock or ballast

Cups of the beverage of your choice (a subset of the first item)

And the worst one of all - solvent!

[joe cassidy]

That's precisely why drinks are banned from university chemistry labs.

Best regards,


Joe

[austinbob]

That's precisely why drinks are banned from university chemistry labs.

Best regards,


Joe

I always thought the best drinks came from Chemistry labs??

[Zogbert Splod]

First day in the lab we were regaled with this:

Jimmy Brown is dead and gone,
And he will drink no more.
For what he thought was H2O,
Was H2SO4!

[Komata]

malc

A slight variation on your 'One of my oppos etc'.

A military establishment, scrambled egg for miles.  We were all there to learn about the (then) new computer system being introduced into general service.

The 'Designated Resident Expert' (DRE)was a Flight Sergeant (FS), who did a very good job at 'educating' those present.

Lunch time arrives, 'students' depart; each rank to the appropriate mess.

Class resumes, no FS.  'Egg-covered ones' very unimpressed...

FS  reappears 30 minutes later, very apologetic.

It seems that in the luncheon interval (an hour) the techies (conveniently located on another base 400 miles away BTW) had completely changed everything and all that had gone before was now obsolete and not to be used. Alterations were still being made even as the class resumed!!

Back to square one!!!  RTE did an admirable job, despite being handed 'updates' while doing-so. but was fighting  a loosing battle as the techs played havoc with his presentation (one had to feel sorry for him, he was in a totally untenable position). Mickey Mouse would have been proud!!

Brass eventually had had enough, class suspended, and techies advised to 'get their act together ' 'or else!!.

The hapless FS was  last seen in the Sergeants Mess consuming a well-deserved beer - he'd certainly earned it.

(FWIW: The bugs never were actually totally fixed and eventually the programme was abandoned; but not before it had cost a very large amount of taxpayer and Defence Force money...)

Murphy's Law would seem to have numerous sub-variants...

[joe cassidy]

I always thought the best drinks came from Chemistry labs??

Apparently there is one university in the UK where they have an ancient piece of wood (from an old stair rail) that they steep in the "party ethanol" to give it bit of flavour/colour.

Best regards,


Joe

[Papyrus]

This reminded me of a science-fiction short story I read ages ago. I've just dug it out and had a speed-read through it again. It's called 'Inanimate Objection' written by H. Chandler Elliott in 1954. In a nutshell, the premise is that mankind spends a lot of time organising, arranging, controlling stuff but the Universe as a whole works in the opposite direction towards chaos. So the more we try and arrange the world to our satisfaction, the more the Universe fights back by getting inanimate objects to misbehave.

Sounds perfectly plausible to me...

Have a nice day!

Chris

[Oldman]

The point you laid in the most awkward place decides to become a non working point at the most inopportune time at an exhibition.

[GeeBee]

There is another class, although it can be though if as a subclass of "those that break", it is "things that when knocked over will cause confusion and delay, and mayhem, etc."

Examples:

Jars of water for washing paintbrushes - particularly when near electrical devices.

Jars of paint

Open bags of flock or ballast

Cups of the beverage of your choice (a subset of the first item)

And the worst one of all - solvent!

Yep been there and done that and when applying static grass on Martini Holt left my coffee cup too close to the area being covered and then sneezed result very grassy coffee
:'(

[joe cassidy]

This reminded me of a science-fiction short story I read ages ago. I've just dug it out and had a speed-read through it again. It's called 'Inanimate Objection' written by H. Chandler Elliott in 1954. In a nutshell, the premise is that mankind spends a lot of time organising, arranging, controlling stuff but the Universe as a whole works in the opposite direction towards chaos. So the more we try and arrange the world to our satisfaction, the more the Universe fights back by getting inanimate objects to misbehave.

There's a word for that - Entropy ?

Best regards,


Joe

[railsquid]

Insufficiently secured scenic scatter can become a series of small but numerous animate objects when in a room heated with an air heater (as is common here in Japan). Don't ask me how I know this.