Try It Out Before You Need It
So, you know about my mission to
screw with people's lives,
causing all kinds of strife, trouble, and humiliation.
You have decided that
it is good to prepare
and have done your best to
avoid Dennis.
Well done!
But until you have actually tried things out, you don't know whether or not your preparations will work.
Because you aren't just dealing with Dennis.
You are also dealing with Murphy.
Here are a few examples illustrating how a bit of testing can verify whether or not your preparations are any damned good...
- I planned a vacation to
Hawaii.
(Screwing with people's lives
is a lot of work, and I really needed a break.)
I wanted to do some snorkeling, so I bought mask, fins, snorkel, and water-resistant cameras.
Then I tested them all out in a swimming pool.
It's a good thing that I did, because one of the fins had a problem and I had to send it back.
I learned that my moustache kept the mask from sealing well, so I had to shave it off.
The cheesie-cheap 35mm water camera floats well. The nicer digital camera will sink like a stone.
Note to self: Always use the lanyard!
- Other equipment for the Hawaii trip was tested as soon as I got it.
A Sony battery charger and batteries was dead on arrival.
A filter adapter ring for my camera was the wrong size.
(The box was labeled with the size I ordered, but the part inside was wrong.
If I had opened the mailing envelope, checked the label, and tossed it into my camera bag, I would have been screwed.)
As you can see,
Dennis is not immune from misfortune.
- My friend Jerry went on a photo expedition to Australia.
His new and expensive digital camera broke as soon as he got there.
I like Jerry a lot.
Although I almost killed him with laughter due to a joke about turtles, I wouldn't really want harm to come to him.
I hated having to destroy his vacation.
But I can't help wondering how much testing he did on that camera before taking it on the vacation of a lifetime?
Get the idea?