Conspiracy theory, contact juggling, and spring gremlins
I heard a new conspiracy theory the other day. To be fair, it was presented as a possibility no one else had considered instead of as a truth that everyone else was to blind to see, but the theorist (my uncle-by-marriage) clearly believed it was possible.
The Toyota acceleration problem? Deliberate sabotage. See, the acceleration is an electrical problem, so it's possible that an outside signal is telling the cars to accelerate. The cars are all linked, you know. It could be done through the nav system. The nav system receives signals. It is totally possible that it could be wired to the rest of the car's electrical system and control the acceleration when signaled remotely.
Tiny details like "Have you checked to see if all the cars involved have factory-installed nav systems?", "Were certain people targeted or was the signal sent out randomly?", "Who's sending the signal?", and "Why?" were not addressed.
Dad made a slight effort to point out that the idea was insane, but gave up pretty quickly. Then we just sat there quietly until my uncle finished explaining his theory and changed the subject.
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My contact juggling skills are improving. Slowly, but improving. I impressed my 11-year-old step-nephew. His comment was "Hey, that's like in Labyrinth!" He then borrowed the ball and tried to do it himself, with some minor successes and some amusing lunges as he tried to catch the ball after the not-so-successful tries.
I finally figured out how to do inside-arm rolls. The trick is to move your arm under the ball rather than trying to propel the ball up your arm. I still drop the ball a lot and haven't managed to stall it on my elbow, but I'm getting better.
Everyone should have a crystal ball. I'd rather everyone didn't learn contact juggling, because then the little bit I can do would be ordinary and boring, but crystal balls are neat. They are pretty and even tossing one in the air and catching it with no tricks looks cool. Even very small children, who like to drop balls down the stairs and have no appreciation for the cool tricks I can do but instead demand the green ball, even though I'm using it and he had dozens of brightly colored balls a few feet away (nephew Donny has a small, inflatable ball pit. I am envious), will sit quietly and just stare at a crystal ball.
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It's spring. Flowers are sprouting, trees are budding, little peeper frogs are peeping nonstop (at least, I've been told they are frogs. I don't think I've ever seen one. For all I know, they could be gremlins. Now I feel like I should brave the icky muddy marsh areas to find the source of the peeps and prove to myself that they are either frogs or gremlins with clever disguises). Soon my allergies will be starting. It'll be a nice change from the winter colds and runny noses caused by being cold.
The Toyota acceleration problem? Deliberate sabotage. See, the acceleration is an electrical problem, so it's possible that an outside signal is telling the cars to accelerate. The cars are all linked, you know. It could be done through the nav system. The nav system receives signals. It is totally possible that it could be wired to the rest of the car's electrical system and control the acceleration when signaled remotely.
Tiny details like "Have you checked to see if all the cars involved have factory-installed nav systems?", "Were certain people targeted or was the signal sent out randomly?", "Who's sending the signal?", and "Why?" were not addressed.
Dad made a slight effort to point out that the idea was insane, but gave up pretty quickly. Then we just sat there quietly until my uncle finished explaining his theory and changed the subject.
~~~~
My contact juggling skills are improving. Slowly, but improving. I impressed my 11-year-old step-nephew. His comment was "Hey, that's like in Labyrinth!" He then borrowed the ball and tried to do it himself, with some minor successes and some amusing lunges as he tried to catch the ball after the not-so-successful tries.
I finally figured out how to do inside-arm rolls. The trick is to move your arm under the ball rather than trying to propel the ball up your arm. I still drop the ball a lot and haven't managed to stall it on my elbow, but I'm getting better.
Everyone should have a crystal ball. I'd rather everyone didn't learn contact juggling, because then the little bit I can do would be ordinary and boring, but crystal balls are neat. They are pretty and even tossing one in the air and catching it with no tricks looks cool. Even very small children, who like to drop balls down the stairs and have no appreciation for the cool tricks I can do but instead demand the green ball, even though I'm using it and he had dozens of brightly colored balls a few feet away (nephew Donny has a small, inflatable ball pit. I am envious), will sit quietly and just stare at a crystal ball.
~~~~
It's spring. Flowers are sprouting, trees are budding, little peeper frogs are peeping nonstop (at least, I've been told they are frogs. I don't think I've ever seen one. For all I know, they could be gremlins. Now I feel like I should brave the icky muddy marsh areas to find the source of the peeps and prove to myself that they are either frogs or gremlins with clever disguises). Soon my allergies will be starting. It'll be a nice change from the winter colds and runny noses caused by being cold.