Mind Over Bad Luck and Other Matter

On Thursday, Zach received what's called a "session fee" for the work he did on an upcoming series of commercials for a show on the SciFi channel.

We had been feeling more than a little dejected in the wake of the disappearance of my laptops and the back window of our car, followed by the news—which came after we spent a couple of hundred bucks replacing the window—that our engine was in its last throes of driving life.

I wasn't home when the mail came on Thursday, so I didn't know that the check had arrived. I had gone out to see my dad and then turned around and headed to a restaurant downtown where we going to meet friends for dinner. I got there first.

A little while later, Zach walked into the restaurant, brandished the check, and announced that he had made up his mind: our luck had officially changed. This check was the turning point, he said, and from now on, it was going to be only good things for us.

Of course, it was an entirely arbitrary decision on his part. The check itself wasn't really any kind of portent. We knew all along that the session fee would be coming. We just didn't know exactly when. (These things can take a while.)

Then again, bad luck is, by definition, arbitrary. So why not practice a little psychological jujitsu on the wave of misfortune that keeps crashing down upon us?

So that is our new philosophy.

We are going to doublehandedly turn back the tide.

Yes indeedy.