The inevitablilty of doing it over again.

I'm old enough to know better, but I still end up doing things twice. I do them once to learn and than do it again, close enough to correst to work. Let me demonstrate.

My workmate and friend Kieth and I agreed that we needed two new set screws for the knife assembly in one of the machines we run at the museum. We are talking about cents in value, not dollars. But for some reason, completely beyond understanding, our maintenance department neither has these replacement parts nor seems to be able to get them. We took the problem in hand. Packaging the defective screws in a small bag, I took them to the local hardware store to get replacements.

The screws are small, about the size jujubes. My clerk whisked me back to those drawers that every hardware store has that contain both the exotic and common nuts, screw, bolts, washers and such things as every handyman needs, that can be purchased in quantities of one for high prices. Viola! She brandishes the look-alike and demures only to the extent that the tightening device was an allen head not a star head such as I brought in. I care not. I buy a allen head wrench set to assure that we can use the new screws.

The next day I go to work confident that the problem is solved. The attempt at installing the new screw soon produces the conclusion that the thread design of the new screws is not the same. We are back to Zero on the sliding scale of solving this problem except that we know, Jeff should have asked the clerk to check the threads.

What is it about problem solving that requires twice the effort for some of us and almost none for others? I know that some of you will respond mentally, think you stupid idiot! But, I believe that some of us are just wired different. Some people just can't follow instructions, even, and I know this is hard to believe, if they read them.

I swear that I read all instructions. I check to make sure all parts are in place. I assemble the project in the order suggested. I get the thing or project together and... . Oh no look ! It doesn't work because you didn't (fill in the blank) that any four year old would have seen needed to be done. Now, I have to take the project apart and reassemble it, if I haven't stripped the screws or lost a irreplaceable part or fastener. I know this is sounding like a bad imitation of an Andy Rooney commentary, but it's true and it's just ticking me off.