Aphelion Editorial 047

Hello and welcome!

This month's thrilling installment is loosely based onthe concept of futility. As in; don't bother to plan a vacation and expect the weather to co-operate, don't wash your car unless you want it to rain, don't spend your last cash on seed to plant unless you want a drought, and don't buy a machine and expect it to remain in good repair.

The invading aliens always say "resistance is futile..." Why is that? Our species has proved time and time again that resistance wins, but it takes time. We don't know how to give up. How can we lose?

I was presented with a couple of seemingly unsolvable mechanical problems last week, and the concept of futility was brought to the forefront of my mind as I struggled to decypher what was then a perplexing set of problems. I had the right parts, I knew that beyond the shadow of a doubt-- I just couldn't get them to fit. I pushed and tugged, pounded and twisted, hammered and tapped... To no avail. Until-- I looked again and saw that I had two of the pieces backwards. Within minutes, the futility was gone... Everything fit.

That's the way it always goes. First there is a problem, then there is no problem, then there is... Um, sorry. I was channeling Donovan there for a minute. Where was I? Oh yes, the frustration factor of things that seem futile. Don't let it get to you. Plain bull-headedness has solved more problems than any other human effort. The human ability to never give up, never accept defeat, to die if necessary, but to win-- above all, to win!

"Resistance is futile!" Oh yeah? Come here Bub, I wanna show you something...

Thanks for your time.

Dan

THE END

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