Tuesday was Amy’s birthday. Things worked out so very nicely, enabling me to spend the whole day not at Penn State but at the school Amy attends. I was able to surprise her and spend a significant portion of the day with her, which was just great.
We went driving (you should be proud, DK) for awhile, and I suggested a fun experiment that one should try when faced with a lot of time and the urge to go somewhere unexpected. This is preferable if you have someone in the car with you, even more preferable if it’s someone special.
So you start your car and come to the first decision. Right or left? Flip a coin. Heads you go left, tails you go right. At every significant road, repeat this. If there are three options flip between the first two, then flip between the winner and the third option. See where you end up. You could go to the moon! Or New York City. Or Oregon!
More likely, though, is you’ll end up at some forlorn dead end somewhere. But then you get to turn around and do it all over again. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?
I thought of this when I saw a post on Random Pitches that had to do with decision-making and flipping coins.
Byran Smucker 
Recently Paul, reading your blog, shook his head and said, “Byran is in love” when he saw the infrequency of posts.
I say, “Byran is in love” when I think of this methodical guy living so dangerously as to drive around the countryside led only by the whims of a flipped coin.
By: Dorcas on January 27, 2006
at 1:08 pm
I didn’t think of it as dangerous. Maybe a little adventurous, though. But hey, everybody has their adventurous side, don’t they? Perhaps for some, it’s just buried a little more deeply than in others.
And I’ll have you know that I used to think I didn’t like Chinese food, but then I must have given it an honest shot, and now I like it! How’s that for heart-pounding action?
By: Byran on January 27, 2006
at 1:35 pm
Oh, but I am in love.
By: Byran on January 27, 2006
at 2:00 pm
So why must you have waited until we no longer go out to eat together to decide you like Chinese food?!!
By: ITF on January 27, 2006
at 5:26 pm
What in the world, I never imagined you’d drive like that OR like Chinese! I am indeed proud of you for both. Oh, and I’m happy you’re in love, too, at least as far as I know. 🙂
What’s with this word verification thing below the comment box?
The Baritone
By: Anonymous on January 30, 2006
at 11:17 am
Byran,
In “Rules of Dating”, Rule number 52 reads: Never use the coin flip method of decision making until after you are married and she asks “Honey, what shall I make for dinner?” That, my friend, breaks the ice on coin flipping!
By: Rob on January 31, 2006
at 12:31 am
The Word Verification thing is to prevent nasty spam.
By: Byran on January 31, 2006
at 11:12 am