So it's the middle of the night, I leave for LAX (Los Angeles International Airport for you non-regular world travelers) in 6 hours to go home for vacation, and I am STRESSED! My Christmas cards are addressed and stuffed, but I haven't finished my year in review Christmas message and I have no inspiration to write it. I still need one more gift idea for my 5 year old nephew. I need to set the "Out of Office" message on my work computer. I'm worried I'm so sleep deprived that if I go to bed I'll fall into a sleep coma and miss all 3 alarms I have set on my cell phone, thereby missing the plane and ruining my vacation, losing 40,000 hard earned frequent flyer miles in the process. And as I'm sitting here trying to unmuddle my brain long enough to find a solution to all this, I suddenly realize I've been here before...multiple times....
In fact, this same scenario has happened before every vacation I've taken in recent memory. Which makes me start thinking about the statistical odds of this happening. And somehow I recall my hated days as a high school sophomore studying geometry, and start remembering how much I hated doing proofs. Proofs, as I recall, lead to theorems. Hence, the "Last Minute Drama Before Vacation" theorem was born.
Theorem, as defined by Wikipedia.....
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement proven on the basis of previously accepted or established statements. In mathematical logic, theorems are modeled as formulas that can be derived according to the derivation rules of a fixed formal system.
In this case, the previously established statements are my direct experiences on the day before every vacation I've taken in the past 10 years. No matter how well I plan, how far in advance I pack, how many checklists I have, something always blows up the day before I leave and sends me into a tailspin. I suppose I should actually start looking forward to it, like some kind of bizarre confirmation that my vacation will in fact be happening. Or maybe, as is the case this year, my years of experience remind me to focus on what has to get done and not worry about the rest of it, because no one else will know the difference.
So I update my "Out of Office," decide the Christmas card message will be in my blog this year (I'll describe it as my attempt to "Go Green"), and go to bed, resting easier knowing that my stress is just a result of mathematical certainty, not a personality flaw.
Now let's just hope I hear the alarm....
In fact, this same scenario has happened before every vacation I've taken in recent memory. Which makes me start thinking about the statistical odds of this happening. And somehow I recall my hated days as a high school sophomore studying geometry, and start remembering how much I hated doing proofs. Proofs, as I recall, lead to theorems. Hence, the "Last Minute Drama Before Vacation" theorem was born.
Theorem, as defined by Wikipedia.....
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement proven on the basis of previously accepted or established statements. In mathematical logic, theorems are modeled as formulas that can be derived according to the derivation rules of a fixed formal system.
In this case, the previously established statements are my direct experiences on the day before every vacation I've taken in the past 10 years. No matter how well I plan, how far in advance I pack, how many checklists I have, something always blows up the day before I leave and sends me into a tailspin. I suppose I should actually start looking forward to it, like some kind of bizarre confirmation that my vacation will in fact be happening. Or maybe, as is the case this year, my years of experience remind me to focus on what has to get done and not worry about the rest of it, because no one else will know the difference.
So I update my "Out of Office," decide the Christmas card message will be in my blog this year (I'll describe it as my attempt to "Go Green"), and go to bed, resting easier knowing that my stress is just a result of mathematical certainty, not a personality flaw.
Now let's just hope I hear the alarm....
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