Bitch bitch bitch

_posts/2012-02-18-master-logician.markdown

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Master Logician
+tags:
+- opinion
+---
+
+Shortly before [departing for
+FOSDEM](/2012/01/31/be-there-sunday-at-fosdem.html), I dropped my car at the
+mechanic's to fix an engine issue. Some number of weeks later, I finally was
+able to pick the vehicle up today, fully repaired and ready to undergo further
+damage at the hands of yours truly.
+
+
+Earlier this week I called the shop, after not having heard from them for
+a couple weeks, wondering what the status of the repair was. The mechanic's
+response was something along the lines of:
+
+> "*Oh yeah, we tried to call you but the number was busy or something every
+> time. Anyways, your car needs a new flux capac..*"
+
+
+"Well, I was out of the country" I thought, my line had effectively been
+disconnected, so I suppose that's what the mechanic had experienced when he
+tried to contact me. Something still seemed a little fishy to me.
+
+Before hanging up the phone, I asked him what phone number he had for me, just
+to make sure they could contact me again after they made a few further repairs:
+
+> "*Uh let's see here, 475-7..*"
+
+
+If you're a bay area resident you can see the problem, the area code is
+4**1**5, not 475.
+
+Simple enough of a mistake , but what really bothered me
+about the mistake was that it seems (to me) so obvious or clear to resolve. In
+fact one simple hypothesis ("this is probably a wrong number") and an experiment
+("what if I call 415-etc") would have saved over a week of time spent "in
+limbo."
+
+Like most city garages, this place is certainly limited for space to store cars
+that are either waiting to be fixed or waiting to be picked up. I've also been
+to this mechanic three or four times now, so they've previously been able to
+reach me. On top of that, area code 475 is in Connecticut of all places; this
+mechanic is good, but not good enough to justify that kind of commute.
+
+
+A little skepticism would have cut the amount of time the car spent in the shop
+from 3 weeks to about 4 days.
+
+I'm clearly obsessing a little too much over this minor inconvenience.
+
+
+Sometimes I need to be reminded that perhaps everybody doesn't think like me,
+doesn't question or care about every little detail in the same way that I
+might.
+
+