Murphy’s Law

Murphy’s Law states "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” Such has been our lot this past week. Our friends have finally resolved their trailer glitch. The current trailer can accommodate three bikes, but as Murphy’s Law is at work these days, they will need a better ramp solution.


At home, Andy and I seem to be locked in a Murphy’s Law sit-com of our own. Picture this: Two people sitting in their living room, wearing helmets. Radio headsets have been installed and these two people are testing their equipment. “Can you hear me?” Andy asks. ‘NO! Are you pushing the button?” I ask. “I am pushing the damn button! Are you screwing with that radio?” Well, you see how that goes. We finally discover that the jack in one of the radios is defective.


To resolve the radio dilemma, I call the vendor. Getting them to respond is my first issue. When finally I speak with a representative, we discover that the company is currently out of stock. However, they will send me a return authorization number so they can credit my account. That leaves me on the hunt for radios from another source. I spend half a day in the search and finally find a vendor with radios. I order them. Now I’m waiting for the RMA. I sweat that one out, thinking I might be paying for two sets of radios in the end. The RMA finally comes through after a few more e-mail messages. The second set hasn’t yet arrived. I’ll be testing the jacks first thing when they do.


Last week we purchased two radio mounts for the bikes. We install them on Sunday. I open one package and Andy installs this on my bike. As with all projects, there is always something that needs adjustment, modification, or something that takes more time that you have planned. Eventually, my motorcycle is all set. The radio, (which I haven’t sent back yet and am using to test the clip mount) sits well and seems adequate.


On to Andy’s bike to install his radio mount. He opens the package and we find that the P clip is missing. Great! Murphy’s Law is at work again. We don’t want to be playing games with yet another vendor so we inspect Andy’s bike for a solution. We discover that his coin holder may adapt well to the part we actually need. We take this apart and gerry-rig the thing to our satisfaction. We put the radio into the mount, take a look and call it “done.”


Next we move on to installing the cords that connect the headsets to the radios. We retrieve the helmets and discover that the sticky backing that holds the earphones and mic inside the helmets doesn’t stick. They fall out when we pick up the helmets. We mess with this for a bit and give up. I’m thinking “Gorilla Glue.” However, Gorilla Glue doesn’t work unless you have pressure behind it. Well, I’m not going to walk around with my helmet on, so I use duct tape. Mistake! The duct tape tears the flimsy covering of the ear pieces. Great! What next? In the end, I try to maintain some positive thinking. It could be that Murphy is doing us a favor. Maybe we are getting all our issues resolved before we actually hit the road. Just as added insurance, I’ll avoid stepping on cracks, walking under ladders, keeping away from black cats, and crossing my fingers.