Grumbling never gets much attention as a problem. Grumbling is not one of the traditional seven deadly sins. In fact, it probably wouldn’t make it onto the list even if the list were expanded to inclu...  Read More

NUMBERS 9:15-10:36Starting something new can be a nerve-racking experience. Whether it is stepping out on the first day of a new school or a new job or trying to make a new set of friends when you mov...  Read More

NUMBERS 9Law. It has a very negative ring to it, doesn’t it? It sounds like rules and regulations, which we naturally hate. We instinctively respond, “Don’t tie me down! Don’t tell me what to do or wh...  Read More

NUMBERS 8The relationship between form and function has been a classic debate in architecture for most of the last century.1 Which is more important—the shape of a building or the function that it has...  Read More

“On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.” So runs the traditional Christmas carol. The song then proceeds to detail the gifts sent to the beloved, which incre...  Read More

NUMBERS 6In the 1960s there was a radical countercultural movement that found expression in changed hairstyles among young people. As a sign of freedom, or of rebellion against authority, almost every...  Read More

NUMBERS 5Almost everyone is familiar with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In scientific terms, it says, “Entropy tends to increase.” Or, to put it in more popular language, “Chaos happens.” I see th...  Read More

NUMBERS 4Have you ever had the experience of putting together something that came in a box? It can be a challenging task, and it is often one that takes far longer than you expected. One Christmas we ...  Read More

NUMBERS 3Most jobs are not exactly life or death. For most of us, a simple error in the way we carry out our tasks will not kill anyone. This is true not simply for relatively unskilled occupations li...  Read More

NUMBERS 1:47–2:34One of my daughter’s favorite television programs is called Clean Sweep. On that show a group of professionals come into an incredibly messy room and transform it into an ordered para...  Read More

NUMBERS 1:1–46I recently went to a large online bookstore to see if I could find a book entitled The Joy of Accounting. I didn’t find it. I found The Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Photography, even The J...  Read More

NUMBERS 1:1Sports come in many different levels of complexity. At the simplest level, some sports are easily understood by everyone. What is complex about the 100 meter dash? Someone shoots a gun, the...  Read More