Old Decathlon Olympics Journal

May 9th, 2004 -- Thank you Rule Makers of the World

May 9th, 2004

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when trying to swim in deep, dark waters of an Olympic Challenge. Oh, I am having more fun than I think most people realize. I have read entries into several of the Olympic challenge events that are so far off base that it proves that it pays to sit back and observe the goings on until one has a real grasp on what it actually expected. The poor struggling authors that are trying so hard not to get behind in meeting the presented challenges are actually doing double and triple work.

While I understand in theory the need to be first out of the gate, and the need to want a commanding lead in this Writing Olympic Decathlon event, I cannot ignore the story of the tortoise and the hare.

Speed and haste does not always win a race. I am very much like the tortoise in that children’s story. Slow and steady suits me just fine. Better to do it right the first time than need the time to have to do it all over again.

Personally I do work much better under stress, which adds a delibrate, and blindingly single mindedness to my efforts. The real Olympic Challenge here is navigating the rules of the game. I am not normally a rule follower. I deliberately and methodically seek ways in which to circumvent most rules. I have proven that to myself time and time again. Ah, but I have learned that to break or bend the rules it is very wise to have a basic grasp of the rules purpose and intentions. I always like to argue that while my interpretation of the rules may appear somewhat skewed, my interpretation is always within the spirit of the rules. (It is a if you can't baffle them with brillance then baffle them with bullshit type of argument, but occasionally it has worked for me.)

Now I must do as my conscience dictates and notify some of the other contestants who, like the rabbit, thought that they had a commanding lead, when actually they don’t. I have said from the beginning that the real challenge of this event was to try to follow the rules. Actually, I told someone today that whole event should have been called “Just Try To Follow The Rules Writing Decathlon Challenge”. Rule makers probably will not understand the humor in this title, but my life long observation is that rule makers generally are trying to replace chaos with some sort of order. Do rule makes understand the enormous truth in Murphy’s Law?

Do rule makers of this world understand that rules create most of the chaos that exist on the face of this planet? Oh, you want to disagree with me about rules creating chaos, do you? Then I suggest for your reading pleasure, and as an attempt to prove my point that you read the Tax Code that is set up by the Internal Revenue Department of the United States of America -- my point exactly. Rules create chaos.

Now with joy in my heart I get to notify some of the other Olympic contestants about the prompt for the Bad to the Bone challenge which as I understand it, will be posted later today or this evening, and I get to appear to be a Good Samaritan. It is certainly a win / win situation. So I must thank those who are enabling me to appear in such a good light – Thank you Rule Makers of the World.