Item #6 - Get a Psychic Reading

I am an engineer. I think rationally. I think logically. I dominated the logic section of the GRE's (if I know girls, and I think I do, they love guys who are boastful about standardized test scores). I understand basic probability, and that if you flip a coin 100 times in a row, and they all come up heads, heads still only has a 50% chance of coming up on the next throw (and if you don't understand that, then please, just stop reading. Go away. You have probably wasted way too much of your life savings on the lottery. We cannot be friends). 

Having the logical engineering mind is a fantastic thing. If the world were infested by zombies, like it's been in so many movies being shown this Halloween weekend, I'd like to think I'd be able to come up with a logical enough plan to survive the initial onslaught.  No need to panic.  Seriously, stick with me. We'll get through it.

But the inability I have to stop thinking like a damn engineer is also kind of a curse. It's probably a large reason why over the last 12 years or so I've moved my religious beliefs from straight up Roman Catholic, having gone to Catholic school from K through 12, to somewhere in the agnostic region (I assume somewhere down the list is a long-ass religion post. We'll get to it when we get to it). But going from knowing there's an afterlife to just kind of hoping there's one kind of sucks. It's a little depressing.

My insistence on logic and reason has certainly wasted many hours of my life arguing with my mom and ex-girlfriends. The deadly combination of logic and stubbornness does not allow me to walk away from a debate, especially one in which the opponent has clearly composed their basic argument on their "emotions" and "feelings", instead of concrete evidence and facts. "My facts are wrong? No, you're opinions are wrong!"

And my logical mind refuses to let me believe in "true love." Yeah, I definitely think there's something called "chemistry" that you can't really define and that only exists between select people. But rather than thinking everyone has a "true love", that everyone has one person on this Earth that they're destined to be with, I end up thinking about probabilities. If I randomly met 100 girls that I was actually attracted to physically, how many would I think I could end up marrying? 2 in 100? What's the equation for those odds?

(Number of shared interests + attractiveness out of 10 - number of DMB albums they own) x Seasons of Arrested Development owned on DVD

I assume my true equation is a little longer, but I'm getting off track.

I bring up my sometimes-annoying engineering mind because the idea of going to a psychic is 100% illogical. It is Anti-Alan thinking.  And after taking a 500-level probability class in grad school, I'm especially reluctant to believe that my future will be able to be predicted by a deck of cards. Was it fate that Card X got flipped up first? Umm, no. It was a simple 1/(total number of cards) probability.  The equation for predicting future does not compute

But once again, the list reared its ugly head. As Alycia and I were winding down our trip to Salem, and I needed to catch the next commuter train back to make my soccer game, we only had time for 1 more activity. I leaned towards a haunted house. She leaned towards a psychic, and smartly gave me the "you've done a haunted house before. You've never gone to a psychic" response. And of course, I couldn't argue with sound logic.

One thing that made me hesitant to go to the psychic? The cost. $35 for a 15 minute reading. Now, everyone has their own value for everything. I have no problem paying $5 for a beer at a bar when I can almost get a 6 pack for the same price at the store, but yet the idea of paying $5 for parking is insane to me. So paying $35 for someone that is the opposite of what I believe in is pretty ridiculous.

But alas, for the good of the list, I went with it, with apologies to the cheap hookers of Boston.

So after setting my fate based on the random probabilities that come along with the shuffling of a deck, my future was foretold.

Career

The first half of the reading dealt with the future of my job (and from here on out, you can just add "supposedly" or "allegedly" to the start of every sentence).

• My current employer is expected to come to me with an offer for a new position. 
• This position may require me to move, and it may be deemed as somewhat of a necessity on the company's behalf. 
• However, the offer won't be all that attractive to me.

This actually wasn't all that crazy (though really, how many people get this generic reading from a psychic). My company has a west coast location. They have offered to move me out there in the past. And recently, someone out here with my same basic position has decided to leave the company. So if I get offered to move out there again, for more money, to take over the vacant spot . . . OK, I might be a little freaked out.

The psychic went on to say that I'll also be getting another offer from a different company. This offer will probably be closer physically to where I am now and will generally more more attractive. More money. More stability. And I admit, this is not the craziest thing either. I've spent the majority of the last year working for one particular customer, and at one point, one of their heads said "if anything ever happened to your company and you need a job, call me up." So if they come calling . . . little more freaked. 

But that's not what the people (aka, my single digit followers) want to hear about

Love

Yes, I'm supposedly going to meet someone. And here's the details.

• She may come into affect when I have to choose between jobs (based on where she lives)
• She also works in the medical field, likely at a hospital, though she's probably not a doctor or nurse, as she dresses more business-like. 
• She more of a free spirit and is going to "loosen me up." 
• She owns her property
• She's pretty fit

At this point, I AM a little freaked out, because sitting 5 feet away was Alycia,  who actually fits those descriptions. But . . .

• She's an animal person, and probably owns a dog
• She has lots of hair, "kind of all over the place"

Alycia . . . . does not fit that description. Alas, my quest for love continues.

So as I continue on with this list, and hopefully hit 52 items, I may be writing the final post with my new fit, hair-everywhere medical-ish girlfriend in her dog-friendly house with my new job. Odds of that happening? 23.813%. 

Elsewhere

• Just a quick thanks to everyone that's actually reading this blog, and everyone that's written back positive things (though feel free to write negatively too. Maybe item #7 can be "get berated in my own comments section").
• I've slacked a little in the announcement aspect, but I do want to post updates on Facebook when I plan to do things, and anyone is welcome to join in any activity. 
• New ideas are always welcome. Email me. Post em. Whatever.