my Murphy moment was 90 miles out on a bad dirt road from coyhique, Chile
fishing the nireyou (sp ?) river. I stayed late pushing the envelope of
darkness because the fishing was phenomenal catching a 100, 20+ inch fish
that day. I got back to my rental truck just as the stars were poking thru
the shadows. put my rod away and got in the truck to start it up and it was
as dead as a doornail. now ninety clicks out on a bad dirt road in Chile is
about as remote as you can get down there and you'd be lucky to see one car
during the day. so ...resigned to have to bivouac in the back of my rig in
my waders I began to settle in for the night. by now it's blacker than a
coalminers bunghole and cold to boot when out of the blackness I see
headlights bouncing towards me off in the distance. as they approach I get
out and flag them down. when the two Chilean farmers got out I was forced to
bludgeon them with my bad Spanish. I asked them for a jump and they in turn
looked quizzically at each other and I could tell they were saying to
themselves, "you stupid gringo stopped us ...to ask us ...to jump ?" after a
few awkward moments I figured it out that they thought I was asking them to
jump. obviously a jump means something else in another culture. so .. I
changed tactics quickly and motioned to the battery and the keys and slashed
my index finger across my throat indicating the car was dead whereupon they
laughed and smiled and began digging through the back of their rig for what
I assumed were jumper cables . in short order they had unloaded their entire
load onto the side of the road at 10:00pm and produced a battery from a
compartment not accessible from the outside of the truck. they then took my
battery out , put theirs in my rig, started it up , took their battery out
while my truck is running, put mine back in , put theirs back in their rig
and loaded up their cargo and after a few pesos in appreciation for their
efforts they were soon to be on their way but not before telling me I also
had a flat. I said ...no problemo. I can fix that and off they went into the
darkness.
I wasn't long after their taillights were out of sight that I discovered
there was no obvious way to lower the spare down from its housing under the
truck without busting the axle or a very simple tool to lower the dang thing
which didn't seem to be in this rig. so....back to the bivouac. by now it's
past midnight and I'm settled in as best as I could be when off in the
distance I see headlights coming my way again. I flag them down and again
bludgeon them with my bad Spanish and ask them for a ride back to town.turns
out the driver is the major general of the local military post and was just
coming back from maneuvers with the troops and was glad for the company .
two bumpy hours later we are back in town at the truck rental place and the
owner of the rental place says we gotta go back out there now because of
bandits., so.. we load back up into his rig and bounce back out there for
another two hours to find the truck still there and it took him two seconds
to lift up the license plate to reveal the crank to lower the spare tire
which after that it took fifteen minutes to change it and we were headed
back for two more bumpy hours which landed me back at my hostel at 4:00 am
and just enough time to shower and grab lunch before meeting a guide I hired
to take me down the Rio Simpson. Murphy had a good laugh that
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allen Peterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: Making Murphy Proud
> Hi Bob,
> Really enjoyed "Making Murphy Proud" because for a long time I thought
> I was alone in proving his theories. I especially enjoyed the section
> on
> " For good measure, I might just lose my keys on the hike back to my
> pick-up. I don't think Murphy had a law for that, but wouldn't it be a
> fitting finale? A perfect ten ending for Murphy's kind of day. " to
> err is human, but to really screw things up it helps if you're a fly
> fisherman." that's #21.
> I recall a trip to Aeneas Lake on year with a group of men who came
> equipped with various camping array, tents, trailers, motorhomes, etc.
> Upon leaving the lake, two of the guys (names withheld on request) had
> this real elaborate tent which took then about half an hour just to
> fold this engineering marvel together and pack it into the bottom of
> their truck with the remainder of their supplies on top. I think you
> can see where this is going...yup! #22 Invaribly, the vehicles keys
> will end up in the most remote inaccessible location possible in
> direct proportion to festive spirits consumed the evening before. They
> were in the pocket of the tent.
> Needless to say, their departure was delayed a bit.
> We still smile over that one.
> Happy New to All!
> Al Peterson
>
>
> > Greetings! Since postings have been slow lately, for better or
> worse, I
> > offer this:
> >
> > Making Murphy Proud
> >
> > Murphy knew what he was talking about. He must have known about fly
> fishing.
> > In fact he probably was a fly fisherman and had just returned from
> an
> > ill-fated trip when he sat down at his fly tying desk in his torn
> waders and with
> > quivering hand penned his law: "If anything can go wrong, it will."
> >
> > It makes perfect sense. Who besides a fly fisher could possibly get
> into so
> > many hapless situations? Can you say BROKEN? - rods, reels, ankles;
> LEAKY? -
> > waders, tents, radiators; LOST? - sunglasses, fly boxes, or, "I
> don't know
> > where the hell we are;" FORGOTTEN? - beer, one hip boot, toilet
> paper; ENCOUNTER?
> > bears, rattlesnakes, skunks, hornets, or poison oak; SUNK? boat,
> tube, or high
> > hopes. Add hernias, blisters, hypothermia, food poisoning, sunburn,
> and
> > punctures. Don't forget mechanical breakdowns, getting stuck, flats,
> slick roads,
> > bad directions, sudden storms, and cranky fishing partners, ad
> infinitum.
> >
> > Whenever I go fishing, sometimes Murphy's Law kicks in even before I
> leave
> > the house. Am I the only one who has ever slept in only to be rudely
> awakened by
> > a fishing buddy pounding on the back door with both fists? " Up and
> at 'um
> > Prince Charming," he bellows, "The morning rise is almost over and
> we still have
> > fifty miles to drive."
> > The neighborhood dogs yap and yowl. I open one eye. My wife rolls
> over and
> > grumbles, "Get up and sic the dogs on him."
> >
> > Still half asleep, my arms heaped with fishing gear, I lose my
> balance and
> > stumble down the back steps. My fishing partner laughs at my
> clumsiness proving
> > the third corollary to Murphy's Law - "The probability of being
> observed is in
> > direct proportion to the stupidity of ones actions."
> >
> > There's a better than average chance that I've forgotten something,
> maybe
> > several things. Someday I'll make a checklist of essential items,
> but like many
> > other projects around our house, I haven't done it yet. But, my
> intentions are g
> > ood.
> >
> > Bouncing along the washboard logging road halfway to the North Fork,
> I
> > remember that I forgot to leave my wife a note telling her where we
> are going and
> > when we'll be home. It also occurs to me that I left the cell-phone
> on the
> > kitchen table. The last thing my wife said to me as I left the house
> was, "Have a
> > good time and remember the cell-phone."
> > At least I have my rod and reel, and my lunch is in my fishing vest,
> I think.
> > But did I remember to bring my vest?
> >
> > A high-pitched grinding noise emanating from under my pick-up causes
> the
> > hackles to rise on the back of my neck. It instantly brings to mind
> Murphy's law,
> > corollary #5 - "If the transmisson is going to fail, it will always
> do so in a
> > remote place." I keep my fingers crossed and we grind and bump to a
> halt.
> >
> > I needn't have worried so much. The screeching ended when we
> untangled a
> > short piece of logging cable that had looped itself around the axle.
> Defying the
> > odds, the old Ford once more made it to the shady grove of alders
> next to the
> > North Fork.
> >
> > It turned out to be a pleasant day's fishing. Oh sure, I tripped
> over the
> > root of an old hemlock stump and ripped the seam open in the crotch
> of my new
> > waders, and I forgot my canteen in the truck and sucked in some vile
> tasting
> > green goo while drinking from the stream. My largest trout tangled
> my 5x leader on
> > a cedar snag and broke free, and I chipped my front tooth nipping
> off the
> > tippet. Of course, that was after dropping my nail clippers onto the
> rocky stream
> > bottom in four feet of fast water. Incidentally, that's Murphy's
> corollary#6
> > if you're keeping track - "An indispensable item will always fall
> into an
> > inaccessible place."
> >
> > But hey, I consider it just another fishing trip that would have
> made Murphy
> > proud. Maybe it rated a respectable five and a half points on the
> Murphy
> > Meter. But I'll keep trying. I'm sure there's a perfect ten lurking
> in my fishing
> > future. When that day comes, I plan to celebrate by impaling my #14
> parachute
> > Adams in my right earlobe on my final backcast of the day thereby
> affirming
> > Murphy's corollary#16 - "A flying object will always land where it
> can do the
> > most damage." For good measure, I might just lose my keys on the
> hike back to my
> > pick-up. I don't think Murphy had a law for that, but wouldn't it be
> a fitting
> > finale? A perfect ten ending for Murphy's kind of day. " to err is
> human, but
> > to really screw things up it helps if you're a fly fisherman."
> that's #21.
> >
> > The bewildering thing is, when we return from a trip fraught with
> mishaps, we
> > laugh at our misfortune, sometimes even bragging about our blunders
> to our
> > family and friends. Then, after we've dried out, fixed the truck,
> patched the
> > waders, and doctored the wounds, we turn around and do it all over
> again at the
> > drop of an elk hair caddis into a swirling back eddy. Murphy would
> be proud of
> > us. --- Psychiatrists have a name for such people.
> >
> > Happy new year! Bob Martin
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
>
