When all you've got is a hammer…

…everything starts to look like a nail [old Chinese proverb].

I was helping Carolyn review her CV today. Every accountant I have ever met writes their CV in Microsoft Excel. No matter that Excel is totally unsuitable for the job, it's the tool of their trade; it's what they're used to; it's what's to hand.

Similarly, my farmer friend uses the plastic string that comes round bails of hay for just about everything. There's a book in there somewhere: 101 Uses for Bailer Band (or 102, if you tie up your hay bails with it). No kidding, I've even seen her truss up a chicken with the stuff prior to broiling it (it turned the broth a lovely shade of blue).

Adapting/kludging solutions from what is to hand was a pet theme of my favourite writer, the late Stephen Jay Gould. If you're not familiar with his books, you should give them a try. I particularly recommend Bully For Brontosaurus.

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

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