Law’s that aren’t laws!

Thursday 31st August 2023.

Today started early….in fact it started at 5.15am when my alarm was actually set at 6am. I was in the car park at the back of the pub enjoying a peaceful night away from the sound of traffic when Murphy’s Law struck! Most people will be familiar with Murphy’s Law, which is….If it can go wrong, it will. Of course this is a ‘law that isn’t a law’ but it happened at 5.15am when the recycling lorry came to collect the skip of empty bottles at the back of the pub. You can probably understand what I mean now that I have put the law into context. You may think that there is a one-in-seven day chance of this happening if you park a motorhome outside a pub but in my experience it happens at least half the time. It even happens at this rate when we park in any car parks that have some kind of bins (which is most car parks).

Murphy’s Law happened again as I arrived at the Ferry check-in queue. There were six lanes available and I chose the lane that looked shortest, however, having committed to that queue it ceased to move forward whilst all other lanes seemed to move rapidly. Obviously someone at the front of my queue didn’t have the correct paperwork. This happens all the time especially in motorway lanes where traffic is slowed. I’m sure you know what I mean.

Whilst on the ferry I had my ‘petit dejeuner’ and then I relaxed to listen to a podcast. I listened to a series of short podcasts that are about Laws that aren’t laws! This includes the Murphy’s Law and another one called Parkinson’s Law. Hence I am writing about Laws that aren’t laws. Parkinson’s Law is the one about work expanding in proportion to the amount of time available to it. This principle seems particularly accurate in many work situations but it also applies to blogging! Having so much time available on this ferry has caused me to waffle and blog in order to fill that time. So, I have proved the law is real.

Murphy, was not a bemused Irishman but he was a real scientist who made his quote specifically regarding an experiment into G Force that went wrong for him but it has since been twisted to apply to everything that can (and does) go wrong. So, it was Murphy’s Law that Murphy’s Law became used in common parlance. However, Parkinson was a humourist who deliberately used his law to poke fun at bureaucrats who created extra work to justify their roles. Maybe he wasn’t aware of how accurate his observations were.

I therefore need to apologise to readers for inflicting my ramblings on them. I can now listen to podcasts on Betteridge’s Law, the Peter Principle and Stigler’s Law but perhaps I will spare you any more detail.

I have even had time available to enjoy the ferries entertainment programme, see below.

The balloon animals were particularly entertaining and I stayed for the interactive quiz….and won it! I won a Brittany Ferries sun visor which I quickly handed over to some grandparents who were travelling with a little boy. I didn’t think he would want it really but he might fiddle with it for a short while. In fact I saw him several times later wearing it with pride. I would have enjoyed the ‘Pierre Le Bear’ session but missed it due to a much needed snooze in the reclining seats.

The ship arrived in Caen mid afternoon and it was dull and drizzly. The forecast isn’t as good as it was. There are thunder showers dotted around France for the next two or three days. So, I shall try to avoid them.

I drove south and caught up with some food shopping at a Hyper U superstore. I always enjoy shopping in France. I didn’t enjoy filling up with fuel, it was 1.85 euros per litre of diesel!

I headed on to my overnight location at Falaise. This town is the home town of William the Conqueror and his castle is proudly on display.

I could have parked overnight at the base of the castle wall but it seemed close to a busy road so I have parked up on the other side of the centre in a spacious car park next to a chateau! Not bad to have these choices….and I checked it out for rubbish bins and bottle banks to avoid Murphy’s Law.

I have now settled down into a pace of life that suits a French trip. I needed to have ‘appero’s’…nice nibbles and a drink before a meal.

It feels good to have arrived and I will go in search of sunshine tomorrow. I may throw in a bit of Pootling too by veering off the main roads to see what I can find.

Fingers crossed, I hope I don’t have to suffer any more of Murphy’s Law on this trip and I hope you don’t have to suffer any more extended ramblings of Parkinson’s Law!

PS. If you find more typos and spelling mistakes than usual, that’s because Janice is not here to proof read the blogs. My punctuation isn’t what it should be for a Grammar School boy!