July 27 2007, 11:32 PM Switches

Upon the wall of my house is a light switch, and it does nothing. This is not entirely accurate; it may do something, and it may only be that I do not yet know what. From the stories I'm told, every house has one of these, and it may be that if you have not yet found it in your own home: it is only a matter of time until the discovery. I have only one. I sometimes flip it as a I walk by, but I always flip it back. I always flip it down when I am done with it, for down is off, and that is possibly safer.

I have no issue with this switch. The problem is with the switches wired in pairs, each controlling a lamp or lamps. I have no less then four of these pairs scattered throughout the house (Mr. Bit has more, as his house is bigger, so he suffers more the malady). I have an yen to keep them consistent: down is off, you see, and this sometimes means taking the stairs in the darkness.

Mr. Containment has discovered another solution: intelligent switches. With these, the bottom is always off, and the top is always on, regardless of the combinatorics. I do not like these, though. It is not that I worry that, should I put them in, I will be unable to turn on the lights when the power is off. Rather: it is more complexity. The house is a simple machine at the moment, and I understand it well. Well, some.

Because of history, family, and community, I have long been thoughtful of Euler's Formula. Today, circumstance brought myself, a blackboard, and Mr. Creed in close proximity. He has oft threatened to explain the thing to me; today he did. It took him five minutes. The world is a little richer now.

As for the switches, I am learning to leave them as they fall, up or down the stairs. It is late enough now to throw them, and climb upwards toward sleep.