"You did it! You've reversed entropy!" Chuck congratulated Jill jubilantly.

You could have fooled me. During the last few days, anyone would have thought that the two of them were quadrupling it.

Starting when Jill arrived in NYC eight hours later than expected. And then, on virtually no sleep, proceeded to dismantle Chuck's computer. To Chuck's consternation and dismay. He had visions of losing everything he'd been working on for months. Financial records, tax accounts. Email addresses, personal correspondence. Photos of favorite galaxies and family members. Not to mention his Free Cell scores. There were 1843 wins and the only loss he ever got, when I inadvertently turned off his computer in the middle of a game.

It's true that his computer had been defective for months. Probably for more than a year. But Chuck was still waiting until he'd be ready to do something about it. And that wasn't yet. It wouldn't be for a lot longer, either. Because Chuck has inertia. Chuck finds inertia convenient. To some people, inertia might seem to be a bad thing because it staves off useful activity. But not to Chuck. Chuck likes it. He uses it to slow down entropy. Which he doesn't like. Who does? No one likes the idea of increasing disorder. But only Chuck has come up with a way to slow the process down.

Which is why it would take a lot more time before he got around to fixing the computer. He intended to do it sometime. But it would always be later. He knows this very well. He's even given himself the nickname "Later."

Now, the one thing that Jill doesn't understand is inertia. She has so much energy that she doesn't have a single shred of inertia herself. No sooner does she get an idea than it must be done. Immediately. That's how she dismantled the computer before Chuck had any idea it was happening. She took advantage of his inertia.

There was Chuck, comfortable and happy as always in his inertia. He's actually started taking it for granted. Because I never disturb his inertia. I try nagging, but Chuck's inertia isn't affected by nagging. And then there was Jill, with no inertia at all, dismantling his computer.

Worse still. The next thing he knew, there she was on the phone with CompUSA, trying to get on-site service in compliance with Chuck's computer warranty. Chuck had spent months of inertia trying to avoid this. He had spent months waiting for that warranty to expire. He hadn't the slightest intention of dealing with that dumb CompUSA bureaucracy.

He never has any idea what anyone in that dumb bureaucracy is talking about. And the minute he gets on the phone, he knows exactly what will happen. His carefully planned inertia will be in peril. And since he doesn't know what they're talking about anyway, not one single problem will be solved. The only thing that will happen is that the entropy in his life will increase. Substantially. Which is precisely what he has been doing everything to avoid. And why he's waiting for the warranty to expire.

But suddenly, there was Jill. On the phone with CompUSA, getting on site service before the warranty's expiration. There was Jill, dismantling his inertia. Along with his computer. And all his programs containing his records and information. Including his Free Cell score.

It could mean the end of inertia. It could mean a huge increase in entropy. It was too much.

When Chuck gets upset about a situation, inertia suggests one strategy. A hasty retreat. So he quickly made himself unavailable from the CompUSA service call about the warranty. And Jill was left to cope with the entropy situation all by herself. Feeling very under appreciated.

All this time, Tiffany was feeling somewhat neglected. Tiffany managed to get a bit of attention by knocking over a plant, dumping soil all over Chuck's room and increasing the entropy.

So much unaccustomed increase in entropy must have affected me, too. So I managed to break a glass coffee container holding ten cups of coffee. And ten cups of coffee spilled all over the kitchen. Inertia was rapidly vanishing. Entropy was increasing by leaps and bounds. It seemed as if it might even be quadrupling.

And then a funny thing happened. Bit by bit, order was restored. We vacuumed the soil that Tiffany had dumped. We washed up the coffee mess that I had caused.

And Chuck discovered that Jill had repaired functions that had never worked on his computer. He learned that she had convinced those dumb bureaucrats at CompUSA to honor the on-site repair warranty before its expiration. And he found that Jill had reinstalled every single original computer program. Except for one. The one with Chuck's Free Cell scores.

That's when Chuck declared that Jill had done the impossible. She had reversed entropy!

He was very impressed with her accomplishments. And very contrite about his inertia-engendered misgivings.

So finally, Jill was feeling very loved and appreciated. Which she really deserves.

July 2001 BB