Coincidences

     We have two cell phones at home, on separate accounts with the same provider. Friday afternoon, they both stopped working. They had power, and seemed to try to dial a number, but nothing.
     Hmmmmm.
     Yes, the bills had been paid and on time too.
     I emailed someone who has service with the same company and their service was fine.
     I presumed that there was some kind of a connection between the two phones going out at the same time because it would be much to great of a coincidence for them to do so independently the same afternoon.
     I decided to drive over to the nearest store of the provider, but when I got there they were closed. A weekday night and they closed at 6pm, just when people who work would be able to come by.
     On the way home, I tuned into Public Radio and caught a program I knew of but have never heard before. Radiolab, And the topic: coincidences and science. Actually that's not quite true. It was about:

Stochasticity...a wonderfully smarty-pants word for randomness.

     And that was, after all, what I was wondering about....could two cell phones go out randomly at the same time. The show made me believe they could indeed. It starts with a great story about two girls in England...give it a listen, for that story alone.

     And the topic reminded me of the time that I, my brother, and my sister, independently selected the exact same wedding anniversary card for our parents, even though we lived in three different states at the time.

     The cell phones are still out as I write this (the first time in three years that I wished I had kept that old landline). I'll let you know how it works out.