EppsNet

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works . . . A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.

— John Gall

I saw one of these upside-down bottles at Black Angus the other night . . .

The frustrated diner battling a ketchup bottle is part of our cultural vocabulary, and the solution turns out to be as simple as turning the problem upside down!?

I couldn’t decide if this was a stroke of brilliance or whether we’re all fools for not thinking of it decades ago . . .

Simplify, simplify, simplify!

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Thoreau’s Walden had a profound impact on my thinking. It’s hard to achieve the kind of transcendent simplicity he describes when you live with other people, as I do, but if your family is out of town for a week, as mine is, here are some things you might want to try.

Don’t Recycle

When my wife is here, we have to sort and bag bottles, cans and plastic separately. Later on that noise! Everything goes straight into the garbage! Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Don’t Wash Dishes

Drink liquids from the container and eat food straight out of whatever you cooked it in. If you have to clean an eating utensil, put it in your mouth, press your lips together, and pull it back out.

Bloom Where You’re Planted

Why walk all the way to the bathroom if there’s a bottle, can or sink close at hand? A real time-saver!