[JMR20160909: This was a blind alley. I am currently working in the initial (rough) draft of this chapter, here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/04/economics-101-novel-ch20-moving-on-hunch.html.]
(The story starts here: http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.jp/2016/06/econ101-novel-ch000-excuses.html.)
So, what do you think of the mathematical model I'm proposing? http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2016/06/econ101-novel-ch190-mathematical-models.html.
What? You say you don't follow it? Odd.
Well, back to the story. Is a hunch that Karel's and Bobbie's parents all feel inspiration?
Revelation?
Does acting on a hunch bring miracles?
Is this chapter a bit over the top?
"So
tell me again," said Paul Pratt on the phone to Bob Whitmer on Sunday
afternoon. "You and I and our wives feel strongly impressed that Bobbie
and Karel are just fine. Why are we all going with Professor MacVittie
to check up on them?"
Bob chuckled. "Because we all also feel impressed that we should go."
"Don't cloud my mind with the facts."
"You know, I've been going to church every week for the last four months."
"How is it?"
"Good.
Somehow, Bobbie and Karel going to the islands got me re-thinking my
critical attitudes towards the Church, and, after all these years, all
sorts of things just don't seem to matter any more."
"That's good to hear."
"Yeah. Kind of weird, but it's good to say."
"I'm sure Bobbie's glad, too."
"Yeah, she's been encouraging me in her letters. I'm kind of glad I didn't wait until now to start back. I'd
be a bit more hesitant to talk with God."
"It does help to already have a conversation going when you need help."
Bob laughed quietly. "I have to admit, part
of it is the hope that I'll be able to go to the temple when Bobbie and
Karel tie the knot."
"But what will you do if they decide not to?"
"It won't
really matter. I've got to the point I can believe I'm getting answers when I talk to God, and I know it's their decision. I've been realizing how much God has
been helping me every day all this time, and how much I need His help."
"Who's writing your script here?"
"I'm serious."
"Just kidding."
"Still, I can't imagine them not getting married. I know Bobbie, and I
could see it in her eyes two years ago when she talked about Karel. Dan was a good friend, too, but there was something different. And I've read it in her
letters while they are there. She trusts him in a way that she just has
never trusted any other guy besides me."
"It is a
little eerie. I think they already have a better relationship than Anne
and I were able to build in the first ten years of our marriage. But
trust is not all there is to marriage."
"True. Well, I
guess I'll grant the possibility that she might find someone she is willing
to start over trying to build that kind of trust with, but, ..."
"I've
got the same gut feeling, too. They way we talk about revelation in our
priesthood meetings, even though I'm not perfectly sure what the
feelings mean, I'm pretty sure they mean something important."
"And it's the same kind of feeling that is telling us to go with the professor."
"Yeah.
Our co-workers would say all sorts of things about spending this kind
of money to fly to some islands in the middle of nowhere on a hunch."
"Which
is why we didn't mention the hunch. And my skeptical attitude towards
hunches no longer makes sense, either." Again, Bob laughed quietly. "What did your boss say about
the request for vacation?"
"He actually didn't say
much besides that he hoped they'd make it through the storm and be okay
when we got there. How about your employees?"
"You'd've
thought I'd told them they were getting a raise. Seemed to be more than
happy to get me out of the office for a couple of weeks."
Paul laughed out loud, and Bob joined him.
"But
I'm sure I'm going to be stressing out about it all the time I'm gone.
Mary keeps telling me I need to give my staff more freedom. And give my son a chance to take the reins a bit. Maybe she's
right."
"So. The plan is that you're picking the
professor up tonight on your way down, and then you'll be here in
Albuquerque tomorrow afternoon. I'll check the flights again in the
morning. You'll leave your car here, and my daughter will drive us to
the airport in the evening, and we'll fly out, and there'll be
connecting flights, and we'll need our passports, and we should be in
the islands in about two days."
"And we need to be sure we're packing at least some basics for traveling around in the islands, just in case."
"Bring your scriptures."
"Yeah. Gotta pack. See you tomorrow.
(Yes,
I'm deliberately not inventing a route, here. Just like I've
been avoiding telling you which islands they were doing their research
on. It would require too much research, and there would also be a lot of
extraneous details that would interfere with the simplified economic
model I'm constructing.)
"Hello, again. It's Bob."
"What've you got? You're sounding a bit more serious."
"We're here at the professor's and we have some news that explains why we're going."
"I'm listening."
"They've found the plane in the ocean, out of gas, with no one and practically nothing inside."
"What?"
"The police suspect foul play."
"So why are we still feeling like they are all right?"
"I guess we've got to go to find out. Mary and I had another hunch, and our luggage is full of our camping and water gear."
"Same here."
"Good. See you tomorrow."
"We'll be here."
"Paul Pratt speaking."
"Brother Pratt, this is Dean Hayworth at the university."
"Hello, Brother Hayworth. What can I do for you?"
"Let us do as much of the doing as you can let us. Is the professor there yet?"
"Not yet. Can I give him a message or something?"
"Well,
I'll tell you what I can tell you. The school is calling for volunteers
to help with searching, and we've been passing around the hat, as well.
Our legal staff has a fund set up, and money and pledges are coming in,
so you'll have some resources to work with."
"That's good news, although I'm inclined to hope it's overkill. I hope students aren't donating money they need."
"I
don't know if we've got enough to call it overkill yet, by any means.
And the money is from Alumni and friends of the university. When Professor MacVittie gets there, can you have him call
me from there? I need to give him some details."
"Sure will."
"One more thing. The Church leadership is also getting involved."
"How so?"
"The president of the district that includes those islands will be meeting you at your last layover."
"We sure appreciate that."
Well,
actually, I guess the only thing that is excessive here is that,
somehow, the Pratts and the Whitmers are well-enough-off to be able to
catch the first available flights to the islands.
Now it's time to catch up with what Zedidiah is doing: http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2016/06/econ101-novel-ch210-checking-plane.html.
The table of contents can be found here:
http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2016/06/econ101-novel-toc.html.
[The initial (rough) draft of this chapter is here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/04/economics-101-novel-ch20-moving-on-hunch.html.]
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Keep it on topic, and be patient with the moderator. I have other things to do, too, you know.