It Works, But It Shouldn't

Uncle Mel was a skilled machinist and a master mechanic. One of those people who could build or fix most anything. The kind of person who, in his prime, experienced a rear axle failure in his rear wheel drive car on a country road. He hitched a ride to town, got the parts he needed and a ride back to his car. By the side of the road he jacked it up, replaced the axle and continued on his way.

Throughout his life, Mel was always tinkering with something. Even more so after his retirement, although his now advanced age has caused him to slow down - but just a little bit.

Each time I visited Mel he had some new project, or series of projects to show me. Everything from a simple part he manufactured himself rather than chasing around trying to buy one, to the miniature working single cylinder gasoline engine he designed and built totally from scratch. Mel approached his projects with enthusiasm, and the less he knew about something the more curious he became as he thought it through to figure out how it worked. He's a classic example of the person who faces a problem positively; truly believing every problem can be solved.

One day Mel needed a 6 volt automobile battery. Since virtually all automobiles had gone to 12 volt batteries decades before, Mel only had some old (but serviceable) 12 volt ones. No problem. Mel figured if he cut the 12 volt in half, he'd have a 6 volt battery. Simple to think about, but far more difficult to do. Used batteries tend to be messy. Battery acid is dangerous. So are the lead plates and posts. And then there's the technical issues where final result needs to have the specified working voltage and amperage while maintaing proper polarity as well. But not a problem for Mel. Of course he did it. Of course it worked. Of course he showed it to me with great enthusiasm and pride as it supplied 6 volt power to an actual motor.

Mel watched the battery supply the power. His face was its usual mix of happiness, wonderment, curiosity and amusement with which he watched things work. Then he looked up at me and said: "It works. But I don't know how. I can't figure it out. Based on everything I know about electricity and what I did, that battery shouldn't work! Isn't that just the darndest thing?"

Oh that we could all approach problems and challenges with the enthusiasm of Mel. A man undaunted in his quest to invent, to fix, to know how things work, and to adopt and adapt ideas and concepts that other people might say are impossible. A man who part way through a job thinks "why not try it? I don't think this is going to work. But I've gone this far; I can't think of any other way of doing it; so what do I have to lose except a little more time?"

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