Whoever said that the definition of
insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different
results has obviously never had to
reboot a computer.
—William Petersen Lake Forest, Californiacondition was espe-
cially annoying to a
musician, she shook
her head.
“Not really,” she said
cheerfully. “The ring-
ing sound is in the keyof B flat, so I use it to
tune my cello half a
tone lower.”
—Kathleen Cahill,
in Reader’s Digest AsiaMy paramedic team
was called to an
emergency. Before
we took the patient to
the hospital, I had a
question for his wife.
“Does your husband
have any cardiac
problems?” I asked.A musician friend is al-
ways upbeat. But when
she developed ringing
in one ear, I was con-
cerned it might over-
whelm even her. When
I asked whether her“By the way, I’m taking off the first two weeks of August.”102 july/august 2019
mortgerberg/thenewyorkercollectionAll
in a Day’sWORK