In an era when often life seems to be a scary and complicated puzzle, sometimes a few small pieces slip smoothly into place...

About a year back, I got a new VCR. I hooked up the cable, attached it to the TV, and plugged it in. The VCR indicated on the TV screen that it was setting up. Suddenly, this message: "Setting clock now." And it did. I was flabbergasted...how did it know what the hell time it was? I later learned that some PBS stations carry a time signal, and that new TV equipment is designed to read it. Who knew? A VCR that set its own clock! It didn't say that on the box. If I was selling VCRs, it would say on the box in six inch letters, "SETS ITS OWN DAMN CLOCK!!!" This was the bane of home electronics, and it was quietly and simply fixed, with no fanfare.

A while back, there was an article in some magazine by an environmental group. Apparently, skunks were dying by getting their heads trapped in Yoplait yogurt containers. They were shaped just right that a skunk could get its head in, but couldn't pull it out, and the skunk died of thirst or other trauma, its front paws scrabbling ineffectively at the smooth walls of the container. They petitioned the yogurt company about it, and got the article written. I heard no more about it. Some months later, I picked some Yoplait yogurt off the shelf at the store, and noticed something. Around the base of the container was a small ridge. It hadn't been there before. I could think of no practical reason for it, except one: just enough of a protrusion for a small animal to get a purchase on to pull the container off its head. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it makes it easier to mold, or something. I haven't researched it. I prefer to think that a large company heard a plea, and quietly and without any fuss or bragging, spent a little extra money and effort just so a small animal might not suffer.

And then, tonight. Bought hot dogs for the kids. Bought buns. I looked at them while rolling the cart down the aisle.

In the bun package, eight buns. In the hot dog package, eight hot dogs. Son of a gun. An archtypical frustration answered. And quietly, and without any fuss, another small piece of life's aggravating puzzle slides smoothly into place.

We see a lot of grief and frustration about things that don't work. I hadn't noticed these things right away...I have no idea how long you could buy a package of hot dogs that matched a package of buns.

I like to think that there are hundreds of these small improvements in life, that we just don't notice. How often do we take notice when things just plain work?