Paranoia

I'm not usually paranoid, but there was one moment when I fell into this psychotic pitfall.

Short story:

Almost twenty years ago I had started a data analysis software company, Occam Research, and had attracted a number of big-bucks investors. However, to protect themselves, these investors insisted that the company take out a multi-million dollar insurance policy on my life. Like most start-ups the company eventually ran into cash-flow problems causing me considerable heartburn. And, in the back of my mind, I often thought that my passing might solve the company's problems ... and had a few paranoid thoughts that others might have these secret thoughts.

A short time later, while driving to work following my standard route, I experienced a strange happenstance -- a huge limb fell off a tree just about ten feet in front of my car ... a limb, had it hit my car might have sent me to my maker. I drove around this fallen limb and to work. But, the more I thought about this close call, the more I worried that my paranoia might be of substance. So I drove back to the location of this fallen limb to see if anything was suspicious ... saw marks, etc.

But, by the time I got back there, the limb had been removed by the DPW ... so, alas, I will never know if my paranoia was justified.