Most of the time I float along in my English major bubble, writing posts and essays, paying little to no heed to how things work.  I turn the tap and water flows. I flip a switch and lights come on.

But lately I’ve been forced to take measurements, consider function over form, to — in my own small and limited way — think like an engineer. 

This shouldn’t be difficult; two of my siblings are engineers. However, they ended up with all of the math genes, while I muddle along in a touchy-feely alternative universe. 

Until recently, when I’ve been forced to pay attention. Take the bathroom shower, for instance. I jump in one every day; most of us do. But it took me weeks to realize that a fixed glass panel by the shower controls in the new bathroom would prevent me from setting the water temperature before I get in. 

Turns out, there’s a remedy for this — the shower controls can be moved closer to the entryway and away from the shower head — but had I not thought differently for a moment…  I would never have known about it.