When I was just getting started in practice with my shiny new P.E. certificate, I was at lunch with a group of engineers. The conversation turned to war stories of errors and jobs that went sour. I was kind of shocked and said so. One of the older engineers just looked quietly at me for a long pause and then sighed. Without a word, he eloquently said, "You'll learn, kid." And learn I did, even though I've been pretty lucky over the years. Like most engineers, I do make a conscientious effort to do careful work, but the low incidence of serious problems is really due as much to luck as to my own efforts. There's no
