I ran a parking spell for 30 days. Results inside.
Context for new folks: I'm an engineer, I'm skeptical, and my grandmother's pendulum keeps being right in ways I can't explain. So I've started trying small practices in a structured way. This month's experiment was a parking charm a friend here taught me. Before you turn onto the street, picture the open space, then say "thank you for my spot" out loud, as if it's already happened. That's it. Method: 30 workdays downtown. Each morning I flipped a coin to decide whether I'd do the charm (heads) or not (tails), then logged the minutes from turning onto my street to engine off. Results: 16 charm days averaged 4.2 minutes. 14 non-charm days averaged 6.1. A t-test gives p around 0.11, which is to say interesting, not significant, and I couldn't blind myself, which is a big problem. The finding I didn't plan for: on charm days my notes column says things like "calm," "let a guy merge," "noticed the maples turning." On non-charm days it mostly says "ugh." Gratitude in advance seems to change how I drive, which might be the entire effect. Or might not. Conclusion: I'm keeping the charm. Not because the data proves anything, but because I'm a nicer person for those four minutes. Next month: my grandmother's pendulum versus a random number generator. Methodology suggestions welcome.