When is it "a sign"?

Honestly - when do you start to think the world is conspiring against you?

I went to post this morning - my internet was down.

I waited.

I tried again when it came up, but Monkeyboy, who is sick, started to cry and needed medicine and ginger ale.

I "will come right back". (which of course turned into doing most of the morning and lunchtime before sitting back down.)

I went to post this afternoon, blogger wouldn't let me in.

Double checked my password information.

I went to post once that came in, and my son woke from his naptime, crying and miserable (he's getting teeth.)

Was it a sign I shouldn't post? Or just Bad Timing all around?*

But it got me wondering. How many 'signs' do people need? In fiction, it tends to come in threes - once your poor character has had three warnings, or three failures, or three successes, it's a sign. In real life, every individual seems to have a limit on how many things they need to see/hear in order to believe they're being given some sort of message.

So how many is it for you? How many cute little babies do you have to see and coo over before you're willing to take it as "A sign" you should have just one more? How many books have to fall off the shelf in your local bookstore or library before you decide it is one you should read?

Is it just "internet issues"? Or was there some reason I was supposed to post on this topic today?

I love these questions :-D They're why I'm a writer ;) I can answer them a thousand different ways, depending on my mood.



*I often say I'm going to post these ahead of time, but never manage to do it. Which is just bad time management, and not A Sign.