He would try to create things that weren't there instead of trusting the return.
From the dailyherald.com
Make sure you have plenty of ventilation to dry things off when they do get wet.
From the dailyherald.com
Like many things, it looks effortless when you've done all the hard work before.
From the dailyherald.com
There are places where we ought to be able to work together and get things done.
From the newsweek.com
We're each responsible for taking charge and making things happen for ourselves.
From the abcnews.go.com
Murray tried changing things by switching on the lights inside her lucky charms.
From the stltoday.com
This time, the weather isn't what is clouding things for the 11th-ranked Tigers.
From the stltoday.com
Things have changed in Olympia as lawmakers arrive Monday for a 105-day session.
From the thenewstribune.com
The people of Massachusetts sent Scott Brown to Capitol Hill to get things done.
From the bostonherald.com
More examples
A special situation; "this thing has got to end"; "it is a remarkable thing"
An action; "how could you do such a thing?"
A special abstraction; "a thing of the spirit"; "things of the heart"
An artifact; "how does this thing work?"
An event; "a funny thing happened on the way to the..."
Matter: a vaguely specified concern; "several matters to attend to"; "it is none of your affair"; "things are going well"
A thing (Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: u00FEing; German, Dutch: ding; modern Scandinavian languages: ting) was the governing assembly of a Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by lawspeakers. Its meeting-place was called a thingstead.
The Thing (Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm) is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). ...
The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices (or "bugs") to use 'passive' techniques to transmit an audio signal. ...