Life is maintenance. Clyde Chatland is the one who brought that simple truth into my life. He was a retired psychologist in our ward in Texas who had a meticulously manicured yard and wife. We have remembered it ever since. Especially when things start to break--like so many things in our surroundings right now.
Electronics: We have way too many computers that don't work well. My girls tell me our laptop is possessed and occasionally speaks Spanish to them. Alan is very unhappy with the snail's pace his computer usually takes these days, and I've found the kid computer is gunked up with all sorts of programs slowing it down and making it randomly quit. (Not to mention the drivers for my firewire that mysteriously disappeared...) And our girls regularly quit our house for the neighbor's house, which has a seriously better TV situation. We tried to watch a DVD on Monday night and couldn't because we didn't have anything that would play one. And we tried about 4 devices. We threw up our hands in despair and decided to sleep instead.
House: We are getting ready to finish our basement, and we keep finding things that are going to add to the bill. A leaking sump pump. Electrical work that's been band-aided together for far too long. And most disconcerting, a main plumbing drain with a huge crack between the plumbing leading from 3 bathrooms and the foundation wall. Theoretically, if we flushed all the toilets and ran all the showers at the same time, we could have a messy flood in our basement. We're trying to avoid that.
Transportation: My van of 10 plus years is making a funky rumbling noise that two mechanics and my handy father-in-law say is probably the transmission. We aren't sure whether to replace the transmission (at 153K miles), keep driving it till it dies, try to drive it less and the Civic more (which is about as convenient as switching purses), or move on to something else. Most of those choices come with a price tag in the thousands and its own set of problems.
I'm feeling blessed that my body is holding up fairly well so far. Its maintenance needs are relatively minor right now and mostly involve cheap fixes I can buy at the corner drug store. I'm trying to remember that as I'm squeezing the very last drop out of the conditioner, lotion and toothpaste. At least there's one part of my life where the living is easy.
Electronics: We have way too many computers that don't work well. My girls tell me our laptop is possessed and occasionally speaks Spanish to them. Alan is very unhappy with the snail's pace his computer usually takes these days, and I've found the kid computer is gunked up with all sorts of programs slowing it down and making it randomly quit. (Not to mention the drivers for my firewire that mysteriously disappeared...) And our girls regularly quit our house for the neighbor's house, which has a seriously better TV situation. We tried to watch a DVD on Monday night and couldn't because we didn't have anything that would play one. And we tried about 4 devices. We threw up our hands in despair and decided to sleep instead.
House: We are getting ready to finish our basement, and we keep finding things that are going to add to the bill. A leaking sump pump. Electrical work that's been band-aided together for far too long. And most disconcerting, a main plumbing drain with a huge crack between the plumbing leading from 3 bathrooms and the foundation wall. Theoretically, if we flushed all the toilets and ran all the showers at the same time, we could have a messy flood in our basement. We're trying to avoid that.
Transportation: My van of 10 plus years is making a funky rumbling noise that two mechanics and my handy father-in-law say is probably the transmission. We aren't sure whether to replace the transmission (at 153K miles), keep driving it till it dies, try to drive it less and the Civic more (which is about as convenient as switching purses), or move on to something else. Most of those choices come with a price tag in the thousands and its own set of problems.
I'm feeling blessed that my body is holding up fairly well so far. Its maintenance needs are relatively minor right now and mostly involve cheap fixes I can buy at the corner drug store. I'm trying to remember that as I'm squeezing the very last drop out of the conditioner, lotion and toothpaste. At least there's one part of my life where the living is easy.
Distress on all fronts. Et tu, computer? Keep your chin up, and get some rest because "if you haven't got your health you haven't go anything." -- Please tell me you remember that quote. I need to know the game is still going on.
ReplyDelete"Stop it, I mean it!"
ReplyDelete"Anybody want a peanut?"
You gals are funny with your game. I fell fortunate that I know this movie! I totally feel for you and maintance is a good way to put it. We have the same things going on at our house. I hope it all goes well and you get the best things figured out for each situation.
ReplyDeleteI liked the "life is maintenance" statement and thought about it while killing weeds. It helped me.
ReplyDeletereading your blog makes me feel good. thank you for being you. i love you guys.
ReplyDeleteFun post. We can all identify.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I am NOT glad that your computers are sickish...but it makes me more accepting of mine to know that others are!
ReplyDeleteLove it . . . your post so resembles my life! Glad to know I'm not the only one. Give your family big hugs from us!
ReplyDelete