The balance of things intact

When things break, they often break all at once. In a way, that's a good thing, because you're not constantly fixing and replacing things; you can concentrate the frustration into discrete blocks of time.

Over the summer, in the course of a week of two-- just when I was getting my root canal-- I had two flat bike tires and the power valve thing on my laptop broke.

This time, it started with a flat tire, which turned out to be not a big deal, just needed a patch. Then the light went out in one of my headlights; also easily fixed. And just yesterday, I noticed a crack in my windshield. I know when it happened, too-- it was debris from those trucks that spew it behind them. I always try to stay far away for that reason, but sometimes you can't. So, anyway, it's one thing after another with the car (dare I hope that the windshield is it?).

Now for the laptop: left mouse button doesn't respond. Thankfully, this is manageable (good thing I know my keystrokes, although one of the "shift" keys is sticking, too). I can't wait for my external mouse to arrive, though. WTF, fedex?

And of course, the house. My (new) toaster oven died, and I've misplaced the receipt. And the laundry situation continues to be a nightmare, but I almost prefer having machines that don't work at all to a machine that leaks. But with the house I'm actually maintaining the balance of keeping things intact, even staying ahead. I do have a brand-new over the range microwave, installed as of last night, and most of my outlets now work. I may just have this place ready for prime time by anti-Valentine's Day.