When A Bad Thing Can Be A Good Thing

All things considered, this year is not exactly off to a smashing start.  I hope I'm not discovering a theme here, because - oh, let me see - guess what's not working, so far?

It may sound like I'm whining, but I'm not.  Actually, it's so ridiculous it's kind of funny.  Kind of.

*  The microwave oven finally gave up, and we had to throw it out.  I didn't think I used it very much, but apparently I did.  And in other news, guess what?  I'm not the first person to ask Uncle Google if you can cook microwave popcorn any other way.  (It's the big things in life, people.  Try to keep your perspective.)  Supposedly you can.  I'll let you know.  So we are microwave-less.  Boo-hoo.

*  The cordless phone.  I thought it might be solved with the new phone line, but that was just wishful thinking.  The crackling persists.  And it holds a charge for a whopping three or four minutes.  Yes, I could just buy another battery (cheaper), but with the other issues... looks like we need a new phone.  Fabulous.

*  The dishwasher started leaking out onto the floor.  Okay, fine, we can wash by hand.  Whatever.

*  Then the kitchen sink and three bathroom sinks quit draining.  Now that couldn't wait.  We had to call a plumber.  On a Saturday.  No kidding, just a couple of days after I finally got the Visa bill paid off.  Crud.  He was a chatty fellow.  Has a degree in chemistry.  But, as I pointed out to the boys, when you need a plumber you need a plumber.  And that was our Occupational Ed for the month.

The good news was that unclogging the drain seems to have fixed the dishwasher "leak" (do you think it just might leak if it wasn't draining right?), but the bad news is that right after the plumber left, the boys managed to clog two of the toilets.  (I fixed one and Kerry fixed one.)

*  The warning light is on in the van again.  I'm hoping it's just that the gas cap might not be on tight enough, since it's just the yellow warning light not the red you're-about-to-start-hemorrhaging-money light.  Lah-di-dah-di-dah...

*  Then there are the ridiculous little things, like four lightbulbs burned out, three flashlights out of batteries, two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear tree.

*  And my printer.  Which is probably just out of ink, which it uses at a ridiculous pace and I can't buy more right now.

But the good news about that is related to Gunnar's science notebook/journal.  (Huh?)  There are lots of places for him to draw the things we're studying - which happen to be aquatic animals right now.  And you know, it's hard being the youngest, and feeling like your older brothers can do everything better than you.  And then sometimes you don't really want to bother trying.  So we both got kind of lazy, and I was letting him print out a lot of pictures from the internet and glue them in.

Which probably explains the ink problem.  Genius, I know.  But which is also why I'm in no hurry to replace the ink cartridge (or to tell him, if I do), because he's drawing more, and getting better at it, and getting more confident!.  Sweet!

Coincidentally, in history Tate and Gunnar and I were reading about the whaling that went on back in colonial times and they drew these.  It's supposed to appear that you are looking through a telescope and seeing a whale in the distance, but as their pictures came out a little big (and I didn't have the heart to crop them) it gave a sort of unintended 3D effect. 

I love Tate's Moby Dick reference, and the dramatic action in Gunnar's picture.  Tate was (jealous?) swift to point out that giant squids aren't found near the surface and only live in deep, deep water.  But Gunnar was quick on the draw.  Whales need to breathe, don't they?  So he dragged it to the surface to eat.


You tell him, Giz.

And now, with the wind literally howling around the house, I'm off to light a few candles.  Wouldn't surprise me if the power went out next.

And how's your day going?