See! Here’s proof that the pool is trying to ruin us financially! Look at all that water it’s going through!!!
It’s not actually raining here. In fact, it hasn’t rained here in such a long time that when Brad was in Alabama this week and a storm passed through, he couldn’t figure out what was causing all that banging outside.
You might be in a drought if you don’t recognize thunder when you hear it.
But it’s raining in the whole “Murphy’s Law” sense. I feel like we are in some kind of a “If something can go wrong, it will” loop.
I blame the pool. It all started about the time the pool was finished, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Poor Peter
Early this summer, we learned that Peter had a wisdom tooth coming in at an angle, growing over one of his back molars and preventing it from emerging. Our orthodontist told us we would have to have his wisdom teeth pulled, then attach a bracket to the stunted tooth in the hopes it will eventually emerge. We also learned at that time that he needed braces. Again. He has a cross over under whatever bite. I’ve stopped listening and just smile and nod. Then pay obscene amounts of money.
You know what’s ridiculous? Dental insurance. It pays for about a fourth of the braces, but only once. So on the second round, we got no help at all. And his wisdom teeth? We got some ridiculous discount, like 10% or something. That’s not even considered a real sale at Macy’s. If it’s not at least 25% off, then I won’t bother. Also, why isn’t the removal of wisdom teeth considered a medical issue? At least then, it would have counted toward our deductible.
He was healed by the time summer band started, but wearing braces really messed with his ombeshure ombasure ombisure ombishure ability to play his instrument.
School started, as did the work on our driveway gate. We had to park in front of the house once the track was removed. It was annoying but gate guy (the boys call him “late guy”) assured us it would only be for a week, maybe two. That was two months ago. They took the track off, wired the gate up, and removed the motor. And we haven’t seen them since. He texts us if we pester him and usually his excuses have to do with his infant daughter who is fighting for her life in the NICU. And truthfully, if that’s what’s happening, I could understand being unavailable part of the time. But the man’s got to make a living, right?
Personally, I don’t blame gate guy. I think the pool orchestrated all of this. Somehow.
Meanwhile, because the pool won’t let us park in the garage, my car has gotten a flat, then the alternator went out. And because my car was getting a new alternator, we drove to Peter’s first football game in Brad’s car. In his rush to get us to the game on time, Brad rear-ended another car. While his car was in the shop getting a new hood, he drove a rental. On the way to pick his car back up in said rental, he got a ticket for speeding.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking there’s no way the pool could have done all of this. Well, let me just say that stranger things have happened. Not to me personally, but I’ve seen some pretty strange things on TV and the internet. And we all know that everything you read on the internet is true.
But the pool was not done with us – not by a long shot. This week, it’s really started to pull out the big guns.
It started with Brad’s bad back. After working to load instruments a few weeks in a row, Brad’s back started to spasm. It was so bad last week, he went to the doctor and was promptly sent to bed for a week. Then about the middle of the week, Peter started coughing. He’s been fighting that cough ever since. He’s better but still not well. He spent the beginning of the week in bed with a fever and cough.
Then on Wednesday of this week, I walked into my laundry room and notice something wet on the floor. I opened the freezer and water poured out.
You know what you don’t expect to see when you open your freezer? Water.
The motor must have gone out during the night because everything was half thawed. I spent the next few hours moving everything from the fridge/freezer to the other one in the kitchen (yes, we have two), then began cleaning up the rather considerable mess. I’m still trying to get everything dry and clean in the laundry room, plus now we have to figure out what we’re going to do with it. We only kept it because it was in our old house and we had space for it in the laundry room. Do we need it? Not really. Do we use it? Yeah, a lot.
But the pool was not done with me yet. On Thursday, I took the boys to school and was taking Snickers to doggy daycare. I stopped at CVS to buy Peter some cough medicine. I paid for it…and that’s the last time I saw my wallet. Did I leave it on the counter? If so, someone took it because the employees at CVS, along with yours truly, have searched the parking lot and the store for it. In fact, I’ve searched every place I stopped after that, along with my house, my car – everywhere it could have ended up after I walked out of CVS.
[Side note: when someone tells you they lost their wallet, don’t ask them if they’ve checked their purse. Or their car. Or their house. It will just annoy them. A lot.]
I’ve finally had to accept that my wallet is well and truly lost. And so I spent the day yesterday – and I do mean the entire day – canceling credit cards, closing our bank account (I had one stupid check blank in my wallet) and filing a police report (necessary for getting a replacement driver’s license). I have set aside Monday and possibly Tuesday of next week for waiting in line at the DMV to get a new license.
[Side note#2: why can you renew your license, change your address or even your name on your license online, but if you need a replacement – or change your gender – you have to go to the physical DMV office? So is it going to be me and a bunch of transvestites waiting in line? Also, why are there multiple DMV offices that will gladly take your money for title and registration of a vehicle, but won’t give you a replacement driver’s license? There is only one DMV in our area that will issue a new license and it’s way the heck down in Southeast Plano. That’s seriously whacked. (Apparently when I’m upset, I start to sound like I’m in a gang.)]
Yesterday was also the day the new gate guy – the one we are going to have to pay to fix what the old gate guy is obviously never going to fix – was supposed to come by and give us a bid on finishing the gate. He never came and has not responded to my texts.
I blame the pool.
