The law of probability, as described by my father: “Seven accidents happen over the course of the week. The probability that all of them happen on the same day is seven times higher than having them happen once a day.”
I have no idea if it’s right, because I hated probability laws in school and I fought against them the way one fights against the most terrible injustice. But I can tell you that in the last two weeks:
- garbage disposal in the island had to be replaced
- baseboards in the kitchen have to be replaced. Delilah the Doberman is the culprit. She developed a charming habit of biting the water and then spitting it out. Gordon purchased a no-spill water dish, so we solved it, but baseboard is kaput
- chimneys had to be swept
- front door needs to be replaced
- Gordon’s PC suffered catastrophic disk failure. It’s always fun when you access the BIOS settings to see your boot options and the computer looks back at you and says, “HDD? What is HDD?” We bought a new PC because we are on a deadline and we have zero time to screw around with it.
- and the coup de grace, downstairs HVAC must be replaced. It is a huge bill, over $10,000, and they’ve been trying to install the new system since yesterday and it is clearly defective. We’re having a storm tomorrow. Right now we are heating the downstairs with the fireplaces.
I decided that Oliver has the right idea. I need a basket.
Also. The book sucks. Which is actually normal at this stage, but it’s not contributing to my sense of well-being in any way at the moment.
But such is life. 🙂 It can always be worse and I am glad it isn’t. And now that I have vented, I am going to get a glass of water and kidnap my husband for a long writing session.
Wowza! You are way, way over your quota for disaster!!! Here’s hoping that means that everything from here on out is nothing but daisies and moonbeams. Wishing you well. ???
+1
Oliver is beautiful. I have a cat, Figaro, who always jumps in my sweater drawer when I take one out .even if I am fast, he knows and pops in .He gets nice
cushy bed,I get fur on my sweaters. And I can’t close the drawer.
And your book is a work in progress.You will shape it, edit it and voila, another book that we will buy, love and discuss. To great length. And reread again .
Sorry for all the house problems .
Enjoy your first Christmas in your new house with your awesome tree.
my roommates cat used to do this to my sweater drawer. but my drawers were new and on rollers so once she must have shifted and the drawer slid shut with her her in it. I kept hearing her meow pitifully for nearly twenty minuetes before i figured out she was stuck in their.
It only took her about a week to recover and go right back to jumping in
The second picture of Oliver says it all. Now that all the disasters have struck. It should be smooth sailing. Mercury which was retrograde and causes all kinds of problems has now gone direct and will move forward from here. To whoever made this original post, I hope you forgive me for jumping on. I can’t figure out how to make my own comment.
Can comiserate on the HVAC issues. Last year had mine replaced (by Sears)and the contractor decided to utilize duct tape to keep the new (smaller )heater from falling through the floor. FYI, hearing a building inspector say “duct tape? Duct tape!?” Doesn’t inspire confidence in a job well done. The inspection was in January. I called in a complaint the same day. They got back to me in November.
And no, it hasn’t been fixed. My nephew who moved to a small town after growing up in the city was disparaging of small town contractors until I pointed out that it was Sears with their official contractor at which point he said “welcome to Sears, no wonder we’re going out of business.
Basket, blanket, catnip of your choice, and a good snuggle. This too shall pass.
The old saying comes to mind it never rains but it pours hope you get everything sorted out soon we of the BDH are routing for you take a deep breath and count to 10 ( 100. 1000. ) and know we are waiting with baited breath for what ever you write for us ?????
Oh goodness. 🙁 I hope you stay warm. Surely you have two heating systems in that house? Heating/cooling always fails right at the worst weather.
Wow. Maybe you need something stronger to drink than just water? I hope next year AND the remainder of this year is not so chaotic. Our lives are slowly getting back to normal after the 2018 earthquake(s) here in Alaska.
Sending you good vibes and positive thoughts! I hope things get better. Maybe your hunny needs to get you out of the house for some R&R? A bit of fun could help ?
Your loyal fans have 100% faith in you and on the fact that you create fantastic worlds…errr I mean books lol **hugs**
+1
Sending positive energy your way. ?♀️✨ And, I agree with Oliver- a cozy nap might just be in order. ?
OMG you have. A Blue Abby…we lost ours in 2016; best cat I ever had at the age of 19 … Jack of Hearts……
Sorry your week has been terrible ,my back is still out from sitting trot back pull…
I like tp say Life does not get better or worse …just different…
Cheers
Juni
What’s a Blue Abby?
Normally Abby refers to Abyssinian, but those are shorthairs, and this one appears to be a semi-longhair. Guessing it’s Autocorrupt for Tabby, which is a coat pattern. Classic tabby has rosette stripes and mackerel tabby has stripes supposedly resembling a fish skeleton.
The past two weeks have been a raging dumpster fire.
My friend died at the age of 38
One friend’s mom is in the ICU, four days unconscious from a stroke.
Another friend’s mom was diagnosed with stage three cancer.
Another friend’s grandmother passed away.
I don’t know what’s wrong with the universe right now, but I hope it gets better soon.
Sending sympathies …. sometimes life just sucks … hope yours and your family & friends gets better!
I am so sorry to hear this. It’s a hard time of year for this to be happening.
Aaaggh. The joys of home ownership. You have my deepest sympathy. We experienced something similar last year. Lightning had struck our detached garage and we had some damage to the electrical system, but nobody (insurance, electricians, etc) thought there was any problem with the house. But over the next year, every appliance in our kitchen (all electric) except the dishwasher died, one by one, plus our TV in the den. My fridge died right before thanksgiving and my stove right before Christmas. Just curious, is the HVAC problem anything that should have been discovered or disclosed when you bought the house? There might be some recourse there.
The only good, is that next week will feel like a breeze through after experiencing the challenges of this week. Praying for your Patience and Preserverance.( also the names of the lion statues who guard the NY Public Library! )
Yeah, shit happens, but any day you wake up not dead is a good one. ?
This is true! Any day I wAs up and I am NOT looking at the inside of the box, is a great day! Although some days require a bit more work to see this……
The expression on Oliver’s face says it all.
You may feel as though your book sucks. As a writer, I know the feeling also. Editing stage sucks. Your book is wonderful and will be warmly received and greatly appreciated. Hang tough. Much love – A.
Did your home happen to come with a home warranty? Many do now, including mine.
Exactly this. It might not be worth the deductible for the garbage disposal, but warranty policies are absolutely meant to be used for large appliance replacement.
I think you need more than a basket. You need a cave with curtains and a stash of yarn, chocolate, and good books. Maybe a game or two.
Man, you are tough. I’d be taking a nap after chocolate sea salt caramels. Here’s hoping things get better. The furnace is very concerning. Lot of money to know it’s defective. WTF?!! Soldier on. My admiration and best wishes.
That just sucks! I’m sorry you’re having such a terrible week. I don’t know what else to tell you that we love your books. We love every bit of writing you guys out out. My husband and I have read every bit of writing you guys publishes or blogged. We will always be here to support you guys. Hope everything turns for the better.
The cat is saying, “I don’t bhave a time for photo op. Shoo! Do whatever you hoomans do.”
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
::snerk:: Beef stew dribbling down my hoodie.
That HVAC may fall under a non disclosure by the seller when you bought it. On the other hand, law of averages says you got that batch of crap over with. 🙂
Seconded. OTOH watch out for exceptions to the rule.
Oliver is a gorgeous noble looking cat. Does he share a kinship with the Ripper of Souls?
Here’s hoping everything runs smoothly now and you have a wonder Christmas and New Year.
Oh, and the book and deadline?
You guys have got this and we have faith in you ?♥️
*wonder-filled
On the otherhand, the Library Journal picked “Diamond Fire” as one of the best books of 2018! So congrats on that.
OF course they did!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! (do you get an extra bonus for that?)
Hard times really let you appreciate the good ones. (Easier to say than to live through I know.)
Take a deep breath and take them one at a time.
Such a gorgeous kitty. Oliver is clearly ahead of the game. Step one should always be, “basket.”
Mercury goes direct tomorrow. You’re getting slammed with all the bad stuff right at the end of it—especially the computer issues. Best of luck for the rest of the month!!
How did Delilah ruin all the baseboards? Shouldn’t you just have to replace the one/ones near the water dish and repaint all to match instead of replacing all of them? Do you have a home warranty? That should cover HVAC. If not I ‘d get a second opinion – may be able to repair it and then get a warranty.
Yep! Same pouring rain on my house in Decatur GA. Maybe can blame magic wave.
Rats ate my dishwasher (well its wiring). New dishwasher. $500. Rat exclusion. $1300.
Several months later:
Mice ate my oven wiring. New oven (fancy upgrade) $1400. New rat traps and outside traps. $175.
Mere days later:
Chipmunk (or monster rat with furry tail!!) ate electric cord of fancy new oven. Cost TBD.
With oven out, no Christmas baking yet so backed up on neighbor gift treats. Can’t nuke shortbread. Oh well.
Joy!!
Your HVAC system is suppose to break down when it is 102 degrees outside and 80% humidity. Which is not unusual in San Marcos, TX.
You got lucky girl!
I was thinking that too. At least in the winter you can add layers of clothing, snuggle up to others, and do other things to keep warm. In the summer…air conditioning is a must. So at least the HVAC breakdown is now not later.
So you purchased the house and moved in not quite a year ago and systems are breaking down. That’s just about on schedule.
I bought my home while I was working overseas and then rented it out for the next 5 years, until I retired. During that time the only thing that had to be replaced was the dishwasher. Que retirement in Oct. 2014. The following summer I ended up replacing the frig – the original was still working but the compressor sounded like a jet warming up for take off: the stove, very high end with impossibly expensive double burner units; both of which had one burner each go out. And the HVAC which was 14 years old, hadn’t been serviced in several years, and was located in the crawl space under the house.
That sort of month seem to be going around. Talked to family and all had really unexpected get bills, and / or house repairs.
How did I get in this handbasket and where am I going ?
It’ll be alright. One day or minute at a time. That’s the only way to take it. Your amazing, don’t forget ?
Your father is right. It’s true. All you can do is ride it out. Good luck!!
When I was in college, one of the places I lived (university-owned townhouses) had this chair that when I first sat in it, I thought, “This is literally the worst chair that anyone has ever invented!”
And then I learned the trick. It was basically a human-sized cat bed. If you curled up in a ball, it was perfect. And from that point forward, if I was in the living room, I could be found doing my best cat impersonation.
Which is to say, human-sized cat beds to exist. As a caveat, though, I’m not sure that the spine of any human older than about 26 is made to withstand being a cat for more than a half hour or so.
AH, It’s always something. Last night my dog Eva Marie aka Evil Marie found the knitted baby blanket I had just completed. I am not a great knitter, this was my best work so far. It is a cable/ladder patter and it was perfect. Evil stole it from the entry table and gleefully chewed a hole I it. This is very bad, first blankie destroyed and more importantly Evil ate yarn which can cause an obstruction and can be fatal. I poured hydrogen peroxide down her throat and walked her in the snow until she barfed up the yarn and everything else, but spent the night awake and wineless in case there was an emergency. Today I found an experienced knitter who helped me pull out the damage rows so I only have about 6 inches to re-knit Shessh! I am waiting for my dishwasher to die it works well 1 out of 3 times and really hope my fridgie dies. It is 25 years old and seriously ugly but the beast won’t die. Hot soup stock cooling, no problem. Ah I guess they don’t make them like they use to.
I have a dishwasher that is so old you can’t read the button but it still works great. It’s just an ugly monstrosity in my kitchen. It has to die before I will replace it. Ilona and Gordon do you ever read one of your books and think omg that is so good? I am rereading Magic Shifts. OMG that is so good I keep backing up chapters so that I don’t finish my reread. Thank you.
Life is full of ups and downs… Unfortunately the downs come in multiples at the worst possible time. Just keep saying – this too shall pass and be thankful that life is not static.
Oliver looks like he has to pay for the HVAC!
To be more like the cat (Sir Oliver) invest in a good quality overstuffed rattan papasan chair. When I was a child, on bad days, the chair was not set at an angle, it was turned so it resembled a bowl. I’d crawl in with a blanket and commune with my inner cat self. I would not come out until I felt better or after a good nap! Cats have the best wisdom.
A long writing session with your husband? Yeah that’s it. Cough Cough.. smooching in front of the fire..cough cough 🙂
Your cat is beautiful – I miss mine as they are all passed on. We’ve done the HVAC replacement, dishwasher repair, garbage disposal (twice) and are currently trying to get rats out of our attic. And we have had a tornado of bees in our bathroom. They came in through the attic and ATE through the bathroom ceiling and swarmed in the master bath. Finding the humor in a situation/event/catastrophe during or after is key.
Son #2 home from college called me at work: “Mom you have bees in your bathroom”
Me: Open the window & let them out.
Son #2: Mom, there are several hundred bees in there. I’m looking at them right now
Me: Are you my child that is allergic to bees?
Son #2: umm maybe
Me: Close the door, put a towel across the bottom I’m on my way home
By the time I got home there was a floor to ceiling tornado shaped swarm of bees in my bathroom.
Found a company to exterminate them (they were Yellow Jackets not honey bees). The guy that showed up went into the bathroom in pants & shirtsleeves no protective gear.
Me: Don’t you use one of those hats with the veil thingy on it?
Guy: No, I do this all the time and I’ve never been stung
So he goes in the does his stuff. Came back out with a very dazed look on his face
He also had six to seven lumps on his head
Me: Are you ok?
Guy: Huh, they stung me.
If all else fails get a nice bottle of wine and enjoy a snuggle while admiring your beautiful tree!
Sending hugs
The cat says, I‘ve settled in, where is my room service?
I hope things get better soon and in my opinion you are not able to write bad books?
Here is some comic relieve
https://simonscat.com/films/
Well poop! Hugs deepdeep sympathy. Finally decided replace 40 year old hvac. Had to first do new roof.next massive ceiling duct repairs because raccoons had lived there ruined insulation etc. Then needed entire new master electrical panel. WTH let’s add on solar panels. Then carrying unit on top of roof it was dropped thru bathroom ceiling.still broken ceiling because contractor skippedtown. It’s better now mostly but the stress of all that and EXPENSE!!! Just about killed me.
Oliver is SO beautiful.
I can relate, had a huge client demo today, 10 minutes before the demo everything stopped working, it was chaos.
came home, baby fell down and is now sporting a goose egg for her effort
I’m so sorry. My husband’s company “forgot” to pay the December salary to everyone who started after June (which includes him). I don’t know what’s going on in the world.
My goodness this new house reads like a litany of catastrophes and my sympathies are with you. On a brighter note I would not steal my husband away for a long writing session I would have another long session beginning with ‘L’ in mind. The bills and catastrophes will wait.
I can relate, we lost power last year, the generator kicked and an energy spike, fried a lot of electronics including the fridge and stove boards.
I just googled ‘human nest bed’ they exist; there are very creative people in this world…
All the sayings – Trouble comes in threes (sevens, whatever); Life has its ups and downs and the downs are all coming at once – aren’t really true. It’s just that when the bad stuff happens, we focus on that & not the good stuff that is happening right along side it. Last February, I discovered a water leak – small, but had been leaking for a few days. End result: all carpeting ripped out (I’m in a single-story mobile home) & replaced with vinyl laminate, & some of the sub-flooring replaced. Lived in a construction zone for three weeks. Yuck! BUT: I never lost power (despite 3 New England blizzards during that time); nothing I valued was destroyed (sheer luck there!); I didn’t have to move out to a hotel for the duration (but if something like it ever happens again, I will anyway rather than living in a construction zone again!); the insurance covered everything but my deductible and the depreciation, which I got back after proof of the improvements. Etc. Next disaster (last May): discovering that the mice had finally realized that I don’t have cats in the house anymore (those mice never heard of “quiet as a mouse”!). Horribly stressful (“how did they even get IN there?”). BUT: my house is cleaner than it’s been for a long time; I’ve changed some lazy habits (ALL food trash goes into the COVERED kitchen garbage can, including napkins and wrappers); I now have shelves up on the wall for my baking goods (flour, etc. – they somehow got into that cupboard); the pots that were in a lower cupboard are now hanging from a rack suspended from the ceiling so I don’t have to re-wash them every time before use (if you’ve never been moused, they leave a trail of excrement /everywhere/ they go!); and I’ve found traps that work great (the electrocuting ones – quick & no mess; up to 10 kills now, & 3rd generation of mice). I still have lots of boxes that I used to store stuff “temporarily” so it could be schlepped from room to room during the floor work, but I’m unpacking it slowly, so the contents get sorted and put away where they belong. It will still take a few months, but by the time I’m done, I’ll have everything I’m keeping in its place; usable stuff that I’m not keeping donated (about 6 car trunks full so far!); stuff that should have been thrown out years ago thrown out; and all of my books (hundreds), VHS tapes (dozens), DVDs (back to hundreds – I think!), & CDs (tens to hundreds) inventoried as well as on shelves or in cabinets/bookcases where I can actually see/access them. So, yes, when it rains, it pours, but that rain is watering flowers!
Hang in there, Ilona! We don’t want you turning into a permanent “basket-case”! 😉
I agree with the things happen in 3’s. I quit my job after 12 yrs – couldn’t handle working with lazy ass, did nothing, destroyed the team in 3yrs person – and then the dishwasher leaked and had to be replaced, the tv antenna died, the tap on the house leaked and I thought phew there’s the 3, but no, then the ride on lawn mower died, the house shorted out and we couldn’t open the garage door, and the hot water system started leaking and had to be replaced. All while I had no job 🙂 thats life