Just another manic suck-day

I normally look forward to three-day weekends. After this past weekend, I might be a little gun shy.

This weekend turned out to be piss poor.

Friday and Saturday were decent enough, but I was working on a paper for class so that right there was a downer. Sunday, my wife had an early meeting at church, so I was going to take the kids to church at the normal time. I corralled the children and got them outside and as I walked over to our truck, I noticed that we had a flat.

You know those pit-of-the-stomach sinking feelings? This was one of those. If I couldn't take the kids to church it's not big deal. They could just stay at home with me and all would be well. Except I was still working on my paper and was counting on this quiet time to get it finished. I knew that with them home I wouldn't be able to get much done. Before my frustration could build up, I noticed my neighbor in his driveway working on a project. He has an air compressor! No putting on spares and just giving up on getting the kids to church! Five minutes later, I was down the road.

After dropping the kids off, I took the truck back home. I didn't want to risk the tire going flat while the family was at church. My current driving music is Clutch. And their 1995 self-titled sophomore album was in rotation as I cruised home. Apparently, I wasn't paying close enough attention to my speed though. I got about five minutes from my house and noticed the flashing lights. Shit!

66 in a 45 folks. I wasn't in a hurry. I just wasn't paying attention.

I tried not to think too much about the ticket as I finished up my paper. Which was hard. The paper was a review of the book we just finished in class: The New Media Monopoly. While the book does make some astute observations, it is very politically biased. Sections of the book - heck, the forward - made me very angry. Glad I got through it.

Shortly after I finished the paper, the family and I went over to a friend's house to look at some beagle puppies. They just had a litter and it looks like we're going to get one. They're not quite weaned -- July 5 is the day. Cutest little things.

We got back home from our trip and I walked to the back of the house and noticed an odd noise. I walked outside to the air conditioner and noticed that the fan wasn't moving though the compressor was making all sorts of racket. Great. A/C is broken. I called our A/C yesterday morning and he was able to come out yesterday evening. We replaced the capacitor for the fan motor and all seemed well. For about an hour. Then I noticed a noise again and the fan was dead. So, he's coming back out this evening to replace the fan motor.

Just not a great couple of days, you know.

But, even though things haven't quite gone my way, I have to pause and think about all the things I have to grateful for. Obviously, the fact that I have an A/C guy that can come out the same day instead of a week (or three! - I've heard horror stories) later. Heck, I'm thankful I have a house where I have to worry about these kinds of things. I'm thankful for my family that fills my house and wish I showed it a little better and more often. Lastly, I got a note that a co-worker from DC just lost her mother. I am thankful that I feel ashamed for my petty complaints.