If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

I used to workout with a guy we called Murph. His real name was Joe, but everyone called him Murph because he had terrible luck. At least I think that’s why everyone called him that. I’m old AF and my memory sucks, so I could be wrong (and probably am).

Anyway …

I am convinced that my nickname should be Murph because lately, my luck has sucked. For the past few weeks, it’s been “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” just like Murphy’s Law.

In an earlier post, I told you all about the mold issue in my home and how it’s making me sick. What I didn’t tell you was that, in a matter of weeks, a shit ton of stuff broke in our house. And not little things that don’t matter. Big things. Expensive things. Like the water filter, crisper drawer, and freezer handle on our refrigerator (yes, all three), the double wall oven, both the washer AND dryer, and then, because that wasn’t enough, our central AC crapped out — during a heat wave. Oh, and when the new washer/dryer was being installed, the delivery guy broke the water shut-off valve and flooded my laundry room not once, but TWICE. Motherf*cker!

But I’m not finished … Last week, the shower head fell out of the wall, creating another wet mess. But worse, we discovered black mold, so now the entire en suite needs to be inspected, ripped out, and renovated. And did I mention that all of this comes on the heels of our well water softener system exploding in the middle of the night a few months back, creating another flood and an expensive emergency call? Yea, that.

So excuse my language when I say, what in the actual fuck?! I mean, seriously?! I think my house is cursed.

Needless to say, with each of these events, I did not handle the situation well. At least not at first. I’m dramatic AF, so before I can behave like a rational adult, I first have to overreact. It’s not pretty, but it’s fact. Then, after I’ve exhausted every curse word I know (and there are A LOT), I can’t help but laugh because it really is f*cking ridiculous. I mean, what else can go wrong?

Once I reach the laughing stage, I’m able to step back from the shit show I seem to be living in and look for rainbows and silver linings. For example, while I was annoyed to have to mop up water in my laundry room twice in as many hours, the floor (and wall, ceiling, and cabinets) hasn’t been that clean in ten years. And while I was pissed that the installer broke the water shut-off valve and initially had no intention of fixing it, I was glad he broke it, not me, and that I was able persuaded him to make the repair at his cost. Plus, I have a new washer and dryer now, and at 50 years old, that brings me more joy than I should admit publicly.

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, many of which fall in the personal development genre. I also read a ton wellness articles and research, and while I haven’t read Jack Canfield’s, The Key to Living The Law of Attraction, I get the basic principal: positive thoughts bring positive results, and negative thoughts bring negative results. In other words, what you focus on is what becomes powerful. I’m not sure I fully believe in this (otherwise, I’d be healthier, wealthier, and anxiety-free, right?), but I’m willing to try.

Since the great laundry room flood of 2022, I’ve been putting my energy into seeing all that hasn’t broken in my home, and searching for those little silver linings around the things that did.

As it turns out, both the water softener system and the central AC weren’t as expensive to fix as anticipated (although our furnace is on its last legs), so there’s that.

And that broken shower head? It provided access behind the wall to find the source of the black mold in our en suite, which, you guessed it, turned out to be positive. Of course this totally sucks from a finance and inconvenience perspective, but since I’m doing my damnedest to see the positive in yet another crappy situation, I’m happy we found it (since Stachybotrys is supposedly the root cause of all my recent health issues) and I’m trying to see the renovation as an opportunity to upgrade our somewhat outdated en suite.

As for the refrigerator repairs, I’m going to bribe my youngest to put all those YouTube hours to good use and learn how to fix the filter and repair the drawer and door handle. It’ll probably cost me, but the going rate for a 16-year-old has got to be cheaper than a licensed repairman, right? Plus, it’ll give him something to do, which is always a plus.

So that’s my plan. Trying to remain grateful and see the good, so more good sees me. This shit better work, or Murphy and I are going to have words.

-LJDT