Sometimes You Have to Laugh to Keep From Crying

My Dad's grandmother often gave her grandchildren advice about life that could be summed up in one sentence. My Dad passed those on to his children. One that I never truly appreciated until I was an adult and a father was "Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying."

I like analogies and one that describes my life recently is a wooden sailing ship tossed about a gray wind whipped sea in a howling wind. Everything is lashed tight and the ship is doing ok. Then a strong wave hits broadside, rolling the ship over almost horizontal. Water on the decks start to clear and the ship slowly rights itself, then another wave comes along.

The Nortel bankruptcy was certainly a broadside that tossed many of us pretty hard. I have greatly reduced my budget, cut cash burn to the absolute minimum, purchased temporary health insurance, got my resume polished, attended out placement classes and started networking. I have some reserves and can comfortably look several months for a job; if I have no major financial hits. The ship is slowly righting.

A couple of weeks ago I looked up from my desk and and noticed the house was filled with smoke at the exact same time the smoke alarms when off. I am a chronic list maker and I kid you not, my very first thought was "I can check off testing the smoke alarms" followed by some words that I can not print here.

The smoke had that unique electrical fire smell. I ran through the house looking for a point of origin and then I took 30 seconds to let my diagnostic skills kick in (that will be another post) and quickly noticed that the whole house was filled with smoke so the HVAC system was a prime suspect. That and the fact that the system is 14 years old and I've been told about 10 years is the max for a heat pump system. More unprintable words. I've just been hit by another broadside wave. The ship is going over.

I rush to the window and the outside unit is still running but there is now no air coming out of the vents. I shut the system down and go into the crawl space for a better look. I am a firm believer that everyone should have some general knowledge about how systems work. To stop this story here, the air handler motor had seized and the 60 amp 220v circuit breaker was fried. About $120 later I was back in business clearing the smoke out of the house. If I had called a repairman I am sure the cost would have been hundreds more and they would have pushed a complete system replacement.

The deck is clearing. The ship is slowly rolling back upright.

My benefits ended last Friday. Prior to Friday I went to my dentist to get a filling replaced. The dentist said I had another filling that was borderline so we should do that one also. It was a slow day at the dental office. The teeth were on opposite sides of my mouth so I got two shots and my whole face was numb. He finished one filling and was working on the other with the drill that vibrates your whole head when.... wait for it....... The power goes off.

Here comes another wave.

One of the hygienists found a flashlight in her purse. The hated drill is powered with compressed air so it still worked but there was no suction so I had to just spit or swallow. The dentist finished up with the hygienist leaning over me with a double AA Mag-Lite stuck in my mouth.

I was almost hysterical with laughter as I left. I told the dentist what I have just told you. I also reminded myself "Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying".

My luck is definitely going to get better from here.