Wednesday was not a good day. OK, the sun was shining and on the face of it everything was fine, but one by one, the hours brought a deterioration to my mood.
First up was the verdict on my debroussailleuse machine (heavy duty strimmer or bushcutter to you and me) which I’d put into the repair shop. I’d left it out in the rain (stupid, stupid boy) and expected it just needed a bit of know how and mechanical TLC to get it going. No such luck – it needed a new engine and the guy explained that by the time he’d ordered all the spare parts and added his time, the bill would be well over €400! He suggested, given that it was now 4-5 years old that I’d be better off buying a new one – between €600 and €700. Ouch! That’ll teach me.
Having driven home from the garden centre in a state of shock, I was met by J demanding my credit card – the washing machine warranty people had decided that it was uneconomical for the Hoover to be repaired and offered her €250 to drop her claim. Well – within nanoseconds, J was on the internet ordering a brand new washing machine – cost unknown to me at this time but I’m waiting for the amount to appear on my credit card any hour now.
To think that all that is wrong with the washing machine is a part about the size of – well I’m trying to think of something that small – something the size of the ‘o’ in the word ‘of’ you’ve just read. But because it’s part of the circuit board, that’s it. A completely good, working washing machine knackered because of something that small – it’s beyond belief!
I think I’m going to write to Hoover and ask that they send me a new circuit board and suggest they re-look at their design but of course during the months of negotiations no clothes will be washed hence the panic to order a new one.
So – it’s not even mid-day and I’m down over €1,000. Then my PC, which had been acting up but had then ‘fixed itself’, went all funny again. The screen flickered a couple of times and then died a long lingering death with pixels disappearing one by one.
Kitty came home at 5pm and demanded to know when I’m going to replace her laptop which has a fatal hardware error. You can just imagine the answer. Then Guy appeared with a Blackberry Storm (a handheld device like an iPhone) and said – ‘oh by the way – you agreed to give Tan €80 for his. You’d better go over and pay him.’
I had hit he bottle by this time when Kitty came in with the post. One electricity bill for €380, Guy’s scooter insurance renewal for €280, the house insurance renewal for €530 and to cheer myself up, I looked at the stock market which was down another 100 points.
So sitting in my little office thinking the world had turned against me, I accessed Facebook and saw that my friend, Lynn, was worried about her husband, my mate, Brian. Brian has now been laid up (literally)in hospital for the last 15 weeks, trussed up like a spit-roasted chicken on a barbeque, unable to move and he faces another 6 months of rehabilitation to get him back to fitness.
I called her to give her someone to talk to and although near to tears she held it together. Good girl.
Then the news came through about the shootings in Cumbria. Innocent people killed whilst wandering around a village or fixing a fence.
Taken together, these two things made me realize I’ve got absolutely nothing to complain about. Get on with your life Thomas and stop feeling sorry for yourself and I’m posting a picture of my mate Brian to remind myself that no matter how rotten you feel, there’s always somebody in a worse position than you.
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