Ouch

Ouch That Hurts: Paying $316 for new tags on my husband's car... that we're due last June.

No Really, That Hurts: Paying $316 for new tags on my husband's car and paying $150 to get his car out of impound for having said expired tags.

For Real! That hurts. Knock It OFF: Paying $316 for new tags on my husband's car and paying $150 to get his car out of impound for having said expired tags, then paying another $300 when the tags are due again at the end of the month.

I have a sneaking suspicion that his 2009 renewal is going to be late. Just a hunch I have... But we learned our lesson about tempting fate for eleven whole months. You may think you're getting away with something but then one day it's going to catch up with you and your car is going to disappear from the street in front of your brother's house, only to turn up the next morning at the city impound lot.

Dry-Erase Dilemma

I bought a dry-erase calendar for the house so I can start writing down my appointments and make an honest attempt to organize my life.



Notice how it's still blank?

The marker it came with didn't work. I have a dry-erase calendar but no dry-erase marker. I'm trying here! I really am! It's hanging up on the fridge at home waiting for me to get my life in order. And to get a marker.

What do you mean there's no super?

You know what's awesome about waking up on a Friday morning for work and it's 12 degrees outside? Not a whole lot. You know what's even less awesome? Finding out the pilot light on the water heater went out some time in the middle of the night and you have no hot water for a shower. Doesn't that sound like a friggin blast?

My brave sweet husband went to the basement and re-lit it since I wouldn't go near the thing. I would take a cold shower any day of the week over having to introduce an open flame to a gas source. No thank you. I do not want to be the one responsible for blowing up our house. My solution was to call my dad. (That's my solution to most of life's problems.) Matt's solution was to be a man and face possible death. Turns out that all Matt had to do was sniff around for the smell of gas, and since he didn't smell it he flipped a switch and it lit itself. Unfortunately though, by midnight it had gone back out. So, Fire Starter lit it again before bed. And would you know what? The damn thing went back out overnight.

In the olden days I would call Steve the landlord and he'd send Craig the handyman over to fix it within twenty minutes. And if Craig couldn't fix it Steve would invite me over to his mansion around the corner to use his hot water and have milkshakes with him and his wife. He'd also wash my car and offer up the laundry room. (He was the best landlord ever.) But now we own and short of my father, there's no one to call when things go wrong except for people who will charge you for repair work. What a scam.

I begrudgingly called a plumber and scheduled a time for him to come out and fix it. Mr. Plumber informed me that he did not have Whirlpool parts and if I called Whirlpool directly they would hook me up with the parts for free since it's under warranty. So, that's what I did. The parts will be here on Tuesday. That means by Wednesday I should be able to take a hot shower in my own home. There's nothing like five days without warm water to really make you appreciate the fact that every time you turn on the faucet it just comes out. This is very much like the three days we spent this summer without electricity. It's sort of like the universe's way of reminding us to be thankful for what we have.