The Waiting Game

As long as one doesn't live in their car or in, say, a tree, one will learn that housing often requires a lot of waiting. The kind of waiting associated with expecting a professional to arrive -- whether it is the electrician, the plumber, the cable guy, or the handyman. And don't even mention the waiting for parts to arrive!

Indeed, living in four walls and under one roof is a lesson in playing the waiting game.

Granted, nothing compares to the cabin. I'm not sure if that was a waiting game though -- perhaps a "waiting for the next thing to go wrong" game, or a "waiting to see if the flood/wildfire/animal will kill me" game, or simply a "waiting for it to force me into a nervous breakdown" game. So.... Perhaps not exactly the most fun of games; not exactly games that folks want to play around the dining room table with the kids.

Yeah....

Don't try this at home kids! 

So. At least my "new" waiting game at my rental in town is a tad bit more fun. Or at least a tad bit less dangerous. After all, here it is the usual: waiting for the window guy to show up, waiting for the duct cleaner guy to show up, waiting for the handyman to show up. Which is what I did today. So far, all day. Still waiting....

Well, considering I was stuck at home all day today -- or at least within a 20 minute vicinity -- one would think I would be productive, right? Right?

Of course, considering I've barely left the house since last Tuesday night, that might be a bit ambitious. And let's face it, we all know I'm not exactly ambitious. Well, not exactly in the "if it requires extra effort" way. I'm plenty ambitious. I'm just pretty sure there's a success fairy out there that I haven't met yet....

Here fairy fairy..... Here fairy!  Here fairy fairy.... 

Okay, so perhaps there isn't a success fairy, but you know.... Hope springs eternal! Apparently even in terms of imaginary friends...

Which I sometimes think my handyman is. Great guy, does great work, but, as they say, there is "real time" and there is "mountain time." If you have never heard this phrase before (nor it's synonyms of "beach time" or "island time" or "southern time" or ....), it has a pretty simple meaning: it will happen when it happens.

For example, they may tell you they will show up at 9 am on Tuesday, and if you're lucky, they will call or text you at 10 pm on Wednesday to tell you that they're sorry and maybe Thursday. And if you're lucky again? They'll text you on Friday at almost 7 pm, offering to stop by that night -- or maybe Sunday. And if you're really really really lucky, on Sunday morning he'll offer you a "window" of time during which he [might] stop by.

And apparently I am really really really lucky. As I'm still sitting at home on a Sunday, watching the minutes of that window tick away.

Perspective though? My house hasn't flooded or been threatened by wildfire, the septic tank hasn't collapsed, the furnace hasn't blown, the well pump hasn't cracked, the radiant in-floor heating hasn't leaked, the deck hasn't been destroyed by falling ice, and I haven't been stalked by a mountain lion. As yes, all of those things have happened to me at the true Murphy's Cabin. Every. Single. One.

No. I'm not kidding. And no I'm not smiling. In fact, I'm reaching for my Tennessee Whiskey just thinking about it. And getting a headache. Seriously. It drove me to drink before -- and even made me cry -- and now just the memory of it is enough to ensure that I have not just a fully stocked "liquor cabinet" in my kitchen pantry, I have a fully stocked "emergency supply" in my garage.

As really. If you might get trapped by water or fire or mountain lion, or might not have indoor plumbing or heat, then you better damn well have something to cry into...

And well, if you might have to remember these things at times (like when I re-read past blog posts), then you also better damn well have something to cry into... Right before you raise a toast to the fact you no longer have to suffer anything worse than waiting for a handy man to show up to look at some cable wiring.

So.

Perspective. Do it.

Still waiting...