Murphy's Law or Apple's Strange Week

What can go wrong, will go wrong or something like that. That kind of sums up the last several days, with the exception of the Safety Expo.

Poltergeist?

I guess it started last week, coincidentally, with the Hunter's Moon. I arrived at work, grabbed my keys and walked out to the lot. As I got closer to my bus I could hear music playing. I unlocked the door and as I opened it I realized that my radio was on. This can't shouldn't happen unless the key is in the ignition and turned on. I got the other doors unlocked and started it up - at least the radio didn't run the battery down. The guys tracked down a short and fixed it for me - or did they?


Geromino!

Somehow, I got volunteered to do a car seat check after work on Thursday. It's not like I didn't have a million other things to do to be ready for the Expo or anything. So, I had to replace the seat. Storage space is tight so the extra seats are stored on the top shelf in the tire shop. In front of the shelves are rows of tires. Very large tires. To get to the shelves Rob nimbly climbs up on the tires and tosses down whatever I need from the shelf. Uh-oh. Rob had already left for the day, so I was forced to get it myself. **Let's just say that I'm not as limber as I used to be. And maybe I should mention that I'm only 5' tall. I finally hauled myself up onto the row of tires and then the real fun started! I could not get my balance and had to inch my way down the shelf. I had two seats up there and of course the one I needed was the furthest down. After I tossed it down I still had to get down. Picture lots of arm waving for balance and a very ungraceful landing on my backside.** Just as I'm locking the shop up again Tony walks down and asks why I didn't ask him to get it down. BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT! I assured him that I would NEVER climb the tires again.

Friday was crazy with last minute preparations for the Expo. I had four different checklists and I checked everything off before leaving for the night. We were ready!


Never Say Never!

The trouble with checklists is that they only work if everything you need is on them. I got to the garage Saturday only to realize that I hadn't asked Rob to get the traffic cones ready. Where do we keep traffic cones? Yup, they were on the shelf next to the car seats. None of the guys were there so go reread between the **. Only add some lots of very unladylike cursing. It's a good thing I was wearing black jeans so the dirt didn't show .....much.


Gremlins

On Monday, John drove down to the garage to meet me so we could go to Mom's for the day. The woman that rides with me was waiting in the car and he got there before me, so she put down the window to talk to him. He brings water jugs and things we've picked up for Mom during the week and he was transferring them to my car. It was chilly out so she decided to close the window. Only the window wouldn't cooperate! We could get it to go down further but it would not go up. So we all got out, moved everything back into John's car and left mine sitting there with the window wide open. It didn't rain while we were gone but since it was supposed to start in the afternoon, John was going to drive it home and I'd keep his. Before we moved everything again I tried the window, knowing that it wouldn't work. And it didn't at first. I tried putting it all the way down and then up it went!

I had the window motor replaced in that window a few months ago. I already had an appointment to have my car inspected today so I told the mechanic to check it out. Very shortly after we got home he called to tell me that my car failed inspection but the window works just fine for him. Oh, joy. A couple of hundred dollars later and I have an inspection sticker and window I'm afraid to open.


Hide & Seek

Back to Monday afternoon. I was cranky about the car window and still in some pain from having been on my feet for seven hours on Saturday. A foul mood does not lead to clear thought but I was 100% certain that I had left my bus in the space closest to the back door. Since it wasn't there I figured the guys must have pulled it during the day so I started walking up and down the line looking for it. I must have looked frustrated because a couple of the drivers started laughing and yelling "it's big and yellow!" Again, I'm an idiot. If I can't find my bus and rain is imminent it must be in the wash bay. I love a clean bus and it seems mine always gets washed just in time to get dirty!

So I get it out and complete my pre-trip inspection and shut it off and the music played on. Grrr.


Lights Out

I headed home to start writing 50+ thank you notes for the Expo and got quite a shock when I pulled in the driveway. You would think that the first thing I would notice would be the two utility trailers and pickup trucks. Nope, what had me slack jawed was the sight of my house sans siding.

A couple of weeks ago we had contracted for new windows and siding. We thought we'd get some advance notice but noooooo. The contractor did call - after John had left to meet me. I had planned to protect my azaleas and a couple of other plants but too late! But I was getting new windows!!! Yea!!!

When I got inside John informed me that there was one teensy, tiny problem. We now had no electricity to any of the lights in one half of the rear of the house. That would be the entry, kitchen and bathroom. The lights in the rooms we don;t use worked just fine! The contractor assured me that it was nothing that he did, just an unlucky coincidence. The chances of him having hit a wire when he put up the insulating board were one in a million. His theory was that all the pounding might have knocked a wire loose. He went around and checked everything and couldn't find the problem.


Vanishing Act

John's brother-in-law is a retired electrical engineer so we called and yelled HELP!!! very loudly. He was on the golf course at the time but John's sister promised he'd come on Tuesday and true to her word they came Tuesday morning. He went around and checked everything the contractor already had. Then he went and tested the nail heads in the insulating board. He said that a wire must have broken loose due to all the pounding and we'd have to call an electrician because he didn't have the tools he'd need. So we called and were told that they could come Friday and not to let the contractor put up any siding before they looked things over. This did not make the contractor happy because it wasn't his fault; the chances were one in a million.

So anyway, I needed to get back for my afternoon shift. I hate wearing my glasses so I had taken them off when I got home. It's time to leave and I can't find them. I was certain that I had put them on the table but they weren't there, or on the floor or any of the other places we looked. Now I was going to be late. It was too dark a day to wear my sunglasses and all I could find were a very old, very out of fashion pair. Get my hair done and nobody notices. Wear an ugly pair of glasses and everybody notices. I got home and John told me that his brother-in-law had my glasses and would be dropping them off later. I have no idea how he ended up with them, I'm just happy to have them back.


One in a Million

So today we dropped my car off. Our unhappy contractor had talked the electrician into coming this afternoon so he wouldn't be held up on his work. John told him that was fine but we had to go to get my car before I went back to work so he'd have to let him in. It was time to leave and no contractor. I called him and he said to leave the house unlocked and a note for the electrician that he'd be there in 10 minutes. Well, we waited ten minutes before leaving and he still wasn't here. So we headed down the road and who should we meet coming the other way but the electrician. Not wanting to have him get there and leave because no one was there (and probably charge us besides) we turned around. I dropped John off and took his car to work. Turns out one of the nails hit a wire and the electrician handed the contractor the bill.

So I now have all my lights back on. Yea, no more showering in the dark!! The windows are in the garage and some of the siding is on already. Hopefully Mr Murphy has packed his bags and is on his way to somewhere far, far away.