It's 12:30 in the morning and I'm wondering if I have food poisoning or just nauseous from my last meal. Considering my day today I wouldn't be surprised.
I woke up early yesterday morning and went downstairs to the basement to do some laundry. I noticed my brother had neglected to put the laundry in the dryer, but the bigger issue was the two sinks adjacent to the washing machine were filled with brown water and possibly sewage.
What am I going to do? Because it was Saturday, plumber availability was limited, and since this was more of a sewage issue, I needed to call a sewer repair person. Fortunately the local plumber referred me to someone who worked on Long Island and he came relatively quickly to resolve the issue.
I ended up paying over a hundred dollars to fix the problem. Considering how dirty the job and how smelly, it was probably money well spent, but in retrospect I probably should have gotten a price quote first and also asked him to clean up afterwards because there was sewage everywhere including the walls.
I told my brother that the man had found wipes in the line, and while my brother denied causing it at first it he came around to admit that he may have used wipes to clean the toilet and then flushed them (FYI neither one really breaks down in the sewage line)
Basically I was angry all morning. After resolving my first crisis and grading a lot of papers I went out to do some food shopping.
My brother recently got into a car accident on Northern Blvd. . Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, and neither was the other driver who was driving an Escalade, but his car was totaled.
I finally got out of the house (At least temporarily) to do some food shopping. My sister S. gave me good advice to try to relax. Because it was a beautiful day and 50+ degrees she suggested I go to the park and do some reading and some walking. I probably should have done just that. It's important to notice if we are experiencing/have experienced stress do something to make yourself feel better before facing other challenges.
Instead I decided I wanted to drown my sorrows with Shake Shack. In the past, when my father had a bad date he would do the same with White Castle. I thought Shack would make me feel better but I I overlooked the stressful trip to get there.
I know many of you do not live in America, but we have an excellent Mall. The problem is that because it was beautiful Saturday the parking lot that I wanted to go to near the mall was packed. Basically I had to drive backroads to get there and I was lucky to get a parking space. I ordered several items in advance and thought that the food would destress me. Wrong. I guess my body is not used to food with so much fat.
It's times like this when you just wonder if were better if I you stayed in bed, but also it makes me think that trying to overcome obstacles by yourself is a bit isolating and challenging. I was able to overcome the first one today and later I will call AAA to see if they can start the Honda. I hope that cure is less expensive.
One thing that did make me feel a bit better was that I thought to myself the following statement. "What went right today?...." instead of what went wrong. It occurred to me that there were some good things.
1) I was able to resolve the sewage issue relatively quickly and I know had my mother been there I would never hear the end of it.
2) I was able to grade all my papers for work. More than I probably would have this weekend.
3) I was able to pick up food from the supermarket.
4) I read a book that interested me.
5) I did it all by myself. No safety net.
Life Lesson 197: People sometimes say that money is the root of all evil. The more accurate statement is "The love of money is the root of all equal" fortunately I don't have the latter.
What I can say is that we will all face difficulties, but how we look at life's challenges is important.
The next time you face a difficult day ask yourself, "How can I resolve this?" and "What went right today?"
Also, try to be more like the Japanese who in business rather than assign blame. Ask how can we resolve this issue? It feels good to hold people accountable but does that create ill will in the future. I don't know.
I would add to not try to drown your sorrows in alcohol or food or anything else for that matter, because in the long run that is really just a crutch. It's healthier to just say "Shit happens. What now? and how can I turn these lemons into lemonade."
