Trouble comes in threes

Okay, so tell me, when things go wrong, why do multiple things go wrong all one right after another -- usually in threes?

Everything was going along fine today. Nothing terribly unusual. I met with an individual who came to our Sabbath worship for the first time this past Sabbath. I purchased some under-cabinet lights and despite a few hiccups, got them successfully installed this afternoon (first set) and this evening (second set). I thought that was quite an accomplishment for someone (me) who is clueless when it comes to handyman and home improvement projects. I usually end up causing a worse mess than before I started. But that wasn't the case today.

Tonight was a different story, however. The girls (and I include all female members of our household plus a guest) were putting together a puzzle this afternoon in the living room and somewhere in the process had also gotten some chocolate drinks in tall, unstable cups. They were not necessarily emptied at the time and they sat around until late this evening. As one cup was being carried over (it could have only been carried horizontally), there was a trail of chocolate liquid from the edge of the living room and across the dining room. After chewing out one girl, then scrubbing the floor and using some Spotshot on the small carpet portion, things seemed okay.

Well, no, that was just the beginning. As I was slicing a loaf of bread and putting it into a bag, one of the girls yelled out that some chocolate drink had spilled. I expected just a little bit was left at the bottom, like the earlier cup. WRONG! Somehow the cup had been placed beneath the coffee table, and got kicked, and it was perhaps half full, or more. There was a huge brown puddle, and then a splash 18 inches long. I got out some paper towels and had one of the girls blot (although apparently the difference between blot and scrub was unknown, so I had to show what blot meant) the spill while I tried to figure out what to do with the stain.

I first thought Spotshot again, but there was just far too much of the spill. We do have a Kirby vacuum cleaner with carpet shampoo attachments. I got it out, but that's always a huge amount of work to set up, shampoo, and then clean all the attachments. So I got out the sprayer that comes with it to see how it works, and I couldn't figure it out. So back to the full shampooer. It's probably a good thing I did go with it because it took a dozen or so shampoo passes to finally get it to where the big stain is barely noticeable. The splash stains appear to have been erased.

I then had to go down to the basement to get the extra dehumidifier (which Grandpa Tom so fortuitously brought this last visit) to set it up in the living room to help speed up the drying of the carpet. I cleaned up the attachments.

And then came the next evil of the night. The vacuum cleaner dust bag was full, so I went down to throw out the bag and replace it with a new one. For the last several months I've been puzzled as to why so much dirt and dust was ending up outside the disposable bag and inside the outer bag. I went outside the basement and shook out much of the dirt and dust that had collected in this outer bag. And then I saw that the dust hose had cracked near the base. That certainly explains the problem I've been seeing.

It looked as if we might be out a vacuum cleaner now. I recalled seeing replacement parts for sale online, so I checked it out. Probably about $30 for all the parts. But how in the world do I replace the dust hose? What if I don't order all the necessary parts to reassemble the dust bag? Arrrggg! Maybe we should just get another vacuum cleaner? As I'm dealing with increasing frustration, stress, and rising blood pressure, I go back to examine the dust bag and hose. There's plastic tape around the top of it, probably to reinforce it or something. Then duct tape comes to mind. Hmm... Can I duct tape the base of the hose and patch up the crack? Will it hold? I don't know. So I gave it a try. I'll know over the next few weeks if the thing holds. If it does, great. If not, I guess it's back to figuring out how to replace the hose.

With all that went on (understand that all the troubles began after 9 p.m. and by the time I've gotten things settled down, it's about 10:20 p.m.) I never did get more than 1-1/2 loaves sliced. I finished slicing the remaining portion of the second loaf and bagged it. I wasn't about to slice the remaining loaves so I started bagging it. And then I discover that I'm two bags short... Sigh (or is it AAARRRRGGGG!?)... I try a gallon Ziplock (actually it's made by Glad...) but the loaf is too big. I try a the Western Family gallon bags -- same size as the Glad, so the loaves won't fit. But the Western Family bags are the cheaper kind, so I stick the remaining two loaves into these bags with an open end. I'm tired of fighting all the things that go wrong.

So as I write this, it is 11:15 p.m. I'm so worked up at that I can't fall asleep. So I might as well put my wakefulness to some use and do some therapeutic blogging and venting my frustrations.

Oh, and a new rule -- no stain-causing drinks are allowed outside the kitchen and dining areas -- unless they are contained in stable cups or mugs. Which brings me to a question I've had for some time now (because accidents have happened before) -- why are so many drink glasses tall and unstable?