Ridin' the Roller Coaster and Rockin' the 'Tude

Yesterday was a roller-coaster day for me.

At the apex of the roller coaster was getting to do video interviews with John Morgan, author of the upcoming book, Brand Against the Machine; and Pam Slim, master coach, author and as she described herself at one point: The Escape from Cubicle Nation Lady (you’ll have to watch the interview when it comes out!)

The stomach dropping out part was coming out of my office and going downstairs to hear a loud, ominous noise coming from the basement.

 

Travel down one more flight of stairs and suddenly I was ankle deep in water and a horrendous sound was coming from where the large and very mysterious (to me anyway) inner workings of our house are…you know, the furnace, the hot water heater, etc.

So I did what any self respecting damsel in distress would do and called my husband.

“Dude” I said urgently, “You have to come home, the basement’s flooding and I have no idea where it’s coming from.”

Now I should also qualify this by saying that he has been working like a madman (7 days a week) on a multimillion dollar project with 16 guys working for him and a very tight deadline

AND

the boy is like McGyver…he can fix anything.

Timing is everything.

“OK” he says without blinking an eye (at least I think so; hard to tell over the phone), “I’ll come home…did you turn the water off?”

Right…I don’t even know where that is…DUDE

I will readily admit that I am the Nervous Nellie of this duo regarding all things child and home related; and have visions of something sparking and electrocuting myself trying to find and turn off the water (I also have a lovely flair for the dramatic).

We have a brief, but intense exchange (ahem) over me turning the water off…which I managed to do and I wait with bated breath (and wet feet) for him to come home.

So the other half comes home about an hour later with a new shop vac to suck up all the water; I commandeer that and he starts tinkering with the hot water heater.

As he announces that the hot water heater is in its death throes, the brand new shop vac starts smelling really hot and starts smoking…seriously…are you kiddin’ me?

Me: “So now what?”

DH (Dude Husband):  “Well, we need a new water heater”

Me: “Seriously?”

DH:  “Yes”

Me:  “Are you sure?”

DH: “Yep”

Me:  “You can’t fix it?”

DH: “No” (and I can tell he’s trying to hold onto his patience…like if I keep asking, he’s going to magically change his mind and decide that indeed, he can fix it and he was just playin’ with me <insert 7 year old mindset>).

After several phone calls we find a place where we can get a new heater.  So we pack up the defective vacuum (remember that?), stop and return it, and then go get a hot water heater.

While we are the home improvement store, we look at shop vacs (we are not impressed) and decide to stop at another store on the way home.

As we are driving, I ask “what do you want to do for dinner?” (disclosure; being a strategist I already have a plan, but I’m open to entertaining any ideas from DH).

DH: “I don’t know, what were you thinking?” (more disclosure; I knew this was the response I would get)

So I outline a plan of stopping and ordering food; going to another store close by to get another shop vac and picking up the food)…

Make a little plan Stan…

This could develop into a ridiculously long post and I could ramble on, but the down low was when we got home, extricated the old water heater, put in the new one, sucked up gallons (40ish) of water…the unpleasant discovery was made that the fittings were incorrect…which meant no water ‘til this morning…lovely.

Meanwhile…time is ticking away (it’s getting LATE), patience has gone from wearing thin to being transparent, and the dogs (both figuratively and literally) are tired…and we’re, well, grimy and a tinge grouchy.

Stock pot bath for one (or two) coming right up…which we both found the humor in.

So, while an entertaining chuckle can be had at my expense, what else do I want you to take away from my tale of woe?

Be kind to yourself and those around you.

Remember those interviews (which seemed an eternity ago)?  I wanted to get review them, get them uploaded, do some writing, and about 10 other things…but damn I was tired.

I could have blamed DH for getting the wrong fittings and worked myself up into a fine froth, but why?

He wanted a hot shower just as much as I did and I know he was thinking about getting up at dark o’clock, getting the fittings to get the water running and getting his tush to work…pronto.

empathy.rules.the.world

Be conscious of what you can control and what you can’t.

You can rail against things not being fair, or you can deal…you choose.

No Control

Hot water heater dying

Shop vac crapping out

No water all night

The situation in general

Control

My ‘tude

My choices

Find the humor…it’s there trust me.

It is so easy in volatile situations or when things are out of our control to snap or make rash judgments.

Many times the list of what you cannot control will be a lot longer than what you can control…but it will never be as powerful…unless you allow it to be.

P.S.  I took a lovely long, hot shower today…bliss