In Which Everything I Own Proceeds to Break

Well, maybe “everything” is an overstatement, but I’m reasonably sure you’ve experienced the same phenomenon: you’re sitting around, feeling good about life and all your stuff, when all your stuff suddenly appears to have unionized and gone on strike. Everything just stops working or breaks down.

That’s happening to me at the moment.

First up? I was innocently moving my snowblower out of my garage as we worked on renovating. It’s a snowblower, so the thing’s heavy. To make it easier to move, I started it up. Worked like a charm–until gasoline started gushing out the side of the engine. I’m not a mechanic, but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. Strike One.

Then of course it was time for my car to get inspected. It’s been running smooth as silk. No issues at all, right? Well, apparently the salty slushy winters have finally caught up with the poor thing. The brake line is rusting and needs to be replaced, and the brake pads themselves need to be replaced, too. At least I know how much that’ll cost me. (Though my other car is due for an inspection next week . . .) Strike Two.

Then I’m mowing my lawn. Minding my own business. It starts fine. No gas gushing everywhere. I’m home free, right? Five minutes in, the blades slow, and then something makes an awful noise, and the whole thing shuts off. It won’t start again. I have no idea what’s wrong with it.

Strike Three.

And really, when you get to strike three, what’s the point in keeping count anymore? You’ve reached critical mass. The point where it feels like everything’s breaking, even if everything is literally breaking. They say things come in threes, right? So does that mean I’m clear of more broken things in my future? I don’t know. I do know that I have some unforeseen expenses coming right up, and that makes me less than happy.

But I suppose that’s why I have savings. And that car that I have to pay to fix is paid off. So there’s that, too. There are times you just want to be a glass if half empty sort of guy though, ya know? This is one of those times.