Top Ten Systems Failures of the Week
Our house has been systems failure central for the past week. Here, in order of occurrence rather than importance, are the top 10 whammies we’ve weathered.
10. Internet service failure from the Friday before Memorial Day through Memorial Day Monday. Not fun, though it gave me a good excuse to spend several hours at my favorite coffee shop sipping java, dealing with emails and writing blog posts.
9. Muffin-baking failure. Even though I’ve used this recipe hundreds of times, every batch came out almost, but not quite, burned. To be honest, I was distracted by the antics of the baby in the house, which may have led to the oven temp set too high or the timer on a bit too long. I’m not sure which. But I can tell you this. The baby was adorable.
8. Ant containment failure. In of all places our bathroom. They were everywhere. Two tries with Terro were required before the little critters found the bait and took it back to their colony. Sorry, PETA people, I have neither the time or patience to live trap ants and release them in the wild.
7. Concentration failure. My ability to concentrate has been severely impaired because of the delightful baby at our house. See #9 for one example of the effects of this system failure. Other examples include misplaced emails, getting to appointments at the wrong time, and losing my watch. If you find it, please let me know. I’m lost without it.
6. Debit card failure. Because I forgot to activate my new one, and by the time I remembered it needed activating, the paper with instructions was lost. See #7 for the underlying cause of this system failure.
5. Outdoor clothesline failure. After 25 years of hard use, the rectractible, outdoor clothesline’s lock mechanism that kept the lines from sagging stopped working. Though the baby in the house wears cloth diapers, we had no worries because the indoor dryer was working just fine. (See #3)
4. Lawn mower failure. The billows of smoke coming from the engine area were the first clue something was amiss, followed by a whining sound and the engine seizing. We all saw the smoke and trust the Man of Steel’s report about the rest. He thinks it’s the transmission, but the fix-it shop is so backed up, it’ll be 10 days until they can pick it up. In the meantime, a friend is mowing for us and the Man of Steel’s entertaining ideas of ordering a transmission himself and repairing the monster (see photo) himself.
3. Indoor clothes dryer failure. The Man of Steel says it blew a fuse because of something in the exhaust pipe is plugged. So he ordered the fuse to be shipped overnight before retrieving the outdoor clothesline from the garbage, (see #5) and jerry-rigging it so the lines don’t sag. At least not so far. Since he can’t mow the lawn these days, (see #4) he’ll have plenty of time to install the new fuse and clean the exhaust pipe once the part arrives.
2. Door knob failure. Having a baby in the house means doors are kept shut and require more frequent opening, which is putting a strain on our old farmhouse door knobs. My daughter fixed one, but the other needs the Man of Steel’s magic touch. Hopefully, some magic will remain after the clothes dryer job and before he goes to town on the mower.
1. KitchenAid blender failure. The black coupling died as the daughter finished making humus for the baby, who eats the stuff by the fistful. Thankfully, the part is cheap, and the repair is one that’s been made at our house before. Plus, the daughter made a huge batch of humus, so the blender should be working before more is needed.
Are you dealing with systems failures at your house? Leave a comment.
