If it weren't for bad luck...

... we would not have any luck at all.  Oh, how that old adage rings true lately!  For the past couple of days, everything we touch seems to go wrong somehow, taking us extra effort to remedy.  Actually, like most people I guess we tend to accept the good as due to us and to notice the bad.

New kitchen faucets and a shining granite countertop.

The good, as far as projects go, was that Rick got all of the plumbing done in the kitchen and miraculously, nothing is leaking!   I am enclosing a picture not only of my wonderful kitchen faucets, but also of my now gleaming countertops.

The granite has been a sore spot since last year.  We finally have the granite all installed correctly and paid for (more good), but the granite people told us that the granite had a lifetime seal on it.  Lie.  We noticed as soon as we had the water working in the kitchen that each time water stood on the countertop, that spot darkened.  Rick called our granite company back in Green Bay and explained what was happening.  The woman who answered said, "That shows that the granite is not sealed and is soaking in the water.  You need to seal it immediately or water and oil will ultimately stain the countertop."  The woman told us to go to Home Depot and to get the 511 Impregnator Sealer which is the same sealer we use in Green Bay.  We picked some up yesterday, so I spent this morning with the windows wide open while I sealed the granite in the kitchen.  Actually, the smell was not too bad, especially with a mild breeze flowing through the house.  The countertops seemed to suck the sealer in, so buffing off the residue after five minutes was not too difficult.  I have to let the granite "cure" for 24 hours, so lunch was at Steak and Shake today.  Dinner, this evening, will probably consist of cold sandwiches prepared in the dining room or microwaved dinners which cause few dishes and no countertop prep.

While I was taking care of laundry and countertops this morning, Rick was at the Toyota dealership getting the oil changed on the Camry. The next bad luck showed up when the technician told Rick that the struts were going to need replacing soon, and that they would cost $2100!  After the $750 hit we just took on fixing the truck (more bad luck), this bill was nowhere on our budget radar.  Heck, this bill was not even in the same stratosphere as our planned budget.  We now have a decision to make because putting another $2000 into a car with 170,000 miles on it does not seem a very wise thing to do.  Unfortunately, a car payment for a new-to-us-but-used car also is not in our current budget.  We had hoped to get at least two more years from this car, so for right now we are just going to watch where we drive with it and not push our luck.  The car is safe, but eventually both the ride and our comfort level with the mechanics will deteriorate.

As mentioned earlier, we went to Steak and Shake for lunch.  For some strange reason, we got stuck in a dinky little booth rather than a more spacious, comfortable booth, and when Rick tried to put some catsup on his plate for his fries, the cover popped off and a mound of catsup plopped onto his plate.  Even the little things seem to be fighting us! As we were leaving, Rick noticed that the clerk had miscounted his change, so he had to go back to straighten out that problem, too.

Porch addition prepped for tomorrow.

When we returned for the afternoon, we prepped the space next to the front porch for concrete tomorrow.  I had dug out stones, roots, and other debris from the area this morning, so we were ready for the sand and for the re-rod. The chore did not take too long, and the results show that tomorrow's job will hopefully not take much more than an hour.  We are supposed to have 80 degree temperatures for the next week, so we need to take advantage of these unusually warm days. Once the concrete cures, we will have to make some decisions about what kind of tile to put over the entire porch.  It will be nice to have a full, matching porch on which to greet guests.

Yesterday I dealt once again with health insurance that did not want to pay for medical equipment for me.  I won't go into details, but after talking to three people at the insurance company and one at my former employer who carries my insurance, I appealed to my doctor for help.  The nurse I usually work with said that SHE talked to two people at the insurance company, sent in the required paperwork twice over, and this morning I still do not know if I have the problem solved.  Rick's lament is that to save money, employers are laying off or not replacing retiring workers, leaving more work for less people to handle.  The result is that either people are incompetent or so overworked that no one is doing a good job anymore.  Is this bad luck for me?  Sadly, if it is, I am far from alone in dealing with such issues.

Our palm tree doorbell, hanging by a wire!

A million little jobs still await us.  We know that we may have to put off the laundry room remodel until we know for sure that we will not have to buy another car, but that does not mean we will sit idly and get lazy.  Case in point is our wonderful palm tree doorbell.  We bought this as a fun trademark image for Gladys, but when we took the old doorbell out, we found that the wires were woefully short.  We temporarily stuck the doorbell on, but we need to put a backing board on the bell and tack on some more wire so it sits level. Once again, this was something that went wrong, but thankfully, we will be able to fix it.

If a person has a quota of bad luck, I think that Rick and I are trying to use ours all up in January.  None of these problems is tragic or insurmountable, but one irritation after another does tend to wear one down.  I just hope that we can overcome the bad, more forward, and recognize the good that comes our way.  Some superstitious people say that 2013 will be a bad year, but I don't feel that way.  We are here in a wonderful climate, we have enough to live on comfortably, and our family is safe and healthy.  I'll look on the positive and pray that our blessings continue as the year progresses because we and Gladys still have things to do together.