Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The Bag Lady's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It happens now and then. I have a bad day. I'm an optimist by nature, but every now and then the stars do not align.

Yesterday was that day. Here's what happened:
  • For the last five years we've carried an umbrella liability policy. I figured if we had a business issue we'd be covered. Yesterday I read the policy and then called the insurance company. Turns out, nope, the policy would cover us if we were sued under our homeowner or auto policy for more than the policy limits. But not for a business interest. "You're on your own, honey," I said to myself.
  • I owe the Bank of America $1.50 in interest charges. We had a credit card bill arrive while we were in Greece. The bill was for $11.30. Before we got home, we missed the cycle. When the new bill came I owed $11.30 plus $1.50. I paid it. Then the new bill came. I still owed $1.50! I called the bank and, after making numerous selections on the automatic line, finally chose, "Yes, I want a one-time courtesy reversal of the interest I owe." How convenient! I must not be the only person who's gotten on that merry-go-round.
  • My husband Art told me he'd called to check on his massage appointment and had been told he didn't have one. We both have weekly appointments. His had been cancelled for today and all the others, through November, had been cancelled also. I called about my appointment. No appointment, for today or any time in the future. Someone had a field day with the delete button, apparently. I had been looking forward to that time on a table in a peaceful room. I was annoyed but there was no one to shout at. Besides, I am not a shouter.
  • I am the treasurer for a nonprofit company that grew tenfold last year, so we can no longer file a postcard with the IRS. Instead, we have to fill out a longish form with numbers I have no idea about, since I was not the treasurer last year. We hired a CPA to do the tax work for 2016. The return is due on October 15. Three weeks ago I sent an email to the other principals asking for the information I needed to send to the CPA. No response from anyone. Yesterday, I sent another email. This time I sort of yelled. I don't yell very often either.  I got a response, but I had unkind thoughts about the quality of other people's helpfulness.
  • I failed my optometrist's vision test. I've had two cataract surgeries in the last five years and I haven't been wearing glasses to drive. I was fine without the cataracts. Yesterday when i took the test, the top line of letters on the chart looked like Chinese and the other lines were blurs. Turns out my distance vision is quite bad. Who knew?  So now, in addition to an office prescription (computer and reading) and readers (reading only), I have to buy distance glasses. I went to Costco and paid $379 for the glasses.
  • My iPhone battery died when we were in Greece. I have a second phone I used there, waiting until I got home to replace the battery. The same iPhone has a crack across the screen. I took the phone to the Apple store for a new battery, which costs about $80. The guy told me that when the tech person opened the phone to replace the battery, the crack on the screen would get worse. He suggested an upgrade; I could replace my iPhone 6 for ONLY $299, since the model been discontinued. I decided to put it in a drawer and use my other phone.
  • I had a slightly heated discussion with one of my grown children for the first time in several years. He and his girlfriend had come to Seattle for the weekend. I saw them for ten minutes. His version of the story was that he tried several times to get in touch with me to come over for a longer visit. My version is that I held several parts of my weekend open to see him and he didn't make it over any of those times. The truth is somewhere in the middle, I guess. I managed not to say several things my own mother would have said to me. But barely.
  • I had a spat with my husband about the remote. We were watching the Seahawks game. He changed the channel and all of a sudden the players on the screen were wearing different uniforms. I said, "Why did you change the channel?" "It's halftime. What's it to you?" I said, "There are two of us sitting here and you don't check with me. You just change the channel." He said, "You always want to be in charge." The conversation went downhill from there.
As I look at this list, I realize I may be cranky. That doesn't happen very often. None of the issues in the list are a major deal. But there are more issues than usual. I suspect it's because since I got home from Greece two weeks ago, I've been quieter than usual. When I was working in the refugee camp I was in near-constant conversations, with very little down time. Now I am taking that time. And the world is interrupting me.

Breathe in, breathe out. Be grateful. That's what I'm telling myself.

20 comments:

Barb said...

I'm so sorry you had a rough few days. I pray it gets better. For what it's worth (depending on who your provider is), I would say that phone and tablet insurance is one of those few insurance situation that is worth every penny of the ten bucks i pay each month for the thing. The last thing that happened to me was that the power button stuck "in" so everytime the thing charged it would come on for one minute and die again.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

It's those little annoyances that can tick us off some especially when our mood is not very cheery. I hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

That many glitches would ruin my day, too. I hope the rest of your week is nothing but rainbows. (I remember a few discussions with my husband about the remote. I kept explaining that we were sharing the room and the TV, and that I,needed to be part of the decision process. Eventually he got it and now I even get to use the remote sometimes.).

Olga said...

We all have those days sometimes and thanks to Judith Viorst and Alexander for naming them for us.

DJan said...

I agree that none of those is momentous by itself, but all of them together would ruin just about anybody's serenity. I am scheduled for a massage on Friday. Maybe I'd better check, just to be on the safe side. :-)

Meryl Baer said...

Things can only get better from here! Pour yourself a glass of wine and put your feet up. I think you need some R&R - time to decompress.

Mona McGinnis said...

Many of your glitches were technological in nature. The very things that are supposed to make life easier cause much angst. I guess that also applies to your husband with the remote.

Anonymous said...

It all adds up. Take awhile to reenter the daily life.

RI1 said...

One of my husband's friends, who while in the army, did several tours in Afghanistan. When either my husband or I would state we were having a bad day, the friend would ask "Did any body die?" When we told him no, then the friend would say we were having a very good day.
Something to think about.
Whenever I am going through a bit of a rough spat now, I ask myself if anyone had died. Apparently and thankfully, no one has.
It's a very good day then.

joeh said...

I get to hold the remote, my wife changes the channel through voice command.

Arkansas Patti said...

Small problems don't weigh much but a bunch can feel like an albatross around your neck. If it were me, I'd go back to bed, rest a minute, then get out the opposite side to see if it changed my luck or my view. Hope all your mishaps are over.

Voices of NLD said...

Since I bought insurance for my phone absolutely nothing bad has happened to it. I guess that's the real point of insurance. But my iPhone 5 is on death's door and since my vision surgeries (I was very very near sighted which was great for reading) I've been having a difficult time reading texts on it--no matter how big I make the print. I can get an IPhone 8+ for "only" $500 or $100 less, not exactly sure so I guess I will get one sooner than later as it really doesn't seem to like this world--yet it's not broken.

It feels as if large problems can be dealt with easily but small problems....and they all come together. Here's hoping you a better October...

Pia
Htt;://courtingdestiny.com

Chris Loehmer Kincaid said...

I think we've all had those days. I know I've had quite a few this summer. Somehow things always work out, though. Better days will come. But in the meantime, even if none of these things were life-changing horrendous, it still isn't fun, is it? Hang in there.

Sally Wessely said...

Mama said there'd be days like that. Tomorrow is a new day. I'm sure you will be glad for it.

Linda Reeder said...

By the time I read the last bullet point, I got the giggles. i am sure you do "always want to be in charge" because you are so good at it. Just thing how much smother your day could have been if you had been in charge! :-)

Linda Weber said...

As we talked about, its kind of been a bad couple of days for me too.

joared said...

That's the pits to have all those aggravating things happening one after another -- enough to wear anyone down. My husband always controlled the remote,, even when we visited our Dtr, which I could tell irritated my SIL Hope all is going well now.

AWmom said...

We need days like these to really appreciate the good days!Life's little catastrophes set our thoughts up for reflection and Rest ! My husband just retired and there is a lot of negotiating going on with the remote too! Hope October brings brighter days!

Lynn ~ Encore Voyage said...

I'm sorry you had a crappy day...But as the others have said, it's an opportunity to be grateful for the days that go reeeaaalllly well. I've found that when I'm having a rotten day, I think of all those poor saps who still must drudge to work every day...Dang, life is good! ~ Lynn

Anonymous said...

Ugh! Sounds like you had a really bad day. I recently crushed my iPhone at the gym and thank goodness for the insurance ! All these little upsets can really put a damper in your day. Hoping today is better.