There Oughta Be a Law Outlawing Murphy's Law

As the 'Assassin' informed you Tuesday, those of us who live in the middle of the country got hit by what the weather guys called 'The Storm of the Century'. While that might have been stretching it a bit, there's no doubt that the first snowstorm of '09 effectively shut down a number of states, Les's and mine included. With 16 inches of snow, coupled with sustained wind gusts of 40-60 mph, everything came to a grinding halt. Interstates closed while cars littered the medians and ditches. Rest areas and truckstops overflowed with semis and stranded travelers. Hotels filled. Flights got cancelled.

Wednesday morning my daughter and I ventured out to survey the situation. Three feet plus drifts covered our driveway and sidewalk in front, and a humongus drift covered our three car blacktop parking and smothered the garage in the back.

I wanted to turn around, go back inside, and hide in my bed. In hindsight, I should have.

I am doubly blessed to have a front-to-back double lot. Double the lot. Double the shoveling. I am also blessed to somehow be on the side of the street where the plows direct most of their snow. And they seem to particularly enjoy 'gunning it' as they go by my house in the front, throwing what they've plowed from the streets directly onto my sidewalks. Can someone explain why they need to drive so fast they hurl snow past the parking, onto the sidewalks, and halfway UP my driveway? Just curious.

Anyway, after some cajoling I managed to get the snow thrower going. It's a smaller model, great for 5-6 inches of snow, but not all that great with thigh-high stuff. So, the top layer has to be shoveled off by hand. I finally get to the point where the snow thrower can actually move some snow and after getting a faceful of snow, I brilliantly deduce the wind is out of the west, which means I have to blow the snow back toward the garage. I tuck my glasses in my coverall pocket.

And you guess it.

Somewhere along the line, my glasses slipped out of my pocket. My daughter found the mangled frames and one lens.

Murphy's Law.

It took us 8 hours, two frozen feet, one numb nose, and a swollen knee to get all the snow cleared. At present I'm basically blind due to the fact that the only prescription glasses I have left are tinted for the sun. And I drive to work in the dark and come home in the dark.

Murphy's Law.

Then we have 'car issues' to deal with. My daughter's car needs a new water pump. Of course, you can't just remove the water pump and stick another one on, you have to remove the timing belt.

Murphy's Law.

We make an appointment for this morning. Yeah. The same morning our temps are in the minus digits and wind chills are -30. We take her car up the road to the shop and discover the road is blocked off by police and fire equipment due to a fire.

Where's the fire?

You guessed it.

The repair shop working on my daughter's car.

Murphy's Law.

My bed is looking better and better all the time.

Have you had any 'Murphy's Law' moments recently? Any of those 'broken mirror' or 'walking under a ladder' incidents that evoke thoughts of hiding under your bed?

How's life treating you all?

~Bullet Hole~