I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….

A new year a new set of challenges. Just as you’ve put away the last of the Christmas decor, it starts. The mail picks up again but of a different kind. W-2 forms start pouring in. New files have to be set up to accommodate the influx of mail; and so tax season begins. 

On top of that, all projects that have been put on the back burner resurface, each with a higher priority than the other. 

Because it’s not enough to deal with new year resolutions and debt accumulated over the holidays, we then have to deal with new challenges—that’s not to mention possible new breakdowns in the systems. 

So for me, the new challenge is to fix a roof that had one tile blow away several years ago, and which I thought I could put on hold for a while. Well, it escaped my mind, or at least I chose not to think about it, but lo and behold it came back to bite me in the arse as soon as the new year rolled in. Raindrops trickling down the bedroom ceiling and down the wall slapped me wide-awake in the face and now I have to address the issue PRONTO. 

Life, it’s never easy, and the older one gets the harder life gets. 

Here’s to another year and another set of challenges. I have no one to blame for this last one but myself; but I find that it’s always after I’ve had a jolly good time that I’m hit with the worst.

Hopefully, you gentle readers faired better than I did. 

Hasta la vista, everyone !

When will life feel normal again?

During the Covid pandemic, most people lost at least one or several family members or close friends. Among other family members, we lost a brave young man in the prime age of thirty-two. It was an excruciating situation all around with anxiety running high. Medical personnel were short-staffed, and life-saving medicine and equipment were scarce and in high demand. So many loved ones died because of the lack thereof. 

Because of the dire situation, the lack of personnel meant lack of food and other product deliveries. There were all types of shortages.

Not to sound heartless or focus on inane things, we were not immune to such loses, adding to a breakdown of the heating/air conditioning system, refrigerator and stove. Bad situations worsened by the lack of proper repairmen not making house calls. 

Two years after the Covid pandemic, I still don’t have proper working appliances. From day one, the new Cosmo range has been slowly falling apart. The gas ignitions click, it seems forever, before the flames appear and stay lit. My lungs have gotten used to blowing on the ignition to get the flame started and stay lit. But the one thing that broke the camel’s back was one  of the grates cracked  in three places. 

I did what any normal customer would—I reached out to Cosmo to ask them to replace the broken grate. Instead of apologizing for the poor craftsmanship of their product and offering to replace it, they advised me to place an order for a new grate at a price of $150. Needless to say, I was appalled. No amount of diplomacy on my part changed their attitude—the part broke of wear and tear and is not under warranty, answered the company rep. 

In hindsight, I paid close to $3,000 for a new product, and after only 2 years and 2 months it broke down at my expense. 

Wiktionary defines the phrase “alternate universe” as a hypothetical world situated in a different dimension of space and time than the real world consisting of the universe known and experienced by human beings. I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe. 

We’re still suffering both the real and side effects of the pandemic. 

Does anyone else feel this way?