I’m sure you all know about Murphy’s Law “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”.  I think that guy has been with me for the past week or so.  He may still be here.

This pic is the last thing he touched.

You need to pay close attention because this one will probably be hard to follow, and if you think it is, just be thankful you are reading along and not riding along.

Speaking of riding along, I will start by giving props to our youngest grandson. Luke knows how to go down the road the way I like to go down the road, you know “get in, shut up, buckle up and hang on.”

He needed or at least wanted to spend some time with a good friend, problem, Graham lives in Houston.  Not only am I a sucker for whatever my grand kids want, you know from reading what I write, I kind of like to run down the road.

We left his house at 8:30 Wednesday morning, grabbed some breakfast at a Mickey D’s drive through in Purcell (no it wasn’t on my diet).  We made a quick pit stop in Ennis, TX so I could make text contact with Graham’s mom.  We made another quick stop a couple hours later, Luke was napping a little and I was about to join him.  I needed a Red Bull and some peanuts; I was afraid Luke would tell his mom so I settled for a Pepsi.

At the north side of the Houston metro (The Woodlands) I put Luke and his bag in a car with some people I had never seen. He went toward Houston and I went the other way.

This Murphy guy was with me but he had the decency to respect a 10-year-old kid.

I had dinner plans with two friends in Dallas.  I promised my girls I would spend the night in the DFW area and either go to the lake or come home after a good nights rest. They don’t always approve of the way I go down the road.

Before I got back to Dallas we decided it was to everyone’s advantage if we canceled dinner plans.

It also dawned on me that the only key for my pontoon boat was in my pickup console; I was in the SUV. I now have three keys in three different locations. I decided to go to the lake anyway.  I have another boat that needed some of my attention so fourteen hours and 836 miles after Luke and I left Norman I was at the lake place.

The other boat needed more attention than I had anticipated.  Murphy and I are at the lake, one boat won’t run and I don’t have a key for the other. I decided to come home; I think it took me longer to drive there than I stayed.  I’ll be honest, it wasn’t just the boats, the lake is still a little bit tricky, most of the time I spend there is good, but sometimes it is still a little difficult, this was one of those times.

I decided it was time to bring the old bass boat home for some long overdue TLC.  I could do it there but I have more time, better tools and it is only a couple miles for gasket sealer or a bolt; there it is about 20 miles for those things.  The old boat is 31 years old, Sharyl and I bought it 20 years ago, and the last time it was home was in 1999.  I know the tires are 20 years old and believe they are the originals.  I wasn’t going to let Murphy have a shot at that.

I drove back to the lake Monday to get the wheels, (I prefer to buy my tires here) and to check/grease the bearings.  The wheel bearings were both bad, I kind of beat Murphy to another one.

I now had three keys for the pontoon and nothing else pressing, so why not watch a sunset on the water.  Those are more fun if you share with someone but that isn’t always an option.  I keep the pontoon in a slip at a marina.  Murphy was there before me; a windstorm had trashed the Bimini top.  I was able to correct most of the damage but I was no longer interested in a leisurely cruise.

The next morning I checked my email, one of them undone what I thought was probably a done deal on the sale of an RV.

After I finished my coffee I noticed the windstorm not only had trashed the boat, it had also wiped out a pretty good section of skirting on the lake house, yes, the lake house has wheels.  I didn’t have the tools or supplies to fix it while I was there.

Finally we get to the picture you saw up top. Just before I left for the lake I noticed a small spot on my carpet in the hall, when I returned it seemed as the spot had grown a little, I got some stuff and proceeded to clean it.  Surprise, it wasn’t a stain; it was wet.  Most furnace / AC units are in the garage or attic; mine is in the hall.  The condensation drain line was leaking.  The first fix was the picture up top.  I was either going to have to stay home or find a lot bigger bucket.  The next pic is the final fix.

I hope Murphy doesn’t come to your house but I sure hope he goes somewhere.  I need a break.

To put it in perspective, considering where I have been the last few years it feels pretty good to get all worked up over insignificant crap like this.

I’m going to change gears and share an old Sharyl and Dave story before I hit the publish button.

You know I like to run up and down the road, I always have and I probably always will. I have also mentioned in previous posts how we discussed issues and reached an agreement.  We did that most of the time, there were exceptions, and occasionally one of us would just say “no” end of discussion.

Very early in our marriage, I had an offer to become a “long haul” truck driver.  The pay would be significantly better than I was making and to me it just seemed like the thing I should do.  I came home and shared the exciting news with Sharyl.  This was one of those times when there was no discussion.  She said more than no, I could quote but I prefer to keep that one sided conversation private.  That undoubtedly is the best decision “we” ever made.  Love you babe!

Thanks for reading what I write  even the goofy stuff like this one.  Please keep me in your prayers.

Good Night and God Bless.

Dave