Even in times of pandemic and political angst, there are many constants in life. Yesterday I talked about those moments of family togetherness and joy that we grab where we can. Things like going sledding or playing games together, or FaceTiming with friends or family…these are just as important now as they were in more “normal” times.
There are also less joyous constants that continue on through the age of COVID. Things like the Murphy’s law of crap breaking down and the surprise expenses of home ownership…these things care not for the other challenges in life. They run their course just the same, in normal and abnormal times.
When I was cooking dinner on Sunday, I noticed that some of the LED lights in the digital display had gone out. Instead of saying the oven temperature was 425, it said 4_5. And the clock lost a few lights, too.
Annoying, OK, but I figured it wouldn’t turn out to be all that bad. It’s a few digital lights. Heck, this technology can’t be much different than what we’ve seen in digital watches since the early 80s. So I called Sears home repair services on Monday, and someone was able to come out on Wednesday.
Well, as it turns out, this little display unit sets a fella back about 450 clams, and by the time you throw labor and everything else in, fixing 5 or 7 tiny light lines is going to set us back about 600 smackeroos. I use these lame euphemism because it feels less painful than putting the actual dollar sign in front of those numbers.
Ah well, it is what it is. Part of the fun of home ownership, and after it’s fixed, I’ll be extra thankful every time I can see the middle digit of the temperature number from now on.
Late in the afternoon, we’ve been trying to institute reading time, so Amelia curled up with book about a sock monkey.
I went with something equally cheery and upbeat…The Race to Save the Romanovs.
After dinner, we tried out a new therapy item with Henry. His OT (occupational therapist) introduced us to these really tough putties with the idea that Henry has to use his fingers, building up strength and coordination, to pull out little toys from inside the putty. We had him pulling little dinosaurs out and he and Amelia both really got into it
He did a great job, and he was proud of his progress, as were we. I’m long overdue another post about Henry and his journey, so I’ll get to work on that in the coming days, but for now I’ll simply say that he has come a LONG way from a couple of months ago. We have been so impressed by how hard he’s working the progress he’s making. Sometimes it’s little things, and sometimes it’s big things, but we are appreciative for all it.
And hey, exciting times ahead. We now have a brand new, extremely expensive digital display on order for our oven. I was about to say I’ll be showing it off to everyone who comes in the house, but we live in a pandemic and no one really comes in the house.
