Things that suck

The last post was sort of playful misery - taking something mildly unpleasant and turning it into an amusing story.

This post is about things that really do kind of suck.

The other day our basement flooded. We got an inch or two of water. I always thought it could happen, given a variety of factors, so most things were up and out of harm's way. But there's still a lot of soggy cardboard boxes and the occasional ruined photo album or waterlogged memento to deal with. And the dampness. One of the casualties was the dehumidifier. Did you know that dehumidifiers are hard to come by in March?

Then E5 came home from school yesterday very subdued - almost lethargic. Very uncharacteristic for him. I asked him if he was ok, and he said he was fine. A bit later he complained of being really cold. And achy.

How about a fever of 105F...

Ibuprofen brought it down to a more manageable 101, but I do feel bad for the little guy. And I dread the idea of either me or Lori coming down with it. We struggle many days when we're both able-bodied and healthy. The constant illnesses this winter have really been rough. A note from the school yesterday said strep is going around. Awesome.

Then I find out that the meeting I missed out on at work at the end of the day yesterday - the one they told us to drop everything and attend, but then couldn't get the phone lines working for us remote folks to listen in - was to announce an across-the-board 5% pay cut. Add in the additional 2% city income tax we have to pay since we moved to a new building last week, and the ever-increasing health care costs, and our home budget will certainly need another look.

Excuse me while I wallow in self-pity for a bit.

I know, it could be worse. I still have a job and a house and all that.

But "it could be worse" isn't all that comforting sometimes. I need to get some wallowing out of the way now, before the necessary penny pinching and impending illness sets in.

I'll be hiding under the bed if anybody needs me.

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