I can’t say that 2010 was a great year or a terrible year. It was kind of year where nothing major happened, good or bad. At least nothing really emotionally wrenching, like my divorce last year in 2009. The year was just a series of crappy little incidents. It was a re-building year for me, only I haven’t rebuilt much.
This was a year of large, expensive items breaking down. In January my dryer died. I hate it when appliances die. It’s like the universe is out of whack. Things are supposed to last forever. My car also had to have a starter and struts replaced. Who would have thought a nine year old car with 90,000 miles on it would wear out? The computer crashed twice and my kitchen faucet had to be replaced. My pool skimmer is not moving anymore, but I am ignoring that for now.
2010 was also the year I tried camping and racing. This was a mistake. I had an Xterra race in Show Low, which involves a swim, mountain bike, and run off road. Show Low is at 6,000 feet, so you would think that the weather would be cool. Instead, it was in the 90's during the day. Racing and camping do not mix well, especially if your camping neighbors decide that the camping experience includes drinking and talking loudly well into the night. Mountain biking is hard enough, especially since you went over and under logs, negotiate rocks, hoist the bike over a fence twice, all while trying to get enough oxygen at high altitude so that you don’t pass out. I was looking forward to going home after the race for a good night’s sleep, until I found out that I had no air conditioning.
The air conditioning dying in June was the worst malfunction of mechanical things.. Four nights and days of 90 degrees inside the house. I forgot to put a bag of chocolate chips in the refrigerator and they melted into a big lump. My daughter put up bolts of cloth on the windows to futilely try to block out the sun. I was exhausted, because at night, it was difficult trying to sleep in spite of the suffocating heat. Of course, you have to wait around in the hot house for someone to come and fix it.
To top if off the Tempe Town Lake dam burst and the races I had signed up for were canceled. At least I didn’t have to pay to have that fixed. I had been anticipating doing these races all year and my enthusiasm for racing and life in general went downstream like the contents of the Tempe Town Lake into the Salt River.
Then a rat decided to take residence right outside a bedroom window. I discovered this when it reached 114 degrees out. I guess his hidey hole was too hot, so he decided to take a nap right outside the window on the ledge. He laid down on the window sill like he owned it, and would peer at you unconcerned through the window. It was creepy seeing the rat face at night with the sharp, little rat teeth.
He was a roof rat, with an almost cute face and big ears, but the tail is monstrously long and he has powerful back legs for climbing up the walls so that he can chew through your electrical wires. Everyone said he was bad news and would re-produce prodigiously, so he had to go. I set a rat trap on the window sill and baited it with peanut butter and rat poison. He didn’t eat the rat poison, so I was stuck with dealing with a live rat. I had to let him die in an unpleasant, slow manner. I felt really guilty that I couldn’t kill him quickly.
Somehow, I muddled through all of this and I managed to retain my sanity. I guess I should be happy I have a roof over my head that is thankfully fairly new. I can deal with things breaking down, but I am still not used to doing it alone. Having a spouse around to handle things kind of insulated me from reality. I would rather not have to have things break down at all, but the universe doesn’t work that way. Everything goes to hell eventually and has to be replaced, sometimes at the worst possible time. At some point, I will have more confidence that I can handle mechanical problems by myself and life is certainly giving me enough chances to practice dealing with them.
So in 2011, I am going to be happy everyday that something doesn’t go wrong. Maybe, I can get to the point where I can just get something fixed without a lot of anxiety and dread. And if another rat shows up, I’ll dispatch him quickly by drowning him in the pool.
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