So, Cop Car wonders if my mind has been taken over by an alien - just because of all my prophecy of doom. Well, she apparently has not paid attention what I write. I just made the "Cursed" category in April for specific posts that fit the category (I do add some of the older posts as I come across them - but I don't really go looking for them). And, I only write about a small portion of our bad luck.
Just a few examples of the mundane things that happen to me (I won't even get into WS's stuff):
I haven't worn a watch in 15 years. Not because I don't want to know the time, I do. However, I can't keep a watch ticking (not even Timex). It got so bad that the last watch lasted exactly 3 days and quit. New batteries didn't help (just like all the others). I went thru 5-6 watches in a year's time; each one lasted less time than the one before. Thus. I no longer wear watches. Am I dooming and glooming it because I don't wear watches? No, I am being realistic and not wasting my money on any more of them.
When I worked for the S Corp., they allowed our paychecks to be be automatically deposited if we signed up for it. I did - twice, because the first set of paperwork became lost. By a very organized and professional accountant, it got lost. When I went to work with Fiber, I had to apply to have my paycheck auto-deposited. I had to do that twice - because it got lost at the office that handled paychecks (a large contractor that only handles payroll). When I went to work for my current employer, I applied to have my paycheck auto-deposited. I had to do that twice - because it got filed without being entered. In none of these places had this ever happened before (I checked). I was not surprised thought just because that is my luck. How many people does this happen to not once, not twice, but 3 times - in a row?
401K withholdings have followed the same theme as the paychecks at all 3 places (and not necessarily handled by the same people and certainly not at the same time). Heck, upping the percentage of the withholdings, at times, has been a circus.
We have changed health insurance 5 or 6 times in the last 20 years. I go to the doctor's and always give them my latest card. I also always make sure that they read off the computer what they have in there is correct (and if not, they have to type it in in my presence). 90% of the time (no, I'm not exaggerating), my insurance claim is refused because I am no longer a participant. Somehow, the billing always goes out, not to the last insurance I had, but 2 or 3 or even 4 insurances ago. At which point, I have to call all kinds of people to straighten the mess out.
At WS's last blood-letting, he had the same problem - after he had no problem on the previous blood-letting, 3 months prior. Go figure, a hospital that I had never been to, or been to an affiliate, suddenly thought that my information, from when I carried the insurance (which hasn't been for 6 years), was the information that they should use. Last time it wasn't even in their computer!
Speaking of insurance, there was that little problem with the mortgage insurance too.
I don't even bother keeping track of how many appointments (doctor, dentist, eye doctor) mysteriously become un-booked. I can have all the little appointment cards that I want, but odds are there is a panic when I get there because I'm not in the computer. And contacts for my eyes? It is a minor miracle if those actually get ordered the first time - it usually takes a call or two before that actually happens. Additionally, it has been at least 4 years since I have gotten a reminder card from the doctor or eye doctor - you know, the card they send out to remind you that you need to make an appointment for your yearly exam since the computer can't handle anything more than 6 months in advance. Then, I get asked why I waited so long to make an appointment - that I should have called when I got the reminder card.
For a while (a year) I had to have my bills sent out two or three times. The electric bill never got here on the first try so they would send out copies in 3 day intervals. (CC - remeber your mail problems in New Mexico? Did they start when I got there?).
We don't even bother trying to change the oil in either of our vehicles anymore. It is much cheaper to take them in to the shop to do it - and that isn't because of the cost of the oil and filter. Heck, I won't even change my windshield wipers anymore!
This is all the little piddly shit that goes wrong - I write about a portion of the the major stuff, and don't (and won't) get into the stuff that is somewhere in-between. On a daily basis, things go wrong for us that only go wrong for on in a million people (yes, I know, that means we are special - thanks, I'd rather not be).
Hey, I've even "know" in advance that I'm never getting shelves for my cabinet. I took the wrong-sized shelves back to Home Cheapo, and spent 45 minutes there while an associate was on the phone trying to get the right-sized shelves ordered. Let's see, the cabinet is no longer made, and they have no record of ever making it. The gal had to tell them several times that she was looking at the original work order for the shelves and that it was for their brand under a certain part number. Finally she said the area rep would be by and contact me later by phone but that she didn't understand why they couldn't take a shelf and cut it down to the right size and just send it. I left the shelves (having her mark on the packing slips that I had returned them to the store) and left. Big mistake; I haven't heard from a rep, nor do I expect to because that is the way things go around me.
I was asked about whence all the "doom and gloom" came from - it comes from experience; this is realism talking - not "doom and gloom". Can it even be called doom and gloom talk when it turns out the way I predicted; when it actually happens?
Mike has the same problem with watches, though I did buy him a $60 Fossil watch once that lasted about 4 yrs. We haven't replaced it yet so I don't know if it was a fluke or what. OTOH he can often just walk into the room with a malfunctioning computer and it will suddenly start working perfectly.
I'm happy with that trade-off.
Posted by: rita | December 30, 2006 at 08:02 AM
Bogie--
Perhaps I had it backward. Since you were found in a basket on our doorstep, I should suspect that the aliens got to you long ago. You have only recently exorcized them and are making up for lost time by displaying human tendancies! Love you, Sweetie! ;*}
We all whine about our little problems on occasion, and we are truly sorry when someone has a large/serious problem; but, we all got zillions of little problems that we normally swat off like gnats. (Of course, NH is famous for its teeny-tiny, winged wildlife, isn't it?)
My comment was spawned by the fact that you don't normally let the little crap get to you. Maybe you are just trying to assure that we readers are entertained??
1) Your Grandpa H couldn't keep a watch running, either. 2) No, my mail problems in ABQ didn't start with you. (The only real issue was when I had been out of town for three weeks and they insisted that they had no mail for me! That took me 30-40 minutes to straighten out--by going to the nearby "warehouse".) 3) I think your statistics are off. It isn't one in 1,000,000; but, 999,997 in 1,000,000.
Posted by: Cop Car | December 30, 2006 at 09:51 AM
Rita - I tried the mid-range watches (the one that lasted 3 days was $50).
I also have that effect on cell phone batteries. I can't carry the phone in my purse or the battery only lasts 2 days before a charge is needed (I don't use the phone but maybe once per month). If I leave it on my passenger side visor all the time, a charge will last 7-8 days.
Posted by: bogie | December 30, 2006 at 02:18 PM
Cop Car - I am sorry if you don't like what you read (oh, wait, no I'm not). If you don't want to read it, don't. There are plenty of your posts that I don't read because I'm not interested - but I don't complain about it.
I am way old enough not to need my mommy to tell me what I can write and what I can't.
Posted by: bogie | December 30, 2006 at 02:21 PM
*groveling* Apologies...apologies....Help! Let me out of this doghouse, please.
Posted by: Cop Car | December 31, 2006 at 04:10 AM
may 2007 be the year that you stop being special to all the crap things and start having a normal life with normal bills and normal mail!
Posted by: bod | December 31, 2006 at 10:38 AM
Bogie,\
I'm the same way, I have 6 watches that I don't wear,,they never work on me,,,,they irritate me, so yes, I irritate everyone else by always asking the time. The nice thing about having your own blog, is you make the rules,,,,you can be morose or happy or silly, you call the shots.
I enjoy reading the posts.
Have a healthy, happy prosperous New Year.
Posted by: Matty | December 31, 2006 at 06:15 PM
Cop Car - Missy and Prince would seriously be put out if you stayed in their Domajal, so You better get in out of the cold!
Bod - Thanks for wishing for me "normaldom" - I truly need it!
Matty - great way of expressing it!
Posted by: bogie | December 31, 2006 at 07:00 PM
Bogie's "Bermuda Triangle." (eerie music in the background.....)
Wow...what a list of trials and tribulations! Like Bod, I hope that 2007 will be a better year for you.
Posted by: buffy | December 31, 2006 at 08:08 PM