Life's little surprises

Do you suppose it's a bad sign when Sunday morning begins with the main drain in the basement backing up, followed shortly by a loud crashing as a window pane breaks and showers down its shards all over the main staircase? Or is that just part of life's little pleasures?

I tried to shrug it off and keep a positive attitude. MustangMan was able to fix the window without too much trouble. Thankfully Stormin' and Moose could lend a hand in the installation process. They made a great team!

The drain, on the other hand, continues to be a problem. MustangMan broke down and called a drain cleaning service yesterday and scheduled the appointment for today. However, repair man #1 arrived and explained that the drain is set up a bit oddly and would require more equipment than he had in his truck. No surprises there. This old house has been full of surprises. I'm sure they did things a little differently when they built this place given that it's... hmmmmm... let's do the math... 2008 - 1891 = 117 years old! Have you ever seen the movie The Money Pit? Oh, wait, I digress.

Repair man #2 arrives a couple of hours later. He is also the owner of the company. He informs me that the narrow doorway to the basement is too small for his equipment to fit through. He smiles and recommends another company. I return the smile and tell him it's too bad repair man #1 didn't notice this, because it could have saved him a trip. The owner informs me that he doesn't let his employees make the final call about not servicing a customer. That's his job. Besides, it isn't costing me anything for them to come and look.

Hello? Perhaps you've never heard of opportunity cost. It cost me my time. It has potentially cost me the difference between having this drain problem resolved today, when I'm readily available, and having to wait another day (or more). But, I'm going to think positively. Tomrrow's my birthday and everything will be sunshine and roses. Right? (knock on wood)