I don’t know the camel whose back was broken by that final straw, but I’m starting to feel like we might have some things in common. Like having a lot of straws on our backs.
Since being home I’ve been relentlessly searching for jobs. I’ve received a few offers, but I didn’t feel right about any of them, so I have not yet accepted a full time position. In the meantime I’ve been babysitting to keep myself busy and to feel like I’m contributing to society in some small way. I was lucky enough to find some great families through our church, and I can’t imagine where I would be right now if it weren’t for them!
But in between the time I spend playing with bubbles, going to the park, and helping potty-train twins, life is throwing me some curve balls. The first came when my laptop died on me. Now, luckily I had a recent back –up of all my files, and I still have the tablet I used all year in Chad, so I had alternative ways to continue my job searches and such. But I definitely prefer my MacBook to that tablet, so I made my way to the Apple store to get it checked out. Three amazon.com orders, three weeks, three trips to the apple store, and too much money later, I am finally back to typing on a full-size keyboard.
The day my computer died was also the day I finally decided to get the new tires my car needed. You never know when a Michigan winter will decide to show up and you do not want to be caught with worn tires when it does. Needless to say, despite the convenient Labor Day sale at Belle Tire my bank account took another hit with that one.
Now I’ve heard it said that cars are just money-sucking black holes on wheels. But since my parents made sure my last car was in tip-top shape before they sold it to me after college, I never really understood the truth of that. But I’m starting to. Because when I parked my car in the driveway last week my mom happened to be outside and noticed one of my headlights was out. So the next day I got in my car to go buy a new one when what should pay a visit but that gosh-darn check engine light. A trip to Valvoline, two trips two Auto Zone, and a visit to the nearest Honda dealer left me with two new headlights, two new taglights (yeah, apparently those exist), another bill, and the news that my hybrid battery is deteriorated and ought to be replaced. That, by the way, is a part that could cost nearly as much as I paid for the car itself.
Now it’s no surprise that all this didn’t exactly put me in the best of spirits, but I’ll be honest – it could have been a lot worse. How? Let’s rewind and try this from a different angle…
The laptop I was able to afford in college temporarily stopped working. So to figure out how I could get it fixed I used my working tablet computer. I was able to afford the parts I needed to fix my laptop and there were plenty of kind people at the store willing and able to help solve my problem.
Then I was able to afford four new tires for my car so that I can stay safe while driving anywhere that I need to go. Then I was able to fix the lights in my car, a problem I fixed without the stress of a police officer pulling me over and telling me to get taken care of.
And, finally, the real kicker. That check engine light I mentioned? The one that meant I needed an expensive new battery? Well, let me point out that the only thing this meant was that my car simply went from a working hybrid car to a working “regular” car. But that’s not all! The next day I got in my car to run an errand and that light was turned off and the hybrid battery was back to full working condition!! Miracles happen.
In summary, I have never been so grateful to have a working laptop and a working car. For reasons that I only minimally contributed to, these events were far less stressful than they easily could have been. At the end of the day, my problems are fixed, I’m not bankrupt, and the world is still turning. And none of that would be different had I spent hours worrying about how it would all turn out; my worries don’t change anything but my blood pressure. In this case I was able to get through all this without worry (note I won’t say without frustration), and it was a great lesson for me to see that troubles will fade regardless of how much or how little I worry.
Since being home I’ve been relentlessly searching for jobs. I’ve received a few offers, but I didn’t feel right about any of them, so I have not yet accepted a full time position. In the meantime I’ve been babysitting to keep myself busy and to feel like I’m contributing to society in some small way. I was lucky enough to find some great families through our church, and I can’t imagine where I would be right now if it weren’t for them!
But in between the time I spend playing with bubbles, going to the park, and helping potty-train twins, life is throwing me some curve balls. The first came when my laptop died on me. Now, luckily I had a recent back –up of all my files, and I still have the tablet I used all year in Chad, so I had alternative ways to continue my job searches and such. But I definitely prefer my MacBook to that tablet, so I made my way to the Apple store to get it checked out. Three amazon.com orders, three weeks, three trips to the apple store, and too much money later, I am finally back to typing on a full-size keyboard.
The day my computer died was also the day I finally decided to get the new tires my car needed. You never know when a Michigan winter will decide to show up and you do not want to be caught with worn tires when it does. Needless to say, despite the convenient Labor Day sale at Belle Tire my bank account took another hit with that one.
Now I’ve heard it said that cars are just money-sucking black holes on wheels. But since my parents made sure my last car was in tip-top shape before they sold it to me after college, I never really understood the truth of that. But I’m starting to. Because when I parked my car in the driveway last week my mom happened to be outside and noticed one of my headlights was out. So the next day I got in my car to go buy a new one when what should pay a visit but that gosh-darn check engine light. A trip to Valvoline, two trips two Auto Zone, and a visit to the nearest Honda dealer left me with two new headlights, two new taglights (yeah, apparently those exist), another bill, and the news that my hybrid battery is deteriorated and ought to be replaced. That, by the way, is a part that could cost nearly as much as I paid for the car itself.
Now it’s no surprise that all this didn’t exactly put me in the best of spirits, but I’ll be honest – it could have been a lot worse. How? Let’s rewind and try this from a different angle…
The laptop I was able to afford in college temporarily stopped working. So to figure out how I could get it fixed I used my working tablet computer. I was able to afford the parts I needed to fix my laptop and there were plenty of kind people at the store willing and able to help solve my problem.
Then I was able to afford four new tires for my car so that I can stay safe while driving anywhere that I need to go. Then I was able to fix the lights in my car, a problem I fixed without the stress of a police officer pulling me over and telling me to get taken care of.
And, finally, the real kicker. That check engine light I mentioned? The one that meant I needed an expensive new battery? Well, let me point out that the only thing this meant was that my car simply went from a working hybrid car to a working “regular” car. But that’s not all! The next day I got in my car to run an errand and that light was turned off and the hybrid battery was back to full working condition!! Miracles happen.
In summary, I have never been so grateful to have a working laptop and a working car. For reasons that I only minimally contributed to, these events were far less stressful than they easily could have been. At the end of the day, my problems are fixed, I’m not bankrupt, and the world is still turning. And none of that would be different had I spent hours worrying about how it would all turn out; my worries don’t change anything but my blood pressure. In this case I was able to get through all this without worry (note I won’t say without frustration), and it was a great lesson for me to see that troubles will fade regardless of how much or how little I worry.