What to do when life turns to a pile of #hit!

Back in the black and white days of early TV, I recall watching a drama about a man slowly driving his wife crazy. His plan was simple, yet brilliant. He would make sure that all the small things in daily life – phone service, the toaster, a lamp and radio – would all break down.

Each little problem was easily dealt with, but collectively all the problems became overwhelming. When the wife, already jittery and on edge, glanced at a clock – a priceless family heirloom – and saw that it, too, was on the fritz, she went bonkers.

I mention all that to add context and drama, a foreshadowing of one wild and crazy day here recently in the Land of Cotton. Over the weekend the sun peeked out and warmed this little corner of the world and the weeds took note. Spring has yet to brush me with its soothing warmth, but my yard is already a dysfunctional mess of crabgrass, ivy, moss and dandelions.

While I was on my hands and knees, digging out the problem, the lovely Miss Wendy was off enjoying the delights of a wedding shower. She arrived home early; a bit unnerved after her ancient, but trusty sedan was crunched while she partied.

That evening, flipping around the tube for a little distraction, I noticed that the sound was, well, mute on several stations. I raced around the house, checking out the other TVs and they all worked fine. It would seem that the tube in the upstairs den was on the fritz.

Recapping, for those of you who’ve lost track, there’s a bed of weeds in my front yard that I euphemistically call a lawn – STRIKE ONE; a crunched car in my garage – STRIKE TWO; and a dying TV in the den – STRIKE THREE. I guess that means I’m out! That wail you hear off in the distance is simply a primal scream. It’s all okay, ah, really; I mean really.

There is some good news. Once I mowed the lawn, the grass and weeds are at least the same height and if you squint and the sun is not directly overhead the, ah, lawn sort of looks okay. Meanwhile, an insurance adjuster finally touched base this afternoon and said a colleague will drop by in a few days and they’ll be providing the cash to un-crunch Miss Wendy’s car.

And the TV? I searched “what do you do when the sound doesn’t work on some TV stations” at yahooanswers.com. Well, duh, you hit the menu button on the remote and play with the SAP button. I don’t know the difference between sap and a good bowl of soup, but apparently I did something right because all the stations work fine now. Go figure!

Life, it turn# out, i# ab#olutely grand! Well, darn, the “#” key on my computer doe#n’t #eem to be working. Oh, #hit!