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| I took this photo on what my family calls "the garden walk." |
The Memory Card in the Camera
After five days without being on the computer at all, I uploaded pictures I'd taken into my laptop, but when I popped the SD card back out, a very tiny piece of plastic came off. No amount of turning things off/on, rebooting, or other finessing helped; the thing wouldn’t work anymore. The thought of being in Rochester, the original Kodak country, and unable to take photos with an actual camera distressed us both greatly.
I'd looked at the small clear box we had on the shelf at home with extra memory cards inside, but I didn’t end up bringing it because I thought we’d just need the one since we could upload the photos each evening onto the laptop. Wrong again.
Kevin ordered a new memory card on sale at Best Buy that can hold over 6000 photos, then we went to pick it up at the local store. The SD card was hermetically sealed, so I couldn’t get it open with my bare hands. Kevin didn’t have his pocket-knife with him and wasn’t much more successful than I was, so eventually, he took the thing back inside and asked to use their scissors.
Like You Blend!
There are two blenders at the cottage, but one of them leaks. I assumed it was the one on top of the refrigerator, not the one out on the counter. Whoops. I found out I guessed wrong when a pool of Almondmilk spilled out the sides of the base onto the counter. Apparently, the heavy-duty blender that was easily accessible is the one that leaks. I know these things happen.
In recent months, we bought a new version of our Oster blender, because the old one started leaking. In the end, we’re grateful at least one of them works so I can continue making super-healthy smoothies every day.
Gathering at the Water Cooler
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| The men set about getting the water cooler to work.-epic fail. |
None of us could figure how to get more than about an ounce of water out of the thing at a time. Kevin, being the technical figure-it-out guy he is even looked up the owner’s manual online. Not even that enlightened us.
One Sunday, my husband’s sisters and I couldn’t stop laughing when Kevin and his two brothers-in-law gathered around the water cooler to try and get it to work properly. The results were wet spots on the floor, water leaking out of the base of the unit, and Kevin pretending to drink directly from the jug.
Later that same evening, we pulled out the old Brita pitcher and filter we found in the back of the cabinet since we were going through so many individual water bottles, it was ridiculous. Our water woes were suddenly solved.
Kevin’s Dexcom 4 Debacle
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| This thing has been a marriage and life-saver when it works properly. |
His continuous glucose monitor stopped working at exactly 1:18am on July 18, 2016, when he went to the bathroom and inadvertently dropped it right into the toilet (before having used it). He didn’t have a meter for several days, though he spent two whole mornings on the phone with our insurance company, the company that makes the meters, the one that ships them, and his doctor’s office. He got everything straightened out, paid for overnight shipping, but they didn’t come the next day or the one after that.
While waiting for the new unit, Kevin tried to dry out the one that had gone into the toilet. He attempted a blow dryer, put it in the window of the cottage for several days. After a week, he was able to power the thing up and charge it. Now he has gotten in the habit of caring his new monitor in a plastic bag in his pocket. So far, he's made it a week without any major diabetic emergencies, electronic and otherwise.
Forget Fire and Brimstone: The Air Conditioning's Not Working
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| There are some amazing stained-glass windows in the churches in Rochester. |
One of the traditions Kevin and I started some years back is going to daily Mass at Holy Cross when we go to Rochester, New York. We don't make it there every day, but we usually go several times each week.
For most of our time there this trip, the AC wasn't working in the sanctuary. I couldn't help but think that it would be a rather fitting place to give a fire and brimstone, don't-end-up-in-hell-for-all-eternity sort of sermon considering how hot it gets in there. Fortunately, the priests there are more of the God is love, mercy, and compassion sort of homilists.
