We sometimes moan to a friend at the end of a particularly stressful day when it seems nothing went as it was supposed to go, “It’s been one of those days.” We had not one of those days, but one of those weeks.
Getting finances and everything required for retirement last summer was anything but simple. We spent hours on the phone, went to places like the Social Security office in Grand Island for the help we couldn’t get online–even after waiting for an hour or so. (No, leaving a callback number never worked. We never got a call back.) It took serious work to put in place all the pieces Keith needed in order to retire. But finally, we could relax.
In January, we paid off our house. What a huge relief! The book-sized print out on what was wrong with our car, sent us looking for a different vehicle; something that would be reliable, since we make lots of trips to Omaha and Lincoln, where our kids and grandkids live, and that would be a bit higher to allow us easier in and out.
We found our car locally. Found the right look, the right color, lots of leg room and high enough for us to get in and out with more ease. What a great feeling to be able to purchase the car we always wanted. Not new mind you, but gently used and with a warranty. The shakedown cruise to Omaha for our youngest granddaughter’s 2nd birthday celebration went without a hitch.
But come Monday, Keith had an errand and the car was dead. What! Keith tried a couple of things without success before calling. He got more suggestions. Finally, the company picked up the car. Turned out this car had a bad battery, which wasn’t under warranty. We received the car back late the next day. Paid for battery, parts and labor. It cost. Not unreasonably so, but unexpected in a car we believed had been gone over. Crisis averted. I was thankful the problem wasn’t all that bad.
But our week had scarcely begun. A couple of other things popped up, like having one of our cordless phones go bad and replacing it. Then our Internet went down. Not ok since I do most of my work and submissions online. That took a whole lot more time not only on our own, but later with two different companies. We learned it required a separate phone to set some things up.
Took some doing, but the Spectrum tech figured out we needed to update our modem. Keith swapped out the old one for a new one at the Spectrum office. Eventually, Keith’s desktop was up and running.
The modem was working, which meant the wireless wasn’t. It also required replacing. What appeared an easy set up took Keith and a tech from the wireless company hours to figure out the right settings and wiring before we had lights, actions–and the Internet.
Next we had to get all our electronics on board with the new wireless settings. By the end of the week, we were once more online. We learned it was time to update our ancient cell phones as well. We left that for the next week. I am thankful that in the scheme of things, what seemed like big problems were only frustrations that with time and effort could be fixed. A new week and sleep adds a whole new perspective. Sometimes it takes “one of those weeks” to appreciate normal. I gave thanks that so much got fixed in that one week.
By Carolyn R Scheidies
Published in the Kearney Hub 3/18/2019
Read more of Carolyn’s life story in The Day Secretariat Won the Triple Crown