Reset

It has been a strange few days around here.

I was supposed to be in California tonight.  In mid-February an opportunity to make the trip presented itself and I jumped at the chance.  I had thought it would be at least April before I would go again.  This time I planned to stay ten days and to carry on my luggage so I would be sure to have clothes to wear.  I hadn't said anything yet because I didn't want to jinx my plans.

Well, winter took care of that.  I was following the weather closely and from here things looked good for a Monday departure.  Here it looked good.  Not so further south.  Friday I received an email from Jet Blue advising me to change my plans while there was still time.  If I waited until the time of my flight I couldn't make a change at no charge, and the airline couldn't guarantee I'd get a later flight, which in this case is not until Thursday.  I spent an hour searching for other flights on different days into and out of different cities.  No luck.  Since I really want to make the trip, Friday I changed my flight while I had the chance.  I will leave Thursday, weather permitting.

This is where things started to get strange.

I joked with Ken that maybe the change in plans meant I needed to be home because something was going to happen.  I was thinking maybe I'd get a call that my luggage had been found [ten days ago I was contacted for more information so there's progress] or I'd learn that I won the HGTV Dream House in Tahoe.  In other words, something good.

Friday night we realized that the freezer part of the refrigerator had stopped freezing.  All weekend the temperature hovered in the low teens, not cold enough to keep ice cream or to freeze things not frozen.  Two years ago when the ice chute went belly up we pledged we would not put any money into repairs of a refrigerator we've never liked.  Now it's eight years old, which I've been told is the average life expectancy of an appliance these days.  We spent the weekend comparing models and prices online and in stores.

In the meantime our heating system was making unfamiliar noises.  It was serviced last week and I wanted a follow-up to make sure everything was okay.

Today, the day I was supposed to leave for California, I found a floor model of the exact refrigerator we want on sale at a store I've never visited but my daughter happened to mention Friday night.  They don't usually deliver in our area on Mondays but today they happened to be heading my way, so they put the fridge on the truck and brought it by.  I love it.

While waiting for the delivery, the furnace guys came by to check out every aspect of the heating system.  We talked about all the moving parts, turned the heat up, listened intently, and they purged the system again to make sure there was no air in the lines.  They made it sound like no big thing, but the peace of mind will help me sleep tonight.  Tomorrow I am going to surprise them with donuts.

Tonight I was getting the kitchen cleaned up after finally getting everything settled in the new fridge.  All of a sudden I heard a loud, steady, high-pitched squeal.  I dropped what I was doing and started following the sound, which showed no signs of stopping.  This was the source of the sound:

Meet Bob, short for Robert the Robot.  He's about ten years old, a bank that thanks you for your coins and reminds you to "save today."  Technically he belongs to my youngest, but when Travis went to college we retained custody.  Bob lived on the kitchen counter in our old house, and because he is sensitive to light he would greet us with a variety of sayings when we passed by or the light in the room changed.  Even though Bob still talks and his eyes light up, he doesn't move his arms any more and we haven't been able to set the date and time for months. I have never heard the high-pitched squeal he let out tonight that couldn't be stopped until Ken replaced his batteries.  I pushed the reset button.  What do you know ~ Ken was able to set the exact date and time with no trouble.

I laughed.  My reset button was pushed, too.  The date and time was changed, and things happened.

I will be around for two more days if HGTV wants to give me a call.