Murphy's Law

Well, there is a school of thought that says "just because things aren't going well, don't believe for a moment that they can't get worse." I lost my wallet (see last post) at the end of November, and had to replace the contents, which has been a little trying. The credit cards weren't ordered and El Jeffe and I had to call them, although to be fair they were with us within 48 hours following the second request. The ATM card was the same. The bank failed to order a new card, even after both El Jeffe and myself had asked them to do it. I finally recieved a card today, 19 days after reporting the loss. DMV were pretty fast considering their reputation. Worst of all, though, was the Green Card. It's a cool $260 to replace that, plus a trip to Maryland's Eastern Shore to get new fingerprints done. Why my fingerprints would change is beyond me, but there you go.

And just when it all seemed like an expensive mistake, what should happen? Yep, you guessed it, El Jeffe found my wallet. It was in a box in the garage. Needless to say the $260 can't be refunded, so I feel pretty wretched about the whole episode. It's almost like I'm being taunted by my own absent-mindedness. At least I won't have to drive to the Eastern Shore for the fingerprint session.

On a lighter note, I found the kayak I want to build. I looked at a number of designs and chose the Chesapeake 17 from Chesapeake Light Craft. The plans won't arrive until after Christmas, but I'm in no hurry. I'm collecting tools. Incidentally, I did some bargain hunting and managed to get 2 Black & Decker Workmates, an orbital sander, and 14 one-handed spring clamps for around $80 at Lowes. That's what I call a good deal. I priced them up in English Pounds and back home in Britain that lot would have been around $250 or so. Hooray for Uncle Sam is all I can say.

El Jeffe's Christmas present arrived this week. I bought her a German language course. She lived in Germany as a teenager, and loves the place, and we'll go there on vacation as soon as we can afford it. Meanwhile she wants us to learn German so we can talk about people without them knowing. I bet she learns the rude words first.

Thought for the day - things can always get worse. Night, all.