After being away from home so much already this month, I was looking forward to a day of just “my time,” when I could selfishly do things that I wanted to do, while avoiding the hassles of venturing out of the house. I was considering a late shower, some time on the computer, and a morning free of pressing responsibilities. However, the weather simply didn’t cooperate, as I spent my morning run dodging snowflakes in a city where that supposedly rarely happens. I thought I had traded snow for rain in moving here from the Midwest, but weather hassles seem to follow me. The hills in my neighborhood make snowfall treacherous; my wife’s sports car can’t handle them, so I become her personal shuttle service, and my leisurely plans for the day are dismally disrupted. Since she works and I don’t, it’s difficult to complain, so I try to contain my disappointment to discussions with the pets around the water cooler. 

Instead of a late shower, it’s a quick shower. Instead of a morning of writing, it’s traffic hassles and “while I’m out” errands that I had put off for a more constructive day. Grocery shopping, prescription pick-up, a library stop, and the hardware store suddenly filled the morning with tedious-task hassles. Snow shoveling, leaky faucet repairs, laundry, and tax preparation took unexpected priority, as I waited for the call to say, “please pick me up and take me home.” Even the dogs were surprisingly not enthusiastic about leaving the comfort of their cozy beds to go for multiple rides in the car. Only a stop at McDonald’s for a Diet Coke makes the driving hassles temporarily disappear. 

The “O” rings that I picked up for the faucet did not solve the problem, so I had to call a plumber. An unauthorized charge showed up on my credit card, and I had to get that resolved. The dog’s vet appointment changed since their offices were closing early, and the mail truck only brought disappointment with more tax forms to enter in our returns. My wife’s offices closed early in anticipation of more snow, and the service call on our dysfunctional garage door was delayed. I couldn’t even get the three remote controls that require complex orchestration with our DVD player to properly sync with the television and amplifier, and I had to call the Turbotax hotline for assistance. To make matters worse, the fitted-sheet didn’t seem to want to fit, as we prepare for our next house guest. What else will go awry before this difficult day is done?

I thought the “Dust Bowl” documentary might be a welcome alternative on a damp day, but my wife is napping in the living room, taking advantage of her much deserved half-snow-day. Snow days were once an unexpected pleasure for me right up there with holidays, vacations, and weekends, but these are now things that now only disrupt my retirement routine. Soon, I will move to the kitchen to finish my “sweet potato and pork belly hash” recipe that I’m preparing for dinner, and tune-in to the Indiana vs. Nebraska basketball game that will probably not go my way either. Today has been filled with hassles, but at least the work-related hassles are behind me forever.