Please read on for a couple of minutes – it takes time for a perfect storm to build up.
Turns out I was prophesizing last week when I wrote about potholes. Milwaukee and other cities have long postponed infrastructure maintenance projects that turn city streets into a maze of detours. Construction, until it’s finished and all the orange barrels are removed, can be hell on wheels – pun intended. In the process of “fixing” things, additional potholes are created while the heavy iron plates used to cover holes add yet another obstacle.
For months, more likely years, we’ve been having network problems with our service provider. We split out a landline for phone service and the alarm hookup; the balance of the bandwidth is for the internet connection. There have been more than a few “unavailable” times and when I’ve called their problem center I eventually recording that told me, “There are no network problems in your neighborhood.” And then it suggested that I recycle my modem/splitter.
But finally, when the network went down late at night last week, I was persistent and was finally able to speak with a support person who confirmed that indeed the network was having problems and that he would dispatch a local technician the next day.
And so it was. The problem wasn’t “squirrels on the line” but the very old equipment that services our neighborhood. He would call it in and maintenance people would replace the outdated equipment.
You can see how things are lining up.
As an Orthodox Jew I don’t answer the phone on the Sabbath which begins Friday night at sunset. So Friday late afternoon I’m in the kitchen preparing for the Sabbath when I see a maintenance person carrying a ladder on the way to the telephone pole standing in the corner where my lot meets those of my neighbors. That’s where the outdated equipment is housed. She’s going up on the ladder when my phone rings. It’s my wife. “Help. The tire is slashed. I hit a pothole hard. I’m parked on the side of the road, a mile from home.”
We’ve only one car. At sunset I turn into a pumpkin. “Hold on, I’ll call AAA.” I get them to call my wife on her cell phone and quickly call my neighbor, Martin. He agrees to rush over. And then my phone is totally dead. (I can’t tell if the lineperson is smiling or not.) Martin can do anything and 45 minutes later my wife is home, the car’s in the driveway, the grill flashing an unhappy smile. The minnie spare is installed and the slashed tire is in the trunk.
As for the network… well, the cold pops the new equipment overnight and another lineperson does another swap Saturday. So far so good.
Monday, after my doctor appointment, I was able to replace the tire with a full sized one. We needed all four wheels with doctor appointments all week, all over the county.
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I went on and on since when the above events were unfolding they seemed like a perfect storm. Disaster struck – shredded tire. I couldn’t do anything. Outside forces – the common carrier and sundown – were stacked against me. Now five days later, it seems a bit comical. An expensive laugh for a new tire and a couple of hours running around. No big deal in the scheme of things.
This is especially true when compared with other “perfect storms” blowing in at the same time. One is a friend and his family with a challenged child where the police had to be involved. Another, a friend in hospital having to undergo a major operation to insure integrity to his GI tract. This morning he needed to be put on oxygen to deal with falling oxygen saturation numbers and erratic breathing. Thank heaven he’s now stable and can smile from behind the Darth Vader mask with all the tubes. He’s had 10+ days of stormy weather in hospital – a perfect storm not wanted or needed by someone who’s older than 85.
~ * ~
Ah, the perfection of the storms. For each of us, we were going through perfect storms. “Yeah, the other guy’s got it bad, but this is my perfect storm and since it’s mine, it tops your.” All of mine qualify as Category 5 hurricanes!
So, what can we do when that perfect storm rolls in? Inevitably they’ll happen time and time again. This is life and we ain’t one of us escaping without some battle scars.
One solution is simple: Ride out the storm! Do your best to understand what’s happening and explore the options. Try to laugh. Good chance if your worst enemy was stuck in your perfect storm he or she would be knocked on their ass. Ka-boom! If it happened to your enemy, I’m guessing there’d be at least a snicker.
Many of Kurosawa’s Samurai films star Toshiro Mifune. Frequently the final scene shows Mifune, a masterless samurai, standing with a bundle tied to the end of a stick resting on his shoulder. The sun is setting. He thinks for a moment, then turns and walks up a hill, shrugging to let us know: Life goes on.
Yup. Good advice. Life knocks you down, you get up, brush yourself off and continue climbing that hill!
Good luck and best wishes for the Holiday Season.
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Ken was a Professor of Mathematics, a ceramicist, a welder, and an IBMer until downsized in 2000. He taught yoga until COVID-19 decided otherwise. He continues writing, living with his wife and beagle in Shorewood, Wisconsin. He enjoys chamber music and mysteries. He’s a homebrewer and runs whitewater rivers. Ken is a writer and his literary works can be found at https://www.kmkbooks.com/
He welcomes feedback on his articles and can be reached at havokjournal@havokmedia.com.
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