On a typical day, I very much enjoy being a homeowner. Rent becomes a mortgage payment, I have a yard the kids can play in, and I don’t need to worry about people above me getting rowdy.

But inevitably things break, and then there’s no maintenance staff like in my old apartment building who will take care of it at their expense.

A few days ago the dishwasher decided to stop working. I’ve already fixed it once about a year ago with a new part from the manufacturer, and that was $75. So my wife and I figured this time we might as well just get a new unit (the old one is about 10 years old, I believe).

So all told I’m out about $800 for this thing. That includes tax, delivery, installation, and hauling away the old unit. I could probably install it myself but then I’d have to deal with the headache of getting rid of a very large, very heavy appliance. I guess I’m willing to part with about a hundred extra dollars for convenience.

In the meantime, until we can get the dishwasher delivered and installed, we’re left to wash dishes by hand, like some kind of Stone Age cavemen!

But on the bright side, my sister and her family are hoping to move back to the United States this summer after living abroad for the last 10 years, so that’s something to look forward to. My youngest brother graduated college and is getting ready to start his career as a teacher, and he also plans to get engaged to his girlfriend soon!

So despite the frustrating financial setbacks, and the reminder that merely living is expensive, there’s things to look forward to and be happy about!

In writing news, I ran another ‘free download’ promotion for my books on Amazon, resulting in nearly 400 downloads! Hopefully some of the folks who got my books will actually read them, and maybe I’ll get a review or two out of it.

I hope you all had a good weekend, and as always thank you for reading! Happy Monday!