There is a saying “If Anything Can Go Wrong It Will” that is referred to as Murphy’s Law. This past week has had an assortment of bumbles that were not of major proportion and actually had positive outcomes. When talking to my son on the phone about one of them his response was “so basically you did it all wrong but it was still good.” 
Murphy’s Law #1: I cut a recipe out of a magazine that I thought sounded good. Thinking I had all the ingredients except broccoli, which I purchased at the store, I pushed ahead with preparations. A good plan…or so I thought. The recipe called for Hillshire Farms smoked sausage; I had their Polska Kielbasa so I used that instead. Next 2 cloves of garlic crushed, I substituted minced garlic. A large red bell pepper, I had green so the dish wasn’t as colorful but the flavor is equal. One package of frozen broccoli; I had purchased fresh. The fresh seemed like a huge amount so I guesstimated how much to throw in. Tomato sauce, didn’t have any of that either so I measured out an equivalent amount of condensed tomato soup. No mozzarella cheese in the refrigerator so I used my taco cheese. On a positive note I did have the instant rice, olive oil and one yellow onion.
The Benefit: Despite all the substitutions it tasted great and I had leftovers to use for lunch at work and dinner when I got home late. My son asked me if I wrote down my substitutions so I could make it the same way next time. It might be easier to re-write the entire recipe!
Murphy’s Law #2 happened when my cable TV box stopped working and my provider informed me it would be $35-$70 to have a service call. This was the second time the box went out and I told them I wasn’t paying for a service call, I would bring in the box and decide then whether to replace or turn in and cancel TV.
The Benefit: They could suddenly provide me with a free service call and have the technician call me about one-half (1/2) hour before arrival so I could leave work to meet him at the house. That led to Murphy’s Law #3.
Murphy’s Law #3: The day I was to have the service call on my cable TV I received an automated call at work giving me a two-hour block for arrival. I held for a live person and was informed that they do not make personal phone calls, only the automated system does it. I explained what I had been told on the phone originally and she said tech’s can’t make calls. I responded that was not what I was told, that no one would be at the house unless I received a call, and if it doesn’t get handled I will bring in the box and cancel the service, at which point I hung up.
The benefit: Ten minutes later the service tech called and said he could meet me at my house. That lead to Murphy’s Law #4.
Murphy’s Law #4: The cable technician and I both anticipated this being a quick 20-30 minute service call/repair. He ended up at my house working four (4) hours to resolve all issues.
The Benefit: Numerous problems were discovered which resulted in the replacement of all cables coming into my house, replacement of weird splits to the cable when it was run in the basement, adjustment of the bundle of cords behind the TV putting too much weight on the HDMI TV input and causing problems, replacement of the TV box twice. My original wasn’t working and was extremely hot, and the first replacement didn’t work. Four hours later the TV and internet were both working faster and smoother.
Murphy’s Law #5: I received a telephone call confirming my post-op surgical follow-up appointment, but the time they gave me was an hour later than I scheduled. The girl found where they did give me the 10:30 slot, but they had keyed it into their computer as 11:30, so she confirmed me for 10:30. A few minutes later someone else called and said that they had keyed it into their computer wrong, but were heavily booked and if I came in at 10:30, I might not get called until 11:30. I had booked the appointment six (6) weeks in advance and was not happy. I asked about coming in earlier, which they were able to do.
The Benefit: I arrived for a 9:15 am appointment and my name was called almost immediately. I had X-rays taken, saw the intern doctor, saw the surgeon, and was out the door and on my way to work by 9:40 am.
Murphy’s Law #6: After analyzing and contemplating for over a week I made my decision on which cell phone to upgrade to and went onto the Verizon website to order, only to find that although it is listed on their website it is not available and they do not have an anticipated availability date. I didn’t want to wait indefinitely so checked to see if that phone was available elsewhere. It was, but I either had to pay for it upfront in its entirety or pay interest if I financed it and then it would have had to be serviced through them instead of my cell phone provider. Ugghhh, back to Verizon’s website I went.
The Benefit: I decided to get the same brand, just one step down, which was a savings. The only feature I lost in doing so was the shatterproof shield. It came with free 2-day arrival and I had it shipped to my work location. Added Benefit: It arrived one day earlier than anticipated.
Murphy’s Law #7: I had shopped and planned several meals to prepare throughout the week, but didn’t get them made due to getting home from work late and not wanting to cook at 7:30 to 8:00 pm.
The Benefit: I made everything over the weekend and ended up with a batch of leftovers: stuffed peppers, spaghetti, and chicken noodle soup to get me through the following week.
Murphy’s Law #8: It has been a crazy couple of weeks at work. Friday was like a triple Monday. Throughout the week things had come up that took priority and pushed other things back. I ended the week feeling burned out and more buried then when the week began.
The Benefit: I work for someone who understands the pressure and commented that we have both been going crazy, are staying afloat but both need to plan vacation time or we will both burn out. Added Benefit: I like to take time off in small blocks and have some short outings/trips planned over the next few months.
Murphys’ Law #9: I went from an IPhone to a Droid, which results in a learning curve. First problem was when I was trying to make the transfer from one phone to the other. I got the IPhone shut down and the Droid on, but it told me it couldn’t be used until I completed some set-up steps and I couldn’t get the steps to work. I ended up spending 1-1/2 hours on the phone with tech-support to complete the steps. Thought all was okay, but ran into a problem at work when I couldn’t figure out how to answer the phone. Then on the second day every time someone posted on Facebook or sent any type of message my phone was playing music really loud, and I couldn’t get the notifications to stop or sound to go lower. Embarrassing!
The Benefit: I like the new phone and features not available on my previous model. I am still on a learning curve but will figure it out eventually.
Murphy’s Law #10: Saturday I was going to the drive-thru at the bank so wore a sweatshirt and no make-up assuming no one would see me. I decided to drive through the lot at the car dealership and see what they had in the models I was considering, thinking the dealership was closed on Saturdays. Wrong! I got out of the car and was looking at one car when a salesman walked up. He must have figured any female standing in the rain looking at a vehicle was likely interested in buying. So there I was in an old sweatshirt, no makeup, hair frizzy from the rain, pricing out vehicles and test-drove one while my vehicle was being appraised for trade-in.
The Benefit: I got a good trade-in value on my car, was able to lower my monthly payment by leasing instead of buying, and now have a larger vehicle with more room and more perks.
Remember: If anything can go wrong it will, but if you look for the positive in each situation you will find it and reap its rewards.
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--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 