Everything's Falling Apart

These last few days have been one frustrating mishap after another, it seems.

It started a few days ago when I went to microwave some food Debbi had left for me. I opened the microwave door, and the plastic molding above the door fell off. It looks like some of the clips holding it into place had just snapped. I don't know how old that microwave is, but I bet it's not one of the appliances the previous owner had bought shortly before selling the house (like the stove, dishwasher or fridge).

Now, the molding isn't functional, but it does cover up some of the innards of the microwave to prevent, say, the cats from getting in there. So I'm going to see if I can repair or just tape the thing into place, but it's annoying, and probably means there's a new microwave in my future. It's one of those ones which attaches to the cabinets over the stove, so that should be a barrel of laughs to install. Though Debbi suggests maybe if I buy from (say) Sears, they can send someone out to just install it for me. Which might be worth it.

The big frustration came yesterday on my bike ride home: I'd gotten about 80% of the way home, and suddenly I heard POP! Pffssssssss...! And immediately I knew I was riding on wheel rim. So I stopped immediately and got on the sidewalk.

Now I was actually kind of jazzed to replace the tube; I've been practicing a bit lately, not because I want to or because I've gotten a lot of flats, but because I replaced my tires earlier this spring. But first I inspected the tire... and discovered a half-inch gash in the tire itself. So I could replace the tube, but with a hole in the tire itself there was a decent chance that I'd get another puncture even on the mile-and-a-half ride remaining to get home. So I decided better safe than sorry and switched from bike shoes to sandals and walked (and sometimes jogged) home.

On the bright side, two bikers stopped to ask if they could give me a hand as I was heading home. Such camaraderie! One of them stopped just as I got to my garage, but still! He said there are ways to protect the tube for temporary work like this, and I should have asked him what he was thinking of.

I replaced the tire and tube tonight. In removing the tube, I found that it had somehow bunched up around the valve stem. I don't know how that could have happened, unless I'm somehow using the wrong sized tube. And why would that actually puncture the tire? I suspect that that's a red herring and that I actually ran over something which ripped through everything. But I could be wrong. The tire is pumped up to 120 PSI, after all - which I'm pretty sure is what the tire and tube are rated for.

So anyway. Now need to buy another tire as a backup. And hope this is all just a fluke. Any ideas, anyone?

I swear, I've had more problems with this bike than with all the other bikes I've owned put together - and it probably cost as much as all the others put together. Is it just bad luck, or am I doing something wrong?

Or is the bike just cursed

Finally, tonight I sat down to watch some taped episodes of Justice League Unlimited, and after the first episode... cccchhhhhrrrrrccchhhtt...! The tape went belly-up. So no more of those taped episodes for me. Sigh. I think it's just the tape and not that VCR, but it may be that there's a new VCR in my future. Unless I decided to just get TiVo... although I don't really want another monthly bill.

Oh, well. I should be glad it's not my car or computers having these sorts of problems.

(No, I don't believe in jinxes by saying stuff like that!)

Lastly, I have a cold: Sore throat and cough. Doesn't that just make the week perfect?