A Constant Stream of Pokes 2

The second major Poke we’ve had is in selling our house.  I should say, attempting to sell our house.

Since we’ve put our house on the market, we’ve had a snowstorm, one of the worst windstorms in decades (we had no power for almost 4 days, and we were better off than some), then another snowstorm, where ice lingered for days.  Although I will admit, we had some fun with that last one.  Our snow tube is awesome, and you should hear the wife laughing as she goes down the hill.

Point is, weather was so bad that hardly anyone came to see our house at all.  Even now that the weather has finally improved, things aren’t getting much better.  We had an open house Sunday, and we only had 3 people come take a look.  We’ve painted, cleaned, tidied, organized, removed extra stuff… and still very little interest.  Here’s a perfect example of a Poke: we were expecting someone to look today, and they arrived while I was writing this very post.  They parked, got out of the car, and the next thing I know they’re driving away.  Didn’t even come inside.  What the hell’s up with that?  Makes no sense to me at all.  People shouldn’t be judging from a brief look.  If my wife had done that, and if I hadn’t followed her home on my knees begging for her number and a date while offering her money, jewelry and a new Mercedes, we might never have gotten married!  I shudder to think.

This is only the second Poke in my list.  Oh, yes, there’s more.

A constant stream of Pokes in the Eye

Unlike what Southerngirl wrote in her last post, this is a poke.  In fact, it’s a series of them.  In fact, there’s so many that I will have to break them up into separate posts to keep them reasonably short.

Where shall I begin?  Ah, yes, the car accident.  Very early one morning, on the way to work, my wife was rear-ended by a jerk taxi driver using the carpool lane to pass up cars.  His insurance is with an east-coast company, which means that the person we’re working with leaves at like 1:00 our time.  Due to their purposeful ignorance (as in, we told them, and there’s even a comment on the appraisal, yet they “didn’t know” that our car has been sitting at the towyard), we’re stuck with half of a huge bill, and at first they were going to pay less than that.  As we all know, the only huge bill that’s a good huge bill would be the one belonging to Daffy Duck.  This, my friends, is not Daffy Duck’s bill.  People are also surprised that they haven’t set us up with a rental car.  I’m not surprised, really, as that would be helpful and convenient, and insurance companies aren’t exactly known for that.  And speaking of, I’m disappointed in my own insurance company.  I would think they would be working for us, trying to make sure we get everything we’re supposed to have, but they haven’t really done much to help.  In fact, they’ve basically done nothing.  We will be without our car for about two weeks, and it’s already been sitting at the towyard for more than a week.  I do believe this qualifies as a Poke.

I always do my best to maintain a sense of humor when I write these, but I have to admit that right now, it’s really difficult.  A Poke once in a while is expected, a Poke somewhat often is typical, but a constant stream of Pokes?  It’s really starting to hurt.  More soon.

perspective

this is not a poke, but it’s something i got from a friend, who was kind enough to let me use it here.

i really liked it, and thought you might, too.

thanks, T!

I believe-That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe-That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe-That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe-That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe-That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe-That you should always leave others with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe-That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I believe-That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe-That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe-That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe-That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe-That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe-That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe-That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe-That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I believe-That just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I believe-That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I believe-That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe-That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I believe-That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe-That just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I believe-That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe-That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe-That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I believe-That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe-That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe-That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had.

It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it. But it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they’ll love you back! Don’t expect love in return; Just wait for it to grow in their heart. But if it doesn’t, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone. But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don’t go for looks; they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile. Because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others’ shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

2007

here’s wishing a happy, peaceful prosperous new year to everyone.

may it be a year that is poke-free.

not “POKE” – free, i mean “poke”- free, well you know what i mean.

on the other hand, if we experience no pokes, we shall have nothing to whine, uh, complain, uh…blog about.

so i guess a few pokes, scattered throughout the year, are acceptable, as long as they aren’t really really painful ones.

here’s hoping, anyway.

happy 2007, all!