May 11th, it is

It is May 11th, Sat.
I do much better at this when I am feeling chipper and have excess time.
The rains come and keep coming and coming.  I am so tired of thunder and lightening and water everywhere.  I realize that in a couple of months it will be 100 degrees in the shade and no rain anywhere.  I know, I know.  But still, wouldn't it be nice to have 4 days in a row without rain?
.
Oscar, my ball playing boy, doesn't like thunder.  Since we can't go out and play ball, he doesn't like rain either.  As it roars outside, my boy is here on the floor beside me - I have covered him with a small blanket, and he seems less distressed.
.
I've often had a theory about this.  Some dogs are so scared of thunder;  others pay it no mind.  I'm thinking the smarter ones are afraid because they process the noise.  On the other hand, maybe they are dumber because they process the noise.  My boy is just scared, just plain scared.  Our little Liesl girl dog use to be afraid of thunder too.  Greta and Fritz could have cared less.  My boy Bruno seems to go with the flow...as long as there is a big bowl of food at the end of that rainbow.
.
We had a major disaster last week here at my house.  My daily game was really thrown off kilter.  It has been a long time since I was so frustrated and beat down.   Our microwave broke.  Your immediate reaction is  something like - "stupid."  My father got a microwave back in the 60s-one of the first in town.  I've had one in the family forever.  Some of you might have been born after the microwave was common place.  I challenge you - go for a week without one.  That is the same as challenging you to walk a mile in my shoes, buddy.
.
A few months ago, we had a power outage.  This is nothing new here.  Some are brief; some last for several hours.  I don't understand the problem.  We own lots of candles and lanterns.  After this particular outage, the microwave was shut down.  Nothing.  No clock; No nuthin'.  I began to look up microwaves on Consumer Reports and online.   4 hours later, BOING!!  It restarted.   Just like that.  BOING!!   All was well..
.
About a month later, a power outage and - it never came back on.  Back to Consumer Reports and internet I went.   Then; about 6 hours later -- you guessed it -- (I assume you guessed it )  BOING!!  All was well.  It has nothing to do with the length of the outage, just that it was an outage.
.
Last week - Wednesday, I believe - the lights went off for less than a minute.  Perhaps, it was only just a moment.   No microwave.  I climbed up and unplugged it for a couple of minutes.  It seems that you reset some microwaves by unplugging for 30 seconds or so.  It is a computer, you know.  Nothing.  Consumer Reports and the Internet and I had a religious meeting.   Several hours later, I unplugged it again and left it that way over night.  Still nothing.
.
Here is my thought:  It is not a fuse.  It is the motherboard.  Fuses do not reset.  Breakers can be reset.  Fuses will not.  I read that fuses for microwaves cost nearly $200.  That is probably a lie.  But, a motherboard is liable to cost more than a new machine.  Because our old machine hangs over the stove, we have a problem with the plastic front door cracking - it melts over time.  The outside of this machine was on its last legs.
.
Let's reduce this story to something shorter.  We bought a new GE down at Sears.  It was a floor model hanging on their wall.  We paid to have it installed.   The guys installing broke part of the screw mechanism.  The installer said that he would go back to the store and order us a new microwave.   I rolled my eyes.  He said they would call when the new machine comes in.  I rolled my eyes.  They left this one hanging on the wall, held by a back bracket and one strong screw.  

I am afraid this stone is not over yet.
I'll close now and ask you to pray for my niece Marion.  
More on that at a later date.
M3