Well, after another series of total screwups, the carpet cleaners who were supposed to be here by 10 this morning (actually by 8 because I had clearly requested to be the first appointment) didn't arrive until after several phone calls from me at 10 until 2 p.m. Really. And now they are making so much noisewith their machine (which I actually should have expected) that I am glad that I will probably be snowed in tomorrow because I can't imagine not getting a migraine listening to this for the next 2 to 3 hours. And now I've been told I can't walk on it for 6 to 8 hours after they finish. Fortunately I can get to the kitchen (my den and my kitchen are hardwood floor, so at least there's that.) But I've been up since 3 a.m. (Totally couldn't sleep) and was hoping to pack it in early this evening. If they finish at 5 I can walk on it at the earliest at 11. Don't think I'll make it that far.
I had a medium crave right before they got here and interestingly right after they arrived, but I don't do that any more so I didn't think any more about the craves and they went away.. I am practicing deep breathing. There is something about people not doing what they say they are going to do that absolutely pushes -- and I mean slams -- my buttons.
So given that watching tv or anything on Netflix is out of the question in this mayhem, I figured it would be a good time to blog. I am fascinated by the way people do business these days. I contracted with Sears for this work, and we set an appointment. I initially explained that the carpets were only 2 years old but that there were pet stains from a puppy which is the only reason why I needed carpet cleaning. The appointment didn't happen on Saturday because the first customer added services. When these guys finally got here, they told me that I need pre-treatment for the pet stains and that would be an extra $50. Why did no one explain to me that the pretreatment was necessary when they gave me the price quote? He said 'well, we technicians can evaluate that. But if you don't have it done you may very well see these stains come back in another month. Now, maybe I'm being scammed. I considered the possibility. But if this aggravation and expense doesn't achieve the spefic purpose for which I incurred it, then I've lost everything and gained nothing. (I don't mean lost everything in the cosmic sense, just in relation to this transaction. So I agreed to the pretreating. Now, if the stains come back I have the legal grounds to at least attempt to get satisfaction.
So, the moral of this story is, just like others have said so many times, there is noting worth smoking over. And believe me, I'm not comparing this aggravation and expense to Ellen's house burning down or Jimmie's loss of his wife, or Deborah's consisten loss of water at her home. Everything remains in perspective. But just as each of us is responsible for our own quit, we all have buttons -- and they may be different for everybody -- that historically were the ultimate occasion for smoking. Anger and frustration were buttons. I could have smoked an entire pack over this one.
But again, as we've heard so many times, life happens to nonsmokers just like it does to us, and they don't have an urge to smoke. And we don't have to either. So I'm secure in my Day 63 quit, and I'm not even going to cheat on my diet because of this. (Holy Crap, I've turned into someone I hardly recognize but I'm pretty darn proud of finding the strength to make a healthier lifestyle mine).
