Just when I thought it was safe to relax and let my guard down, the Boss surfaced today, right here in town. Fortunately, it wasn't me he was looking for. I knew that ahead of time because he called me first thing this morning and asked me to find some swimming pool equipment on the web.

We don't do swimming pool construction. He's staying at his ex-wife's house for a few days, doing some work around the place for her. One of the terms of the divorce settlement was that he'd keep the house in good condition. (He also has to maintain a hefty life insurance policy on himself, with her as the beneficiary. I just hope she doesn't take the initiative to cash in early.)

I couldn't find the pool valve he needed, but I found a toll free number for him to call, and he located the part at a pool supply place here in town. "It's where the old Tower Records store used to be," he told me. That confused me for a minute, because there's never been a Tower Records in Santa Rosa. Then he told me the street it's on, and it came to me. Rainbow Records! I used to haunt that place. I even know about the pool place that's there now.

Then he called again as I was getting ready to go to the post office. He wanted to know if we could pay off one of our suppliers, because he wanted to order more material from them. I had to tell him that we couldn't pay, unless we received a check in today's mail. "Maybe I'll wait until you get back from the post office, to see if I can tell him a check's on the way."

Well, okay. The trouble is, the only time I ever get a check in the mail is when I'm not expecting it. Whenever I have a good reason to believe there'll be one in today's mail, there's never anything. Except today! The biggest of the payments we've been waiting for showed up, and as soon as I got back from the post office I called the Boss with the news.

I really like giving him good news. He's a different person when he has one less thing to obsess over. He'll always find something new to worry and fret about, because that's how he is, but any ray of light casts a temporary glow over the whole world. He was positively gleeful that he could tell this supplier that we were paying him.

Getting all that money multiplied my work load, but it's a good day when I can write so many checks without worrying about running down the bank account. If only I could do that with my personal account. It's time consuming but not tiring to do nothing all afternoon but pay bills. It doesn't leave much time for anything else, though, so I don't have much to report about other issues.

Since I didn't hear from the Boss this afternoon, I assume he spent it coming to my town and buying his pool valve. He's often in the area, but the only time he came to my house, he sat in his truck in my driveway with the motor running while I ran outside to talk to him. Then he left. So I probably shouldn't worry about him showing up unexpectedly when I'm in my pajamas watching the soaps and eating bonbons at ten in the morning.

As I walked down the driveway this afternoon to get the mail out of my box, I saw patches of blue in the sky and thought I'd be able to get some yard work done at last. No sooner had I formed the thought than it started raining on me again. Life is just one cruel weather joke after another these days. Sunshine is promised for tomorrow, but I probably won't believe it even if I see it.