Last night my landlord came back to fill the holes he and the septic guy had dug Saturday. I didn’t offer to help, except that if it had got any darker before he finished, I would have had to turn the light on for him. He left some pipe ends sticking up out of the ground, but I think he’s finished now, so I can relax. Nobody, not even anyone in my family, drops in on me without calling first, except the landlord.

And now, after months (years, really) of things not working exactly right, everything is finally the way it’s supposed to be. I can stop getting myself all worked up over a toilet that won’t flush, or a tub that won’t drain. Still, I can’t yet bring myself to flush and walk away. I have to watch the swirling, to make sure it all goes down. I don’t have the confidence yet, and it’s too much of a habit, but so far, so good.

Actually, the toilet could work a little better. The insides are rusting out, but the last thing the landlord told me last night was that when he gets a chance he’s going to replace it. No, I’m not holding my breath, or worrying about him dropping by unannounced. I’ll believe it when I see it, but it’s a nice thought.

One other good thing came out of this ordeal. Over the weekend, while the landlord was sitting in his truck at the end of my driveway waiting for Septic Guy to show up, he noticed how banged up my mailbox was. He’s probably noticed it before, since it’s been banged up since it was vandalized by neighborhood cretins about six years ago. The post office noticed, because they put a note in the old, broken box about five years ago, threatening to cut off my mail service if I didn’t replace it. I of course ignored the note, and they of course did nothing.

Over the weekend my landlord took it upon himself to replace the broken box with a shiny new one (all the more inviting to the cretins, natch). It’s a different experience picking up my mail now, because I don’t have to rattle a stick inside the new box to make sure nothing is living in it, and so far I haven’t reached in and pulled out a spider along with my mail. I’m sure the letter carrier appreciates the clean box, too, with a door that stays shut and a flag that stays up.