Whatever will I complain about now? (Don’t worry; I’m on it.)

Now that the mud that has been befouling my driveway entrance has been scraped into a smelly pile and placed on the landlord’s lot, I won’t have that to complain about. Now that a layer of rock so smooth it’s almost like pavement has been laid down over where the mud used to be, I don’t have to grumble about wading though anything, not even puddles on rainy days. And now that the letter carrier has started delivering to my mailbox again, I don’t have that worry eating at me any more.

So what will I complain about, now that all my worldly problems have been solved? Hmmm. Give me a minute.

While the landlord and his henchmen were out there with tractors and dump trucks and shovels and rakes this afternoon, I wandered up the drive to chat. It seemed like the right thing to do, making an appearance so that they knew I knew what they were doing. He made a point of letting me know that it had cost him $800 to rent the equipment and buy the material, but he also mentioned that he knew it was his responsibility, and if he hadn’t been out of town he would have known about it sooner, and taken care of it earlier.

Well, of course I believe all that, not that it does me any good now. When he told me to call him any time I had a problem, I believed that, too, but only because I don’t think he wants to hear from the Boss again. And I think he realizes that I haven’t bugged him for much of anything in the five and a half years I’ve lived here, so I’m probably not going to start now. The fact that I don’t ask him for little things made it easier to take care of the mud, which became a big thing.

So what’s left to complain about? How about my car, and the fact that it wouldn’t start again this morning. I eventually got all my errands done, but as soon as I had a mud-free driveway to get through, I hosed all the caked-on mud off my once-green Saturn (all that would come off with a hose, anyway) and called the dealer to make an appointment. The first day they could get me in was Thursday, so I’ll probably lose another half-day of work getting that taken care of.

But I’m pretty sure I’ll come away with the same dependable car I’ve been driving for all but the last month of the three years I’ve had it. And then, on to the next worry, whatever that turns out to be.