When it comes to big decisions, you know that when I start leaning heavily in one direction, I’m going to be pulled back the other way before I land on either side. It especially takes an awful lot for me to make any major changes in my life, like the one I’ve been contemplating. (Which may not seem major to everybody, but I have a low threshold in these matters.)

As sure as I was yesterday that I was going to make an immediate switch to cable Internet service, today I’m reconsidering. Having been satisfied with the phone company’s service for so long, I gave them another chance. I didn’t make another call to their exotic service center, but I did go through their online diagnostic and tutorial, and I learned something. It happens.

It turns out that the splitter I was using is probably not the one I should have to keep the fax and modem operating on the same line. In fact, there was one point in the demonstration that pretty much said exactly that: If another device is plugged into the modem I have, the modem probably won’t operate the way it should, and might not operate at all. Since that’s what I’ve been experiencing, I located the splitter I should be using and ordered one. If that five dollar bit of plastic makes the difference, I’ll be so relieved I might even exhale again.

I can hear you saying “wishful thinking.” But that’s how I roll. I’m always hopeful that the least possible amount of upheaval will be necessary to get me from A to B. Points C, D and beyond I don’t even think about until I get to B. I might still make the big change, but until I make that decision, I’ll keep hoping I don’t have to.

All of that isn’t what kept me awake all night, though, not this time. It wasn’t the heat, either, at least not directly. It was the possibility that, with all the rain we had this spring and all the heat we’re having now, my yard might be more of a tinderbox than it’s been in the nine years I’ve lived here. It wouldn’t take much of a spark, and when the landlord put my new septic tank in last winter, he “temporarily” turned off the outside water faucet. And it’s still off. That’s what I was thinking about in the middle of the night.