On Domestic Disarray and eBay Weasels

Pictured on your left is a section of my kitchen, an area torn apart so that contractors can run electrical conduit plus water, drain, and gas lines to the second floor of our house. The purpose of this heavy construction is to create a second floor laundry, a dream my wife has held for many years and for which we are now in the financial position to afford.

Still, I despise such disruptions while they are occurring, and the equipment noise and foot traffic around the house today has been considerable. In addition, my dogs are always high-strung and jittery with so much activity. I knew that this would be a poor day to engage in the contemplative work of syllabus writing and paper grading, yet I nonetheless insisted on engaging in these very activities.

Recipe for disaster, that.

After a few less-than-fully-productive hours, I decided my efforts would be better spent pulling weeds and occupying myself in other garden-related activities. The mail carrier brought me some English ivy plants I ordered from an eBay vendor, but unfortunately the jackass seller sent me cuttings instead of the "well-rooted plants" advertised.

I planted the ivy anyways, figuring that it would be a waste of time to chase down $10 from this seller. Had I looked more closely at the seller's ratings, I would have noticed a spate of recent negative comments from dissatisfied buyers, but I figured that English ivy was pretty hardy and that even a lousy seller could not screw up such a small sale.

I was wrong, but I was also distracted for a few hours, and in the meantime the construction marched along. Perhaps the lousy eBay deal provided me an outlet for my energy on a day when little other work was going to be successful.