Missed opportunities, sigh!!

The phone just rang. I didn't recognize the name on the caller ID, but I answered it anyway.

Hello? said Rose.

Into my ear swam a baritone voice, which said, Hello. What are we doing Saturday?

What I said: Who is this???

What I should have said: Same thing we do every Saturday. Plot to take over the world!!

Merde. Now I'm gonna be up all night, thinking of more brilliant responses.

This was the second missed opportunity in the past week. Last Thursday morning, a stranger came knocking on my door. He wondered if I'd be interested in selling "that old rider" - aka my fussy old Husqvarna lawn tractor - that was sitting waaaaay back on my back-forty. As it happens, that perskickitty old bucket of bolts had actually started - on the first try, with stale gas in the tank, no less - and had been purring like a kitten this year. I figured that I'd be able to get one more season out of that beast. I had vowed that the next, inevitable breakdown would be the last, and then I would replace the old husky in 2008.

HA!!

That very afternoon, I was feeling very smug as I neared the finish line of my fortnightly race to cut the grass. And didn't that lawn tractor decide to bust a pin or a chain or a gear or something. I don't even care what, specifically, is broken. It's probably fixable, but I will not be throwing good money after bad for this repair. A bright, shiny, brand new John Deere will be delivered on Friday. WooHoo!

And if that stranger who knocked on my door happens to read this blog, he can have that damned Husqvarna!