Time On My Hands...Literally!

TIME ON MY HANDS…LITERALLY! By: Carole Blake

I just checked it out on Google…and here’s the definition of having “time on my hands”: an idiom that means simply you have time in which to do anything you like. Well, in my case it’s quite different. A series of mishaps happened to me within a ten day period, and I normally wouldn’t sit down and write or moan and groan about them…but now I have ‘time on my hands’.

First: my husband Larry and I live in a lovely condominium in Long Island, and we’re very happy here. However, we noticed – years ago – that when he’s using the hair dryer in one bathroom, I can’t use the hair dryer in another bathroom at the same time, due to the fact that the power just blows out! (That should be my biggest problem!) OK…so on a recent Friday I didn’t know he was drying his hair, and I started to dry mine. Boom! Power out! But wait…it wasn’t just the dryers…it was my computer too. When Larry went to our electric circuit controller, all the electricity came back…except my computer. It was dead. I couldn’t re-start it. We called our tech-guy, and he came to our home. He said that my hard drive had been “fried”. Everything…fried! But…the good news is that I had a back-up system, and everything – my contacts, my pictures, my stories, my songs (I’m a songwriter) – would all be restored. He came back on Monday, and sure enough – $500 later – I had everything back! Yay!

Second: I had received a refund check from a product I had returned, and when I got in my car, I endorsed the back of it and took out my license before I started the car. I put them on the passenger seat and went to the drive-through area of my bank and waited behind another motorist. I reached for the check and my license and…all I had was the check! Where was the license? I pulled up when the other driver left, and I explained to the ‘window-teller’ that I couldn’t find my license, but she recognized me so she cashed the check. When I left the bank, I pulled over and searched all through the car. I moved the seats back and forth thinking maybe the license fell somewhere between…but no luck. It was absolutely ridiculous, but there was NO license to be found. The next morning I went online to the DMV and applied for a duplicate license. I paid the $17.50 plus a dollar they suggested for a charity, and I received a temporary license which I printed out from my computer (thank goodness it was working again!). It was a mystery, but at least I had a temporary license just in case I needed it. Later that day I took my car to the car wash…and yes…you guessed it…when I got back into my clean car, there was my license waiting for me! It must have been wedged so tightly in a crack, and when the car washers used their blower, out it came! When I got home, I called the DMV to see if I could cancel the new license, and they told me that if I had called on the same day, I’d get my money back, but one day later my old license would not be valid. Oh well…

Third (and Worst): On Thursday – before the Memorial Day weekend – a friend of mine asked me to fill in on a tennis game for her because she was having a back problem. By the way – I am an avid tennis player – I absolutely adore playing doubles…inside in the winter…and outside in the summer. So I was available and I agreed to play that morning. Everything was fine…except…at one point I was running to a ball, and my feet slid on something, and I went flying up in the air. My racket flew out of my hand, my hat flew off my head, and I was falling…falling…falling. I put my right hand out to protect my head and body, and then there I was…lying on the court…dumbfounded! The other three women came running over and brushed me off and helped me to the bench. I was really shook up, but I decided to try and get back on the court. I actually played one game, but then the pain in my hand was too severe, and I had to quit. I iced it at home, but on Friday I went to a local walk-in clinic where they took several X-rays. The doctor said I had “chipped” (broken) my bone, and they wrapped an enormous splint – from my nails to my elbow – and predicted that I’d be in that thing for maybe two months. What a great start to my summer tennis season! They had also referred me to a ‘hand specialist’. Unbelievably, I was able to get an appointment that afternoon (right before the big weekend), and more X-rays were taken. But the result was quite different! The doctor said he thought it was more of a sprain…and along with arthritis (Hey…I’m a senior!)…it was painful, but it didn’t need a splint. I had a Velcro hand support from all my tennis background, and the doctor said that would do! So…instead of 2 – 3 months incapacitated, I’m hoping to be playing tennis again next week!

So now you know why I had ‘time on my hands’ to write this saga. I love happy endings. Hope you do too!