IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING

I must have heard myself say it a million times.  It's always something.

This morning it was the dishwasher.  I left it until this morning to start up because I worried that it might stall when I was already asleep.  And precisely what I feared would happen, happened.  This morning, early.  I pressed the start button and came back down to the bedroom for a short meditation--Luka will be arriving shortly to spend the day with us.  I was only a couple of minutes into my sit when it happened. The stall signal went off, a persistent beep-beep-beep that let's you know when something went wrong with the operation.

Well, I think I know what the problem is.  The dishwasher repairman had resolved it the last time this happened.  It's just that the water pressure is set too high.  After the dishwasher repairman was here, we had to call in a plumber (it's always something!) for a different problem, and the plumber likely turned the water pressure back up.  Hence the recurring problem with the dishwasher.

I went upstairs and tried turning the hot and cold valves down a quarter turn, assuming, in my amateur way, that this would be the way to reduce the water pressure.  Re-started the dishwasher.  Decided I would have to give up on the meditation for today--Luka will be here soon.  Made the tea.  Brought it downstairs to the bedroom.  (Yes, the bedroom is downstairs in this hillside house; the kitchen and living area are upstairs.)  Poured tea for myself and Ellie.  Settled down...

And heard the beep-beep-beep again.  (Aren't some of those electronic sounds profoundly irritating?)  Went upstairs.  Tried another, somewhat less than a quarter turn this time.  And restarted the machine.

I sit here writing my entry in the blog, awaiting the dreaded beep-beep-beep.  We'll see.  Meantime, instead of a meditation, I received a useful reminder--one that the dharma tells us to expect: it's always something.  And another: don't allow yourself to get angry when you hear the beep-beep-beep...