going for broke

something's amiss at our house these days.  since the weekend before christmas, our household appliances have suffered a string of very, very bad luck. it all started with the projector (yes, we have a projector in our home theater, and you would too if your husband was a technodork* as big as mine).  actually, it may have all started with the brown-outs we've been having (significant, and just another of the perks you enjoy when living in a developing nation).  one night while i was watching tv, the christmas tree lights looked as though they had turned to disco, flashing in and out.  we should have taken this as a bad sign rather than evidence of christmas ghosts.

the next day, ben discovered the HD cable for the projector was not working.  with a pissed-off sad look on his face, he dismantled it and brought it into a local shop where his worst fears were confirmed: the projector was no more.  he returned home only to realize the audio system had gone in the way of the projector... as had the media player.  shortly after, it became clear that the damage was spreading when the surround sound speakers and the DVD player died.  i soon realized what ben would be getting for christmas: a new home entertainment system!  bad news for katie.

the fact that a lamp in the living room and our water cooler were on the fritz this week?  well, that's just the icing on the cake, or christmas cookie, if you will.  i've been observing ben's behavior closely, as he seems to have developed a bit of paranoia these days.  he's constantly looking over his shoulder, turning appliances on and off and then breathing a sigh of relief as he passes through a room.  his world just isn't the same without the level of technology surrounding him that has become his comfort zone.  for now, we sit and wait patiently, usually in an eerily quiet living room, for the new equipment to arrive, and for things to be right again.  perhaps this is the revenge of the nazar?  perhaps it's a sign that things will be better, brighter, louder, and most definitely newer, in the coming year.

*ben does not endorse this statement, as he does not believe this is a technical term.