The Oven from Hades!!!!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to allow me to completely, utterly, and totally lose my religion!!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have spent the last two hours with my oversized head, my oversized arms, and my oversized behind stuck inside of, underneath, and in front of my oven. I merely needed to replace the oven ignitor. Its a breeze Youtube says. Anyone can do it Youtube says. Its a five minute job Youtube says. Youtube is a big fat liar!!!

NOTHING about my oven is like the supposed "same model #" in the how to video. NOTHING lines up. NOTHING is accessible. NOTHING looks the same. NOTHING about the video was in the least bit helpful except for the fact that at each and every step I was reminded that there was NOTHING about my oven that even remotely resembled the one IN THE VIDEO!

Not one to be easily deterred, I trudged on. I bent, twisted, tweaked, and torqued each and every component off and out and spent twice as much time merely trying to get those same parts back where they came from when I was done. Simple? Not a chance! Why you ask? Because the ignitor I took out of my oven looks absolutely NOTHING like the ignitor I just put IN my oven! BUT I am assured that this is indeed the right ignitor for my oven! It not only looks different, it installs at a different angle. Why is this important? Because it threw each and every component I took out off by JUST enough to make putting said components back in slightly more difficult than sending man to the moon, slightly.

Being the intrepid do it yourselfer I trudged on. Two hours into my simple five minute job, I was done. Was my heart filled with satisfaction and happy thoughts about puppies and butterflies? Do I hear the theme song to Rocky echoing in my brain? Not a chance. Why you ask again? Because Murphy's Law is the bane of my existence. If I could in fact find Mr. Murphy, I'd shoot him dead and bury his body in my back yard. Why would anyone make up such a terrible thing! Sadly I cannot locate Mr. Murphy. Its his lucky day. But I digress.

My two hour ordeal is complete. My oven restored to working order I pray. I hit the button. The ignitor ignites!!! I can see its warm and hopeful glow. I hear the valve on the gas open. I remember that I read the gas would not come on if the ignitor did not reach a sufficient temperature. My hopes perk up ever so slightly but it is not to be. Murphy has quashed my hopes yet again. The ignitor ignites. The gas gasses. The oven does not oven. For some reason (I have my thoughts on this) the RED HOT ignitor is not actually igniting said gas that is gassing.

I strive with every fiber of my being not to curse my oven into the bowels of Hades and am forced to restrain myself from finding the nearest explosive material and exploding my oven into eternity. The oven is safe for now but I make no promises.

I want to thank my dear sweet wife for her words of uplift and encouragement when she says "remember dear, you really are a Murphy, not a Mauldin". AAARRRGGGHHH!!! 

Have I mentioned that Youtube LIES? If any of you happen to hear a loud explosion just south of 24th Street, have no fear. Its just me completely losing my cool and sending this cursed oven back to the bowels of Hades where it belongs.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post now in session. Carry on!


:-)

The Neglected Blog

 My Two Mini Me's

I've had the urge of late to fire up the old blog again. Outside of a few book reviews, I have not blogged in over a year! Bad blogger, bad blogger!


I'm sitting here trying to think of the things that have happened since my last real blog post. The first thing that comes to mind is that since my last post about my 20th wedding anniversary, I've had my 21st wedding anniversary! :-)






Zachary finished his regular schooling last summer and started at TAMUT last fall. He's currently a sophomore (17 years old) and doing great! He has one full year of college under his belt and is well on his way to getting this third semester out of the way. He has a lovely girlfriend and is now working at Chicken Express. Life is good for the Z miester! He plans to go to Law School after college. That is the plan of the moment anyway!







Samuel is 4 years old now, beautiful, bad, amazing, aggravating, smart as can be, and a teenager in waiting! He's growing up so fast.








My now 10 year battle with Lyme disease continues. I'm actually doing pretty well all things considered. Seizures have been my biggest hurdle this last year but they have quieted a great deal this past month. I'm sitting at seven days seizure free and very thankful for that.

I've moved my computer shop back home and the business continues to do fairly well. It has never been a huge enterprise but it is used of God to meet many of our needs and I'm thankful for it.

New Beginnings Baptist Church is doing very very well! God has blessed us with a number of new families, couples, couples with kids, and several more. Our youth and children's program on Wednesday nights is doing very well. The fellowship is sweet, the unity is beautiful, and the love abounds. I am richly blessed to serve in such a place.

I'm 15 days shy of my 41st birthday. As I reflect on the passage of 41 years, I see so many things I could have and should have done differently but see how God has used all of my life, good decisions, bad decisions, failures, successes, the mountain tops, and the valleys. God wastes nothing in our lives. I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future. God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

I'll try to be more consistent with the blogging. My wife has started a blog. I'll put a link below this line. I can't let her out blog me! ;-)

carrieleighs.blogspot.com

Thanking God daily for all He does in my life. He is my Rock and my Fortress. In Him and Him alone I place my trust.

In His Service,


Micah