Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

It’s the little things in life that matter.  You go along and take them for granted, and it’s only when they’re gone that you notice what a difference they make, how important they are to you.

Take eyelashes, for example.

You get up on an average morning, you can wink, you look more like a human than a frog, you don’t have a panic attack when ever you hear a loud bang…  But all that can be changed in the blink of an eye, literally.

So in case you hadn’t heard, our new house has an outdoor hot tub.  And that hot tub has a heater, and that heater isn’t working quite right.  Here’s how I found out.

Susie and I go to check out our new house the day we get the keys.  We look around the house, wander from room to room, and soon realize there’s no furniture.

“There’s no furniture,” I say.

“We could always sit in the hot tub,” Susie says. “I just happened to have swimsuits and towels and champagne in the trunk.”

“That’s quite a good idea,” I say.

Our friends Brian and Toni had come over as well, so the four of us head out to the tub.  After about 45 minutes, the water from the jets stops being hot.  It is as though the water is recirculating, but is no longer being heated, I think to myself.

So I get out of the pool and walk over to the heating unit.  It’s not putting out heat.  Yet the switch is still in the “High” position. How odd.

I turn the switch to “Off” and immediately the world goes bright.  I remember now a large Boom, but at the time, it was more like the sound a hot air balloon heater makes when it’s exploding.

I shook my head a bit to clear it, turned the heater back on to high (note to those reading: yes, that does seem a little unwise in retrospect, but I was a little stunned) and walked back to the pool where Susie and Toni and Brian where sitting really still.

“Trav,” Susie said. “Is anything on fire over there, because I smell a little burning.”

“Nope, it’s all fine.  Just a little built up gas,” I said.

“Are you sure, because something smells a little crispy,” Toni said.

“I’m pretty sure,” I said.

“Dude, where’s your eyebrows?” Brian said.

We sat in the now-hot tub and pondered this for a little while.  About 20 minutes later, the heater made another loud boom, and then an even louder one, so I got up and turned it off with a long stick and we decided to call it an evening.

Other than that, the new house is really lovely, and I’ll be announcing the housewarming soon.

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

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