Tolerating the intolerable

So I am heading out the door this morning and in my preparations for work I do the normal guy things, you know shower, shave, coffee, quiet time. Not today. Work is one of those things I tolerate because if you don’t tolerate work then small other things like cash become a challenge.

Anyway I am at step one of the morning preparation, shower time. In most American home this is easy, turn on the water adjust to desired temp, do your business. For the last month that has not been my privilege. There is a process for hot water because my water heater has gone south. It now requires opening several valves hoping the igniter will work, running lots of water to ensure a higher than truly needed flame and being quick because anything can bring it all to a very cold cold halt. Once again this is something I tolerate because it is a part of the process of getting out the door and going to work to make the money that makes the house go round. It has become yet another example of tolerating the intolerable. It helps that I am aware that most people in the world do not have a hot shower every day and many are fortunate to get a running shower on a weekly or monthly basis.

There are some things I have been tolerating that add nothing to the process of making the house go round and round. CATS. Last year I went from 2 to 4 cats overnight. If I had doubled my cars, my kids, my bills, my computers, my wives overnight there would be hell to pay, but not cats. They fight me going in and out of doors in the morning when normal people are still sleeping. They have no issues with taking several thousands of dollars worth or furniture and changing it to tattered rags. They have now qualms about parking their big lazy butts over the heat vents so they stay warm, at everyone else’s expense. And of course the expectation is that I will feed them, keep them healthy and if you’re a cat nut I will leave their destructive claws in tact.

So this morning as I have no hot water and ungrateful cats about my feet I have decided to not tolerate the intolerable. Work, cold shower, house issues tolerable because they add value to the running of the house. The new cats that “appeared” overnight, no value to the running of the house. They require resources of the house, they take resources of the house, and they don’t add value to the house. So there days are numbered, anyone want a fat lazy obnoxious cat?