Zen and the art of troubleshooting

This week has seen the heights of my frustrations as a troubleshooter. First, our four-year old, high tech refrigerator died on us once more, and that time there was no motivation left to attempt yet another resurrection, so we wisely bought a new one that... failed to work hours after it was installed!

It kept on beeping continuously (just like Sputnik), which drove us crazy for almost four days. Yesterday, the service technician came and found out that the problem was created by a trivial, minute dimensional error on the door and fixed it.

Today, to capitalize on my problem-solving talents, I decided to clean and repair our gas fireplace that in recent months only worked sporadically. After taking it apart three times while receiving plenty of telephone assistance from the reseller, we came to the unlikely conclusion that a spider had caused a blockage inside the gas pipes, impeding with the regular flow. I cleaned it up and it now works.

All along, I stayed mostly calm and this help me a great deal seeing through the these little problems of our daily life...