Why is the cloud just over my head?

I am not a very lucky person. I wish I was but I am not. I hired a lawyer a couple of years ago to deal with an inheritance issue and nothing happened but the legal fees. When I finally managed to get him fired up to do something, he had a heart attack and died. This caused a setback. As did the less than competent staff who actually do most of the footwork involved in these things. I am thinking of billing them for the time I spend getting them straightened out about facts and the locations of principals in the case.

My life has been a lot of that. It also is a major part of my golf game. If I hit the ball straight, it bounces left or right when it hits the ground. The direction, more often than not, being the least advantageous.

If I am in a hurry, all the traffic lights turn red as I approach. And, of course, no one else on the road is in a hurry either. If there are three lanes, the cars ahead of me will occupy them all and ride side by side some 5 or more miles per hour below the speed limit.

It has always been this way for me. I have grown accustomed to these impediments to a life of simplicity and ease. I have adapted to them as best I can. I have tried to accomodate the invisible demons who enjoy tormenting me. I give myself twice the time needed to get anywhere. I doublecheck facts and figures ahead of time. I carefully select the checkout lines to determine which will move me through in the least time. This last never works out but I still have hope.

And, yet, in many ways I have been fortunate throughout my life. Faye stuck with me until I woke up to the fact that I should marry her and take another chance after a really bad first marriage. Faye beat the breast cancer she developed several years ago. AT&T bought me out and allowed me to retire early with a fair sized bonus. Other than the Great Kneecap Incident, I have not suffered any major injuries in my life. And that is in spite of several years where a motorcycle was my only mode of transportation. I managed to survive the incompetence of my doctors who misdiagnosed a lung infection and then mishandled it for 18 months several years ago (a story I have promised to relate eventually). I survived my childhood of indifference to danger and legalities. I survived my first marriage without committing murder. A major act of restraint on my part, I should add.

I do not know why I am not more thankful.