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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Convenience

Years ago, Charles Grodin wrote a book I didn't read called It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here. The title stuck with me because it came apparently from a conversation Grodin had with a British woman who was in some authority position in a movie location in England. The movie people were apparently annoying.

I can't get the title out of my mind because suddenly requests and demands have come pouring in for little things, inconveniences, courtesies I really should accord, and it would just be so nice, so very nice if these things weren't around. Much of my ire is the result of having a relatively new baby around, of course. If I didn't have to tend to him in quite the way I do, I would mind less all of the weird contortions one must do when trying to move. (Like wandering the streets with a relatively high fever from mastitis while real estate people walk around or trying to get the cranky baby to take a nap while the place gets measured by people one hopes are ignoring the mess and the Lego explosion. The great part about the latter is that not only was I able to feel I wasn't being gracious and welcoming to the strangers, I also felt like the world's biggest slob, all while being annoyed by their presence, and ashamed of myself for being annoyed because, in fact, they were very very nice.)

And now the plumber, the mythical plumber who has been dodging my calls for, no lie, two months, showed up at a moment of high inconvenience. Why can't they call first? I couldn't send him away, though, because who knows if he'll ever reappear. I had even called another set of plumbers, nicer-seeming fellows because I felt so jilted by this group. If I were a Rules kind of girl, I would have sent this guy packing, because, God knows, I have better things to do than sit around and wait on someone who can't be bothered to call for months. Sadly, I need the sink. While I hate looking at this thing that won't work day in and day out, the problem is that eventually someone will probably move in (touch wood) who will be insane enough to actually want a sink that works, unlike me who is happy to modify her life to avoid the sink because she just can't stand dealing with shambling call-dodging plumbers who just show up hoping for smiles and praise. But I'm not angry.

To this I could also add a few recent work panics that have left me more dependent than usual on the coffee maker and my tether, it has reached its end.

Oh, and does anyone know about a really powerful moisturizer for babies? I'm about to embrace the Eucerin family, but just in case that one fails, I would love a backup (and have already been through the land of Aveeno and Johnsons and one other whose name I can't recall). The baby he is scaly. Almost lizard-like. He doesn't seem to mind though, so I suppose there is the bright side, beaming at me.

posted by Elise at 1:35 PM

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4 Comments:

anie said...

I use a greatly powerful moisturizer by Vaseline. It does contain petroleum jelly so if that scares the hell out of you, my apologies.

If not, it is called "Deep Moisture Creamy formula" and comes in a 4.5oz squeeze tube with a blue flip top cap. It is really wonderful~not greasy, long lasting, has loads of Vitamin E and no stinky smell!

My best to you in terms of tethers, houses, plumbers and new babies.

8/15/2007 9:44 PM

Nora said...

i use the burts bees line for my scaly skin, but it may be too much for a baby

8/16/2007 7:15 AM

Anonymous said...

There's a great line called Bug and Pickle with Baby Butter, Baby Lotion, and Scalp Oil all for babies. They use essential oil and vegetable oils and stay allergen-free.

8/16/2007 9:12 AM

leighs said...

Eucerin is great, particularly if you can find the very thick stuff in the little tub, as opposed to the bottle. I worked once in a hand-surgery clinic and that is what the doctors used on patients with excessively dry skin, plus it has little to no scent. good luck!

8/17/2007 5:57 AM

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