177. Does it really pour when it rains?

The following all rained down upon my household within a 48-hour period last week.

1. I was watching the seven-hour Russian version of War and Peace. All the guns were silent for the moment; Pierre was searching for his soul; Natasha was pining; all was right in the world of Tolstoy, which happened to also be my world at the moment (great filmmaking) ... Suddenly I heard a loud crashing crunching sound at my patio door window. I got up and pulled back the curtains which cover the window and was shocked to see that the entire window was cracked to bits -- and an ARROW was lying on the concrete ground! Now I was really freaked out. Was someone shooting at me? With a bow and arrow? What the ... I got up the nerve to go outside and walk around a little to check it out. I noticed some people movement in the house behind me ... and a few minutes later, this elderly gentlemen is in the alley between our homes looking for something. I asked him if he had "lost" something. He gave me a funny look. I motioned for him to follow me up my property to the concrete slab which is our patio and pointed to the arrow. He was in shock. He explained how he had been shooting arrows at a target in his backyard with a bamboo bow, and that the arrow somehow deflected off the target, went over his wall and crashed into my window. The geometry seemed impossible -- but there it was. Turns out he's a real nice guy -- took complete responsibility -- and without dealing with any insurance companies, he took it upon himself to find a new door and put it in by himself.
2. Both sources of water in the kitchen (regular and filtered) started leaking. We had soggy, moldy wood slowly disintegrating under the pipes and although we had to pay the plumbing bills, insurance has covered all the work to replace the wood and flooring. But we've had plumbers, carpenters, floorers and insurance adjusters running around our house for the past few weeks.
3. During all this, I had some sort of really bad bronchial condition and a really bad cough. Just starting to feel better now after a course of Z-pack antibiots.
4. Listening to the new Frank Zappa release: LUMPY MONEY -- 3 cds! NP: Track 25 on Disc 3 -- the basic (no vocals) tracks for Who Needs the Peace Corps? How cool is that!@

Life is pretty good. In other words, it could always be worse. Ian Underwood should have had a HUGE career. But maybe he's happier this way.