On Sun, 26 Apr 1998 15:05:56 -0700, you wrote:

>I am not sure that it is over. My kids' computer just started acting up. In
>my mind I see the next couple of 100$ disappearing.
>
>Please Vanagonians let me know from your experience that things will be okay
>again, that maybe justice exists somewhere, that I don't have to be as hard
>on myself as I am right now.
>
>Bj�rn

I have had much the same luck as you for the past month. First, the
monitors on both the computers in our home died within a week of each
other. Then we were hit by high winds (the government refuses to call
it a tornado as the funnel cloud wasn't on the ground) and my wife's
(almost) new Dodge Caravan was practically junked, my Vanagon's roof
looks like someone took a hammer to it, and all of the windows on the
front of our home were broken out, the roof damaged, the gutters were
wrapped down around the eves, and all of the wood trim on the front of
the house was damaged.

BUT... Things do get better. I have already settled with my insurance
company on the damage to both cars and have replaced the old dead 14
inch monitors with flat screen monitors (15 inch and seventeen inch).
My son is happy with the 15 inch monitor that is now on his computer,
but drools over our 17 inch one - all I do is smile at him and say,
"being a parent does have a few perks". And the Vanagon was getting to
where it really could have used a new coat of paint anyway, it is kind
of nice to have the insurance company chip in on the cost.

We are still waiting for settlement on the house, but the "cloud over
our lives" seems to have moved on...

Doug