Expect the unexpected

The book is a recount of her ongoing battle with ovarian cancer.

She vowed to live but, of course, she didn't.

This column isn't about cancer or survival, unless you consider economic survival.

But isn't it always something?

You try to get ahead, then something comes up you hadn't counted on. Like going to get the tires rotated and having the service technician say:"M'am, I can't rotate your tires. You need a new tire on your right driver's side."

Well, you hadn't counted on that happening. That will take an unexpected dent out of your paycheck or social security.

Then one of the kids telephones asking for a small loan to help purchase a house up for auction. You can't say no to that request but that's also unexpected.

You coast along and everything is going great. The checkbook is balanced and life is good.

Then the dentist tells you you need a root canal.

You return from a weekend trip and find your house flooded from a broken water pipe..You need a plumber, pronto. Another unexpected.

Then you get really sick and need medical attention. You have insurance but it doesn't pay all the costs of a hospital stay. Or maybe you can't afford health insurance and are stuck with the entire bill. The medicine the doctor prescribes is over $100 for 30 pills.

Or company arrives and stays for an extended visit you hadn't anticipated. The grocery bills sky rocket and set you back financially.

The homeowner's insurance notice arrives and the cost has gone up. Your premium will be higher this year, despite raising the deductible..

You extend yourself by buying that new flat screen television set. Adding that to your credit card was a good idea at the time but now the payment is due.

At work, you get your pink slip and your wife's home pregnancy test is blue.

Unfortunately, the 15 year old hot water heater quits heating and needs replacing. Another unforseen expense.

Or the air conditioning system decides to give up the ghost on a scorching summer day. You have to take out a loan to buy a new unit; a costly expenditure.

The tires go bald and the transmission needs an overhaul, a major expense.

Then flooding damages the crops you've been counting on.

The self propel on the lawn mower quits propelling and that means another repair bill, something you didn't facture into the budget. And there's certainly no money set aside for a new mower.

Mother Nature can also wreck havoc on the budget. The recent ice storm is an example. Many residents paid tree trimmers and clean-up crews big bucks to clean up the damage caused by the winter ice storm. Many also lost freezers of food that thawed and spoiled during power outages.

I had to pay an electrician to replace the lines that went from my house to the meter pole. The meter pole snapped when heavy ice weighed the wires down. That cost an unexpected $300.

Isn't it always something?

During this economic recession, groceries are higher in price and so is gasoline. Last year we couldn't foresee that gasoline would go to $4 per gallon. That gouged the pocketbook too.

Filling a 500 gallon propane tank can be a shocker and puts a sink hole in the wallet.

Sure, things could be worse. There are worse things than money woes.

So write this down: The unexpected happens.

But know something else. It isn't always bad news. Good things happen too.

Remember the Kentucky Derby? No one, not the jockey, the trainer or the owner, expected Mine That Bird to win the Derby. But he did, and stunned the racing world.

Yes, surprising things happen.

Don't say I didn't warn you.