So sod off and stop treating me as if I am, universe!

In Stephen King's mostly excellent novel 11/22/63, the hero travels back in time to 1958 to prevent the Kennedy assassination. The problem is that the past doesn't want to be changed, and it pushes back by creating mishaps and mayhem. Like things breaking down or trying to kill or maim you, that sort of thing. This phenomenon became known for convenience's sake as the "Jimla" effect (it becomes clearer if you read the book), and the hero is also known as Jimla since the agent of change and the resistance to change are two sides of the one coin.

Let me be clear; I did not come back in time from the future. If I did I would have a lot more money and consequently a lot more camera gear. I am not trying to alter a pre-existing timeline or stop anyone being assassinated. I may be trying to create a future (ineffectively so far) but am not trying to change one. So why, exactly, has the universe decided to treat me as the Jimla?

About two months ago I came down with a bad cough. It still hasn't cleared. This screwed my plans to get fit during the Christmas break.

Just before Christmas we bought a tower fan for the living room. It stopped working 8 hours later, requiring a time-wasting trip to get a refund.

About that time one of the household cars started leaking coolant, making it look like a new radiator would be needed. Except that all of the local mechanics had closed for the break by then. No explanation for this was ever found but thankfully it just righted itself as soon as the mechanics reopened.

Before Christmas we had ceiling fans with built-in lights installed in 3 rooms. The one in my study had a non-functioning light so we submitted a warranty request. The company sent someone out who fixed the light. And broke the fan. I now have the world's most ornate light fitting.

As noted in a recent PAD shot my line trimmer recently dumped its guts through the spinner, 2 months out of warranty and leaving me with a $250 replacement cost.

Last week my Opal card (the public transport keycard system) decided to start failing. It can only be read by the Opal card readers on one corner now.

In the same week the electric motor on the garage door quit working, though thankfully that's under warranty.

Last Friday evening I get home (late, because of issues at work) and am told that there is a distinct smell of gas outside the kitchen near the hot water service. While there is no risk of explosion we can't just leave gas venting into the air, especially when next door's bedroom is right on the other side of the fence. Note well the timing; Friday evening. Yes, that means an out of hours service call to the plumber on the Saturday and shut off gas until then. So $820 later...

Then yesterday afternoon (while the plumber was there) I got a phone call. "The car (different car to the first one) has just lost power and I'm stuck by the side of the road, just off an intersection. My sister and Lilly (the dog) are with me." My reply? "TELL me you are kidding!" Neither of them should really be exposed to hot temperatures for extended periods of time (and yes, it was a hot afternoon) so I checked with the plumber who said that he'd be fine by himself given how long it would take me. Accordingly I went and got both sister and dog and took them back to sister's place with dog staring at me all the way, panting (though I had the air cond in my car at full blast).

Also yesterday I went to get my camera out of my backpack and I find... a piece of plastic. A black piece of plastic. A piece of plastic that clearly came from an Olympus system. The one that you see at the front of this shot. After a moment of panic I realised that it was "just" the lens hood on the 12-40 lens. However the bag has not been dropped or otherwise impacted as far as I am aware so how exactly did the lens hood break?? Regardless of how it happened, that's another 50 bucks believe it or not.

I can therefore only reiterate that I am not the Jimla. Because if I was, I'd be having way better Powerball results. So if you would care to stop throwing this stuff at me, I promise I won't try to stop any assassinations that I have time travelling foreknowledge of, presidential or otherwise.