By Elaine Carlson

At least I have electricity. At least I have Clara and Brad. Clara is my cat and yes I named her after the dancer in the Nutcracker. And Brad is my husband. I kept repeating the good things I have after I was hit with a few misfortunes.

My first problem was that my computer mouse was dead. It took me a few minutes to register that it was not working. So what did I do? I started to swear. How would anyone anywhere be able to respond to an emergency without saying a few bad words? And not having the use of a reliable mouse is certainly an emergency.

In a few minutes I went to boil some water. And what the hell – when I open the microwave there was no light or noise and the turntable tray was not rotating. I look around the kitchen and see that the time is not displayed on my radio. So now do I have to deal with the fact that both my microwave and clock radio don't work? I guess so.

I knew that putting on a happy face and uttering curses were not effective ways to respond to a crisis. I decide to attempt to cope in a more mature fashion.

First I set out to fix the mouse by replacing the battery. So I have a mouse. And because my computer has not died I can check my email and play games. I was happy to see that I was not exactly in a going to hell in a hand-basket situation. It would be nice if all of life's problems could be fixed so easily.

I guess the microwave and the radio weren't working because of a problem with the electricity. I really don't want to take the time to watch some YouTube videos about how to flip a switch so I decide to ask Brad to take care of the problem.

He first checks the breaker box and finds out the problem is not there. I am not sure if the proper expression is to flip or to set a switch. But anyway he does that and I go over to turn on the microwave. I am happy when I see the light, hear the noise, and see the turntable spinning around.

When I plugged it in the radio started right away. I could tell what was being broadcast but the sound came out with an ugly burr. I knew it had gone kaput. I wasn't too concerned because I had that radio for a long time – I bought it at least twenty-five, maybe thirty, years ago.

So I just toss it into the trash can. There is that saying that one year of a dog's life is the same as seven years of a human's life. I wonder if anyone has calculated the same ratio for clock radios.

For a long time I have heard that trouble comes in threes. Of my three the radio was the only non-fixable problem. That's not bad --- being able to resolve two out of three.

I decide to look up that expression online. I found out it started out as a Danish folk saying. "Trouble comes in threes" is almost always followed by "An accident seldom comes alone."

I was pleased to see where the expression came from because I am Danish on my father's side. His mother was born to Danish parents in San Luis Obispo, California. I remember my grandmother taking me to Danish Days in Solvang when I was little. And there were a lot of relatives there.

When I was doing my research I found out about the singer Bridget Davis. She wrote a folk song with that phrase. On YouTube I watch her perform "Trouble Comes In Threes." She was sitting the whole time she playing her guitar and singing but I imagined her as a minstrel strolling around a city square or in a park somewhere and stopping in front of people to perform.

I make a note to myself to look for performances of Bridget Davis when she plays other songs.

I keep thinking about that expression. It would be nice if people just occasionally got three problems. But what if, what if, that expression is not totally accurate? And instead of problems coming in threes we assume people always have three problems?

If that were so then the fact that I took care of two out of three problems only means it will be true that I can expect to have two problems coming. I wish I hadn't thought this way.