Hi, I'm Craig and I do not deal well with being frustrated.

This was evidenced yet again as I found myself swearing at a water heater. The pilot light keeps going out for some inexplicable reason so I have to make the trek to relight it (it's not one of those new-fangled ones that auto-lights itself. I have to conjure fire like some prehistoric caveman with a Bic lighter). The other fun part of this is the plate that keeps the fire-demon inside of the water heater is the trickiest piece of sheet-metal I have ever encountered. Seriously, I think this was created by the same asshole that designed the garbage disposal in our dishwasher. It requires the dexterity of the most skilled thieves and watchmakers to get in there right; skills I do not currently possess. As I toyed with my new-found hobby of trying to get this piece of sheet metal to sit where God and the designer intended I found my blood pressure and swearing increase. It hit a fever pitch when I wondered of ripping the water heater out of the wall would work, but realized that would serve nothing other than to wrench my back and leave a gaping hole where the water heater once stood. (This is a tank that I'm sure could heat an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The previous owners were much into not taking cold or tepid showers, what with three children and two adults.

JoDee has seen the brunt of me getting frustrated. I've pulled CD ROM drive trays out of their enclosures, smashed keyboards into oblivion, and a whole bunch of childish things. It's not helpful, but I continue to do it. It's something that I've needed to work on for some time. I come by it honestly. My dad has the same issues with frustration. Sometimes I just need to walk away from a problem but I'm so invested in solving it that tensions rise and the swearing starts.

I know the best way to handle this is to just pause, feel the feelings of frustration, and let them go. That sounds good, but I'm definitely not the best at it.