![\"\"](\"https:\/\/logicalelegance.com\/journey\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/crashedDCMetro.jpg\" "\\"Crashed")
<\/a><\/p>\nMaybe I should have gone into testing but I love building things, creating new things. Plus, development usually pays better. I know the superhero lore: using my power for profit is certain to lead to sadness but I\u2019m sure Clark Kent used his X-ray vision a time or two to get a story.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for me, my power is not limited to the flow of electricity. I also break physical things. While I like pretty and expensive vases, we don\u2019t own any because the Tiffany one we got as a wedding present fell to the sink one day with a giant crack. Things in my hands tend to end up on the floor. Glasses with liquids get spilled even when I\u2019m nowhere near them. Things on the floor end up stepped on or tripped over, repeatedly. I can trip over a crack in the sidewalk, it doesn\u2019t have to be uneven. I did major damage to my hip falling out of my desk chair.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not an idiot: I don\u2019t go in china shops. And I would say our house is configured for safety and acceptable levels of casual destruction. I let C control the TV and most of the household electronics. The pathways I move along are free from clutter and likely damage. It is ok if I run into or trip over the cat tree. (I stopped giving the cat guilt-treats when I would walk on his tail and now he moves his tail when he sees me coming. I\u2019m pretty sure he was moving in front of me when there were treats at stake.) The kitchen counter is mostly devoid of things, partially because we like the clean look, partially because it is easier to clean up, partially because it limits my range when my talent misfires.<\/p>\n
It is with some trepidation that I visit my in-laws home. I have seen many magazines with showcase houses that are not nearly as lovely as this one. Each room is done up in a way where everything is perfect. I\u2019ve been in much worse museums than this house. I feel huge and ungraceful.<\/p>\n
My father-in-law was worried about me tripping down the stairs (a quite reasonable fear) but I was far more concerned about tripping down the stairs and bringing two stories worth of antiques with me. I will have care on the stairs.<\/p>\n
Right now, I\u2019m sitting on the floor of a sitting room (seriously, there is no other word, it is not a bedroom, bathroom, living room or kitchen; long ago, it might have been a nursery or governess\u2019 room). I\u2019m sitting on the floor because I don\u2019t know which chairs or sofas are suitable for sitting. And if one of them is suitable, I don\u2019t know which pillows should be moved from it. I can assume all of them but then where do they go? Not on the floor, I know that much.<\/p>\n
Even down here, I\u2019m a little stressed out. There are dolls and animals that I nearly set my backpack on and then almost kicked when I stretched out my leg. I am being careful. Really. And so far nothing has been touched but the rug. And I refuse to think about the rug and whether or not it should be sat upon or have my gear strewn about it. I\u2019ll assume yes on that even though there are rugs in this house that I know I\u2019m not to loiter on (though I don\u2019t know which ones).<\/p>\n