Ghost in the Machine

For the past couple of weeks, my overhead machine has been bugging the crap out of me. On a daily basis, there comes a time when I touch it just so, or put a little bit of pressure in a certain place, or just LOOK at it the wrong way, and it goes off. But then I touch it again, and it comes back on. And goes off. And comes back on.

This usually continues until I do either:

a) the mature and professional thing -- push the on/off button, open the lid, close it firmly, and push the on/off button again.

or

b) the immature "Fonzie" thing and pound it with a closed fist, bringing it back on.

After about the 4th day of this (when I wasn't nearly as aggravated by it), when the light would start going off and on, I jokingly referred to it as "the ghost." That got a laugh from the kids.

NOW, after about the 20th day of it, it happens, and all the kids immediately shout, "The ghost!!" While I mutter about wanting to kick the ghost in the family jewels.

I keep meaning to look into this in more detail, except that I've been inundated with meetings, parent conferences, etc. I don't know if there is a short in the machine or if the light bulb is faulty, and I just haven't followed up on either of those yet.

And so the ghost lives on. I'm about ready to cross the streams on this sucker though...