you know you read too much...

...when a simple typo causes way too much thought processing to take place. 

yesterday, i got some liquid plumbr to clear up a minorly slow-ish draining issue in my tub, not even a problem yet.  after waiting the prescribed 15 minutes (no, i lied. it was 20 minutes. i was looking at the australian gold coast vacation rentals on airbnb.com and i got distracted.), the tub drained and i was like, ok, shower time.  now i don't know what kind of chewbacca hairball got dislodged from it's secret hiding nook, but it completely took over the drain and stopped up the entire thing.  the shower water rose to bathing levels and barely drained maybe 3 inches overnight.  mark went to walmart in the nightime hours, as one does, and bought a drano snaking kit, yadda yadda.  long story short it didn't work, and he wrote me a note and posted it on the shower door to tell me.

i saw the note this evening and his p.s. said "turn of the space heater."

turn of the space heater?  what?  is that like henry james' the turn of the screw?  is he trying to give me a message?  does he want me to read this space heater book?  is it like, a how-to book?  10 Easy Household Annoyances, Fixed in One Turn of the Space Heater by uncle joe plumber.  is it like, a soap opera mr. fix-it book?  like sands through the hour glass, so are the turns of our space heaters...

so i'm standing there like, pondering deeply, when it hits me.  turn off the space heater.  the space heater in front of my nightstand that i use every morning when i'm getting dressed.  that i left on *one* time and now i wear the scarlet letters S and H for all eternity, with no pardon issued despite countless months of good behavior because i "could have burned the house down."  i don't know why i had such a hard time figuring that one out.  he reminds me every day to do my duty to keep him char free.  mark's conversations with me end thus: "ok, love you, bye.. drive safe.. be good..  turn off the space heater!"

so yeah.  flummoxed by a simple typo.  what's the word for when your brain makes things so much harder than they have to be?  because i have that.