Then there are those special days, when I have set aside the entire day for writing, and life hands me something else.
Today is one of those days.
I'm not complaining, really. I will still be able to make it over to Jenny's house for the evening portion of our day of writing.
I tried to take care of the flat studded tire yesterday afternoon. But the Les Schwab in the neighborhood where I was, said the tire couldn't be repaired (I wasn't surprised; one by one the tires are giving out; which they do over time - and I've had them a while) - and they didn't have the replacement tire for my car. The mechanic checked and the Les Schwab I usually go to and they had three of the tires. The problem was that I was 25 minutes from that store and only 5 minutes from where I needed to be in an hour. So my new plan was to go this morning to get the new tire. Quick. Easy. Right?
Problem number one was my own fault. My partner and I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning watching several episodes of "Better Off Ted." It was great fun. A new series we've gotten attached to, thanks to Jenny and her husband. But that meant sleeping later this morning (wah, I know! I didn't work today - which is why I set it aside for writing). Which means my whole day started later than originally planned, since I got up at the time I thought I'd be meeting Jenny to write.
I was hoping to take my car in tomorrow to get the rear brakes done. It was time, they needed to be done (had the front ones done in September), and felt a little "sloppy" - which I realized could be partly due to driving a new rental car for three weeks. But, alas, the reliable, friendly, most excellent place we take our cars (
Hawthorne Auto Clinic - awesome people; great service; never a ripoff - always excellent work) is closed tomorrow. So, okay, problem number two surfaced: I needed to take my car in today because the shop could get it done. Yay - it could be taken care of in one day.
Oh, the tire, I remembered after setting it up to take my car in for rear brakes. We're in a somewhat wet time - although it may be letting up for a couple days - with cold temperatures, which means ice potential. And with the driving around I do, I really need to have all four tires studded, rather than three out of four. At least that's my opinion. Yesterday the Les Schwab guy said, "Oh, it's safe." But I think he was thinking in general, since I had a regular size tire on it and not the donut-spare. But I couldn't get the car in for the rear brakes until after the parts arrived - which would be by the time the mechanics were back from lunch - so I had 90 minutes.
A quick and thorough shower and I was on the way to Les Schwab in 20 minutes. Where it took all of those 90 minutes plus a few more to mount and put on the new (now three out of four studs are new) studded tire. Whew.
Then off to Hawthorne Auto, and next door to
Common Grounds Coffee House for a latte and tuna sandwich (my favorite tuna sandwich in town: tuna with diced apples, capers, and grilled with swiss cheese). And here I still am. Over two hours later. And that's okay. The coffee is good. Hawthorne Auto is also doing an oil change since it's due in a couple weeks - may as well do it while it's up there.
And I will get to Jenny's at some point to write.
Meanwhile, here I am. Writing my blog entry. I've uploaded to my online storage the copy of the whole memoir in process (the file I thought I'd lost - but discovered I had here on the laptop, thankfully, since my desktop is dead).
A day of writing became a day of car care. But that makes me safer on the road and here on earth to write another day and month and for years to come.
Yes, better to miss the planned writing time and be safe on the road.
Yes.
The lesson of acceptance and patience continues.
