Feeling tired and run down?

I was busy yesterday. I finally massaged next year's materials budget into a form that satisfied Skippy, so I started my ordering. My crew finished taking down some weedy trees by an administrator's (on-campus) house so he could have a new shed built, and then, since the slopes were still wet from Wednesday night's rain and couldn't be mowed safely, they took down the dead half of a tree on a school property off campus. After work, I walked my laps, went home and showered, and drove back to campus to discover that the compressed airhose outside the mechanic's shop wasn't working. Thankfully Skippy was still at work, so he unlocked the building and corrected whatever the problem was.

The whole reason I needed the airhose was that my driver's side, front tire was going flat rapidly. Example: Wednesday afternoon, the nougat across the street phoned to ask if I had looked at my car lately. The tire was very flat -- so flat I wasn't sure I could drive the three blocks to campus. I aired it up (the hose worked that time) and drove to bowling. After bowling, just 2.5 hours later, the on-board indicator told me to check the air pressure in that tire again.

Since it was past time for my 5,000 mile oil change anyway, I drove to Pep Boys. I have a club card there that promises free tire repairs. Wouldn't you know it? The nail that had punctured my tire was too deep or too sideways or something, such that the tire couldn't be repaired and had to be replaced, so add 100 bucks unexpectedly to the bill.

The service rep. kept apologizing that they didn't have a tire to match the other three. I told him I didn't care, as long as I could drive safely. Besides, I think this establishes a pattern.

After I had my first car about a year and two months, I was driving it home from Alabama to New Mexico, and while stopped at a gas station, I saw a bulge in the side of the tire that the other three tires didn't seem to have. "Is it supposed to look like this?" I asked my dad. That was about the only time I'd ever seen him look alarmed. We had the tire replaced, so a little more than a year after buying the car, I had three plus one tires. This one was just a year and two weeks after buying the car. Oh well, at least I know to prepare for this the next time I buy a car.

After getting the car serviced, I treated myself to dinner (with a free birthday dessert) at Longhorn Steakhouse. The hostess said I could either be seated immediately at the bar or wait 15 minutes for a table. Since I was alone, I chose the bar -- and then waited about as much as I would have if I had wanted a table.

Have you ever watched a fancy restaurant bartender on a Thursday evening? She was almost swamped. She never stopped moving with all the drink orders and ringing up everyone's bills. Plus, she had to serve me food. I tipped her generously when I left.