As you know, we are still a one-car family, and we both had medical appointments scheduled at the same time this morning. It's a good thing my doctor is less than a mile away. Instead of my normal morning walk, I walked to the doctor's office, which was actually not quite as long a walk as the normal one. Just before I left the house, I got the fateful call from the mechanic. One of the cylinders is dead. For you non-mechanic types out there, that is not good news. This meant there was no way to rig it up well enough for me to get it home. The mechanic did not recommend trying to repair the car, as the cost would likely be about twice the blue book value of the car. (In the "restore your faith in humanity" category, the mechanic refused to take any money for the work he did on my car, saying it didn't take that long and he was sorry he couldn't do anything to fix it. While I hope not to need a mechanic again for a long time, and certainly not one whose shop is two hours away from my house, if I did, he would be my guy.)
I started processing this information as I walked to the doctor's office. About halfway there, I remembered that in the excitement of the phone call, I had failed to take my allergy medication before leaving the house. What reminded me? About 17 violent sneezes in a row after passing someone mowing and edging their lawn. I got to the doctor's office a little early and checked a few work emails in the waiting room. I finished reading an email about a huge issue that was going to create a lot of work for me just as the nurse called my name. The stitch removal hurt a little more than I expected, but it was quick and they thought the incision was healing pretty well.
A pollen-filled walk home, a quick change of clothes, and it was off to work to save the world, in the car this time. I averted my eyes as I passed by the mountains of boxes and art in my office still needing a home and sat down at my computer. Which was dead. I spent most of the rest of the day either in meetings or sitting in one of my guest chairs (the only one not covered in boxes) trying to work on my cell phone while the tech support person sat at my desk and resurrected my computer. Oh, and finding a way to get my car towed to the nearest MINI dealership to the mechanic's shop, which will be a 70 mile tow and will result in my car still being more than 50 miles from home.
My final stop for the day was the first song rehearsal for our upcoming musical. Most of my hobbies requiring rehearsals are run by my patient, long-suffering husband, who has the same organizational tendencies as I do and runs a tight ship, resulting in a very high quality product. These rehearsals are, shall we say, a little more "relaxed". Somehow, the musical comes together each year just in the nick of time, but the first few rehearsals always make me feel like my head is going to explode. And since my head already felt like it was going to explode, this was the last thing I needed. But I made it through the rehearsal with my head intact.
One more (very long) work day this week, and then a much-needed getaway with friends. I'm hoping to come back refreshed enough to fix a work problem that should have been resolved before I was born, buy a new car, and put my office back together. No worries, I've got this.
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