I'm Beat

So, I was driving home from work and noticed the car was really hard to control. It kept wanting to pull all over the road. I got home--I only live like a mile from the plant--and got out and saw that my driver's side rear tire was totally flat. I hadn't noticed it when I got into the car. My first thought was, "I hope I didn't mess up my rims driving it like that."

I got out my old hand pump and pumped it up enough to get to the corner gas station, where I aired the tire up to the correct pressure. I had promised Cody that I would go watch band practice, and that was my intention. I thought airing the tire up would hold it at least until after practice. After I'd started a load of laundry and gotten ready to go, though, the tire had already lost a significant amount of air. Skipping band practice, I went straight to Wal-mart, where I had bought the tire last year.

Wal-mart only had two people working in the automotive department today, so it took them over an hour to even start on my car. By this time, it was already past time for me to go pick up Cody. I called B and, explaining my dilemma, asked her to look up the number to the band hall, which is now safely programmed into my cell phone. She did, and I tried to call the band hall office several times, to no avail. No one ever answered the phone.

Finally, they pulled my car into the shop. The guy looked at my tire for a moment, then came in and asked me if I'd bought it there. I replied that I had, and he asked me if I'd gotten the road hazard warranty. I replied that I was pretty sure that I had, and he said, "I hope so, because we can't fix that."

They looked me up in their computer, and sure enough, I had bought the road hazard warranty. BUT, they no longer carried the tire I had bought, so they were going to have to put a more expensive tire on my car, and I would have to pay the difference. This really irked me, especially after having waited so long. I mean, it would only be a few dollars--less than $5--but it was the principle of the thing. I told them to go ahead and put the new tire onto the car. I have to have a tire, after all.

I pulled out my cell phone to try to call the band hall again, and noticed that I had missed a call from B. Cody had called her when I was not there to pick him up. She called to tell me that she had gone to get him.

Finally, after two hours in the Wal-mart waiting room, I had a new tire and was on my way home. Driving home, B called again and asked where I was. They'd gone to church. The youth were going to go eat out that night, only they were late and had missed the bus. B said she would have taken him in, but she had her little class to teach, so I needed to come do something with him. I said I was almost there and would come pick him up.

When he got into the car, I asked, "How was your day?" He just growled at me. He was really hungry--not having eaten since lunch. It was now nearly 7 PM. I was really hungry as well, not having eaten since lunch as well. He wanted to go to Burger King.

"I can't," I replied. "I promised Aunt Martha I'd come visit with her this evening." We got home, and Cody fixed himself a pork sandwich and a salad while I put one load of laundry into the dryer and started another. I grabbed a knitting project and ran over to visit with Auntie.

We had a nice visit, but after about an hour, I said, "I'm sorry I can't visit longer, but I've got laundry to do. " I came home, pulled the clothes out of the dryer, left them unfolded on the bed and put the next load into the dryer. I took a quick bath and now I'm going to go kick the clothes off the bed and get into it.

I'm Beat.

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