I decided to have lunch at the Scenic Diner and give them a chance to redeem themselves from the not so good brunch from yesterday. I turned into the parking lot, went around the circle that goes around the tree in the lot, saw a spot and turned into it. Unfortunately I turned a foot too soon and hit the edge of the curb of the circle. Ordinarily that isn't a big deal. This time it was.
Great.
I got the tools and the spare out of the trunk and went to work. I had a little trouble cracking the lug nuts, but when I stood on the tire iron they gave. I noticed there was one lug nut that I couldn't get the tire iron on. It was the locking lug nut. I started looking through the glove box for the key. I found it just as an employee of the diner came out to help. He was surprised that I had loosened the lug nuts before lifting the car. I felt like saying, "Duh. I know how to change a tire." but I didn't. He was very nice and insisted on doing the work for me, even though I kept insisting that I could do it.
Voila!
Then I had lunch.
I went to Vannoy's on the way home. I think everyone in the local area had a tire emergency. The place was packed! I didn't have knitting with me. Lesson learned. As I was waiting, two women (aged 20 ... maybe) came in with three kids who proceeded to misbehave. The women threatened to whoop them, but just let them go around and raise hell while talking about "I hope they give him bond on two of the charges" and "He says his life is bad since he left me. Well, that what you get for leaving this (waving at body)." Holy cow! Stereotypes exist for a reason and the reason was right there. I couldn't take it anymore and got up. I went to the counter to tell the lady that I would come back at a less busy time, but then I saw that she had pulled the car in.
When she came in, she smiled at me and told the other employee that if the Explorer was ready to bring it around IMMEDIATELY. He did and the brood left. It was nice and quiet in there. A guy came in and remarked on the silence and I told him that if he had been there five minutes before, he'd really appreciate the silence. Another customer who had been there the whole time I had been and the lady at the counter laughed.
I got the car back and asked about the other front tire. The lady said that the tread looked good, but there was some dry rot on the sidewalls and she recommended changing it soon and not traveling on the highway in the meantime. Great. I think that the other tire also had some dry rot, because I can't imagine that I hit the curb hard enough to blow out the sidewall (as you can see at approximately the three o'clock position on the tire).
When I got home I got ready to bottle the Barolo. That went well! I sampled it and I think this will be pretty good after a few months of aging. I didn't have any issues transferring it to the bucket or with bottling and corking it. I'm pleased.
I met Dan and Kathy Cain for dinner tonight. True to his promise, Dan had a Sapporo waiting for me when I got there. It was a fun night. Dan said that I should call him if I need anything, even though he knows I won't. Well, he mentioned that he has a flatbed trailer and he'd be happy to help me load up some stuff to move it out of the shop. I will take him up on it. Getting the armoires into the truck would be a hassle. His trailer has a ramp. Maybe I'll even ask them if I can bring the dogs up and visit them when I get back and have nothing to do. They are fun people and it would be enjoyable to visit. I mentioned my foot issues to Dan and he suffered from PF too. His was so bad that his arch collapsed, he had to get daily steroid injections in his foot, and he had to have surgery on it to remove some bones. I don't want my feet to get that bad!
Truth of the matter, I don't know what I need his help with. I greatly appreciate the offer, and I know he would help with anything I needed. Life has been good so far. I go to work and I come home. I haven't needed help really from anyone, so it isn't that I'm ignoring or snubbing his offer, I just haven't needed to take him up on it.
They asked what I was doing with the animals during my trip and I mentioned that my sister was coming. I haven't been able to get a hold of her for two days, so I'm not sure that is still a go, but that's another story. They asked if they bought her a ticket would she come to watch their dog for a month when they travel. I said I'd mention it.
I took the truck because now I'm afraid to drive the car. I forgot to mention that the Vannoy's guy said that the brakes are almost gone and that I should replace them within the month. Just one more thing to add to the list I suppose. However, I don't mess around with that kind of stuff, so I'll be getting that taken care of next Monday. Speaking of repairs, I'm taking the coach in to the repair shop Thursday to see if they can fix the roof.
Teresa called and she got us tickets for Dralion, the Cirque du Soleil show that is in Mobile next weekend. I'm excited to go. I think it will be fun! We're going to the last performance, which is Sunday afternoon. We can probably make it back in time for the Super Bowl. The arena is near Wellslees, so if I have some of the yarn Susan asked me about, maybe I can drop it off to her.
Wow, the play-by-play, moment-by-moment makes it sound like I did a lot today! Thanks for reading it all.
