Road Worthy

"Well, look who it is!" Kevin said as i stepped through the door.

"What can we do for you today?" asked Lenny.

Bigger Girl's car Cicero needs a pre-trip check-up, i told them.  We will be driving it to central Florida, and she's been hearing the brakes make noise, and we want to be sure it's generally road worthy.

"Easy enough!" said Lenny.  "I'll have them take all the wheels off and inspect the whole thing."

"But only if you quit rubbing it in that you are going on vacation!" Kevin added with a laugh.  "'Central Florida' nothin'!  You are going to Disney and don't you deny it!"

Laughingly i said, yes, Grandma and Grandpa are taking us.  And we don't want to rent a car because then the kids who are under 21 can't help drive.

"You're right," Kevin said.  "Do you need a ride home, or do you want to wait?"

It's a day off of school and work because of the Federal holiday, i noted, so i don't have anything pressing and can wait a while.

Sitting there waiting, i overheard a few conversations.  One older gentleman was talking about how going to the dentist was horrible when he was a child.

"I been talking to my dentist about it," he said.  "He told me it's because they didn't have good tools all the time back then.  Like the needles, they would sterilize them and use them over and over and they were huge suckers!  Those things did hurt.  Anyway, it's not near as painful any more.  Back then, if you knew you were going to the dentist, you knew you were in for torture!"

A while later, another gentleman got to talking about being retired.  "I'm back at work part-time, just doing what I want to do, and my grandchildren think I'm crazy!  They say they can't understand why I would work if I don't have to.  They don't understand that it's not fun to sit around with nothing to do.  I'd rather get out and do what I want, and if I can get paid for it, so much the better!"

About an hour later, Kevin came back with the news.  "One tire has a bubble, it has to be replaced.  You know how that is, it's like having a hernia, you don't want to be there when it blows out.  And you need the rear brakes cleaned, front brakes need pads and rotors, the coolant is filthy and needs flushing, and it's going to be about $800."

Yes, i said, i knew it was going to be up there, and it all has to be done.  Also, the windshield wipers are shot, so add that in.

"Since I have to go pick up some parts, do you want me to run you home?  It's going to be about 3 hours for us to get it all done."

Sure, i told him, and grabbed my stuff.

On the way back to the house he and i talked.

After this, i told him, and next month's new tired for #1 Son's car, when you add up all we've spent on cars since November of last year, it comes to...

"Let me guess," he said.  About $3,000."

No, i said, try about $6,000.

"That much!" was his incredulous reply.

Yes, i told him.  When you add what we spent at Darren's when we thought the transmissions were out, and all that we've spent with you, by the time we are done with his tires it will be $6,000 for five cars in about 3 1/2 months.  $1,700 at Darren's, and the rest here.

"Well," he said, "it's better than having to buy new ones!"

Yes, i agreed, it is.  It's still a big drain, though.

"That it is," he agreed.

Later that day, when we went back to pick up Cicero, Kevin said, "I threw in the windshield wipers for free."

Thank you, i said, as Lenny added, "And you need to come by for a cup of coffee even when you don't need a repair.  You probably could use it!"

Laughing, i had to agree, and i just may take him up on it.



Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Mali

Camcorder Day -- five companies agreed, this day in 1982, to cooperate and construct a camera with a built in VCR

Celtic Tree Month Beth (Birch) ends

Coffee Break Day

Day of National Mourning -- Azerbaijan (a/k/a Martyrs' Day)

Festival of Jubilation for Osiris -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate, in Busiris)

Heroes Day -- Cape Verde; Guinea-Bissau (death anniversary of Amilcar Cabral)

La Tamborrada de San Sebastian -- San Sebastian, Spain (24 hours of drumming, begun last evening)

National Buttercrunch Day

National Cheese Lover's Day

National Granola Bar Day

National Disc Jockey Day -- listed lots of places, but no particular reason given for the choice of date

National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- become one of those people who aren't afraid of public speaking, practice! originally sponsored by Polished Presentations International, but they no longer have a website

Penguin Awareness Day -- lots of celebrating, but no history of who started it

Rid The World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day -- always the Tuesday of Healthy Weight Week and includes the announcement of the Slim Chance Awards, highlighting the worst fad diets of the prior year; healthyweight.net/hww.htm

Sacrifices to Athena -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Stay Young Forever Day -- celebrate the child in all of us, do something fun

St. Sebastian's Day (Patron of archers, armorers, arrowsmiths/fletchers, athletes, bookbinders, diseased cattle, dying people, gardeners, gunsmiths, hardware stores, ironmongers, lace makers/lace workers, lead workers, masons, plague victims, police officers, Pontifical Swiss Guards, raquet makers, soldiers, stone masons/stone cutters; several cities, but especially of Rio de Janiero, Brazil and San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, where today is marked with celebrations; against cattle disease, enemies of religion, plague)

Take a Walk Outdoors Day -- unless it's storming, a good way to get some exercise

Tenmangu Kowakamai -- Setaka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (festival of old style Japanese dances)


Birthdays Today:

Skeet Ulrich, 1969
Rainn Wilson, 1968
Rainn Wilson, 1966
James Denton, 1963
Lorenzo Lamas, 1958
Bill Maher, 1956
David Lynch, 1946
Dorothy Provine, 1937
Arte Johnson, 1934
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, 1930
Patricia Neal, 1926
Otis Dewey "Slim" whitman, 1924
Federico Fellini, 1920
DeForest Kelley, 1920
Joy Adamson, 1910
George Burns, 1896
Harold Lincoln Gray, 1894
Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, 1889
Carolus Linnaeus, 1778
André-Marie Ampère, 1775
Richard Henry Lee, 1732


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Meet the Beatles"(Album, US release), 1964



Today in History:

The first elected English Parliament called into session by the 6th Earl of Leicester, and meets in the Palace of Westminster (a/k/a Houses of Parliament), 1265
The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored, 1502
The Casa Contratacion (Board of Trade) is founded in Spain to deal with American affairs, 1503
The cornerstone of Amsterdam town hall laid, 1648
The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson, 1788
China cedes Hong Kong to British, 1841
L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster, 1885
The first full length talking motion picture filmed outdoors is released, "In Old Arizona", 1929
Nazi officials hold notorious Wannsee conference in Berlin deciding on "final solution" calling for extermination of Europe's Jews, 1942
The first atomic submarine, USS Nautilus, is launched at Groton, Connecticut, 1955
Witnesses report sightings of a Bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the River Thames since records began in 1913, 2006
A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance, 2007