NOT A Relaxing Weekend

As I alluded to yesterday, the weekend did not get off to a good start. Unfortunately, it also proceeded to get much worse following the frustrating Friday. In fact, I am still dealing with the fallout today. It was one of those weekends that you just want to forget ever happened and move on to the next work day.

It all started with what should have been a simple drive into the city on Friday afternoon. I left the office at about 4:30 expecting to sit in a bit of traffic but with enough time set aside to make it to old city by 5:30. About a tenth of a mile away from the route 63 entrance, those plans completely fell apart as soon as my front right tire slammed into the crater.

Now with a donut on the car, I wasn’t about to drive on the highway or in the city so I slowly made my way down the remainder of route 1 and parked the car at the Wynnewood train station. My timing was still pretty good at this point as I made the right train which got me to the event on time. This was just the beginning of the weekend.

Following the event, I walked down the street to catch the next train at Suburban Station. With the event ending at 10 I thought I had plenty of time to make the 10:26 train. Well, by the time I found one of the few entrances to the train station still open at that hour, the train had departed and I was left waiting for the 11:26 train. In the end, I didn’t get home until 1:00am but that was not the worst part of the weekend.

After dropping the tire off at the dealer early on Saturday morning, running some errands, and grabbing a quick breakfast at Wawa we settled back down at the house to try and relax a little for the day and get some things done. By the time the sun began to set I was not feeling well and found myself heading off to bed much earlier than usual. Throughout the night I found myself sicker than I had been in a long time. Turns out that Wawa was offering an extra helping of food poisoning at no extra charge.

While I felt a little better toward the end of the day yesterday, and despite my gulping efforts, the dehydration caught up with me this morning and forced me to call out of work for the day. With a screaming headache I finally gave in and went to the local urgent care where they confirmed our suspicions and hooked me up to an IV. Finally feeling somewhat normal I all want now is for this weekend to finally come to an end.

Another One Bites The Rim

Again I am in the midst of a short week and just like every other time I have tried to take a day or two off things are not going as planned. The basic schedule that I originally set this week was to put as many hours in during the four days was going to be in the office so that I could take Friday off knowing that nothing was being pushed back to the following week. Essentially, I didn’t want the day off to cause me to fall behind. That timeline took a few dings during work on Monday but nothing that I couldn’t address with my remaining three days.

Well, that all changed during my drive home on Monday night when the asphalt decided to jump up and take another victim. I was almost home when I was one of many cars forced to slam on the breaks to avoid an accident (thanks a-hole who decided last minute to turn into the first Wawa parking lot entrance). That sudden stop prevented me from avoiding the large crater waiting like a Venus Fly Trap to claim another tire.

Seconds later my dashboard lit up like a fireworks display and I turned into the next street. I know how to change a tire as, unfortunately, I have done it a few times before but having to do so on an incline still sucks. When I pulled off the tire I could see the rip in the tire but it was what I say when I looked on the inside that let me know that this was not going to be a quick tire change… the damn rim was bent. Given my past experience it was a rather quick stop and after sweating out my frustration of the day I slowly made my way to the apartment after about 30 minutes.

After shuffling our schedules, I ended up using my wife’s car this week while the dealer ordered a tire and rim… it actually worked out well as she didn’t really need the car too much this week and was able to quickly arrange for a ride to those places she was going. The prolonged process is finally, hopefully, coming to an end this morning but not without a little bonus discover at the dealer that the back right tire needs to be replaced as well. Another big expense that I am not paying for!

That’s right, thankfully I’m not going to be paying for two tires and a rim. While I am usually not a huge proponent of additional coverage when buying a car, I am a firm believer in purchasing tire and rim protection. With this latest stop at the dealer I think I am going to get about three times my investment back over the course of the two years since I purchased the car.

Since I have to be at the dealer I might as well get a few other things taken care of while I am already being inconvenienced so I figured to get the annual inspection and oil change done. With all the work being done to the car today, I should be ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning. It would be nice to get back on schedule for the first time this week. More about that later (hopefully without any other issues to report).

Bubble Bubble Toil And Trouble

Over the weekend my wife and I had a particularly rough time on the road as no matter which route we took there were a plethora of potholes that seemed to jump out and attack our tires. It even got to the point that I scrolled through the data on my dashboard (it really isn’t as fancy as it sounds) and would constantly monitor the tire pressure after each thump and jump of the suspension. Given my constant glances, I think if the township, county, and state really wanted to do something about distracted driving they should put more of an effort into filling all of the asphalt craters scattered about the paved terrain.

Last night, on my way home from work and knowing that it was a fend for yourself night for dinner I stopped at the Wawa on my way home which is conveniently located about a mile after I get off the highway. After grabbing a quick sandwich (no hoagie this time) I stepped out back into the strangely barren parking lot, put my food in the passenger seat, and walked to the side of the building to light a cigarette. As I was standing there reading through the impatient list of emails streaming to my phone I glanced just beyond the iPhone screen and saw Lincoln staring back at me.

Not one to pass up any kind of luck at this point, I bent over, pinched the penny between my fingers and on my way back up turned my head to the right for some reason. That is when I saw it, a bubble in the sidewall of my right front tire slightly larger than a golf ball. I guess finding a lucky penny isn’t always about making good things happen, sometimes the luck is in preventing bad things from happening. If it hadn’t been for that penny I would have never seen the bubble and I would have probably not noticed the defect until my commute either to or from work later in the week when the sidewall finally gave way.

So now I find myself in the waiting room of the car dealer instead of at my desk getting work done. Thankfully I do believe in one form of extended warranty when purchasing a new car… tire and rim protection. While it is, without question, an inconvenience it could have been a lot worse and I could be out a lot of money. Sometimes the luck isn’t about making good things happen, sometimes luck is what you need to prevent the bad things from being nothing more than an inconvenience.

It Was A Good Friday

My wife was not happy with me this morning as my alarm abruptly interrupted her in the early hours of the morning as she attempted to sleep in during her day off. Oh well, it was time for me to get up and go to work. I already used my floating holidays earlier in the week so today it was time for me to again try to make up for those days off. And there was a possibility to making up that work as most of my colleagues took the day off and a lot of people were off as well being that it was a bank holiday. That fact was noticed immediately upon turning onto the Schuylkill Expressway and not having to slam on the breaks attempting to merge. It was the easiest commute that I have had so far since I started this job.

The office parking lot was about half full when I arrived and the building was quiet when I walked through the doors. The office was silent when I entered as only one other person was working with me today. With the exception of a persistent cough that he has been dealing with all week and a few quick conversations, we both put our heads down and attempted to get as much done as we could.

In a complete change from my usual workday routine, I texted my wife what I wanted from Wawa for lunch and waited for her arrival. About an hour later, my wife walked through the front door and we sat in the family/conference room and enjoyed a nice lunch together. Granted, I am not used to this. In fact, I believe that this is the first time that my wife has come to my work for lunch. And when I say that I don’t just mean this office, I mean any office. So, it was quite the change but something that was a fun twist on the daily routine.

Just as we were finishing up our hoagies (please note that they are not subs, grinders, or anything else you refer to them as) my boss walked in the door and greeted us in her usual friendly manner. It really is more of a family atmosphere of mutual respect rather than a rigid hierarchy. This was also a first as my wife had not met my boss since I started this job. About ten minute later I walk my wife back out to her car with her newfound knowledge of why I really enjoy going to work every day. After all, it is not just about the work/job, it really has a lot to do with the people I work with.

With my wife on her way back home it was time to continue working on various projects in an attempt to get things done. By the late afternoon I had made a lot of progress on multiple items but I couldn’t really call anything completed. When five o’clock rolled around, we were told to leave and enjoy the weekend a little early. Oh well, I guess I have a few things to work on this weekend. So, it was a productive day with an interesting twist right in the middle. I am already looking forward to the next time that I experience a day like today. However, I hope a get a little more work done the next time.