July 28, 2017
Dear Everyone:
This was my week for bi-annual checkups.
On Monday, I took my car to the dealer for routine maintenance.
Back when I was driving to and from work every day, and going on
vacations, the car’s
odometer would click along and activate a signal light when the car
needed to be kept in good repair, usually around every 7500 miles.
But now, that never happens because I keep a reminder in my
computer to take the car in every six months, or so.
I had an appointment for the ungodly hour of 8:00 in the actual morning
and got there right on time.
The dealer had a shuttle service for people who had to get to work,
didn’t have anyone to pick them up, or just didn’t feel like hanging
around all day while their car was worked on.
It ran every hour on the half-hour.
In other words, at 7:30 the driver would stick his head in the “Customer
Lounge” and collect all the people waiting for a ride and drive around
the area dropping them off.
The whole thing generally took about an hour, so the next run would be
at 8:30. By which time
enough people would have accumulated to fill the shuttle again.
Occasionally, there would be too many people and someone would
have to wait another hour.
No problem; I made sure to have my
Kindle with
me.
But this time, it turned out the dealer had improved the service to the
point of having two shuttles and two drivers.
And, for some reason, there were only two of us needing rides, so
they split the difference and one driver took me straight home.
I made sure to
tip him $5.00. It’s
always a good idea to tip the shuttle driver.
That way, he/she is more likely to remember you and where you
live for the return trip in the afternoon.
I was home for about an hour when my cell phone rang.
It was the “Service Advisor” from the dealership.
This is when they typically inform you of all the additional
things that need to be fixed and how much more it’s going to cost.
Like a new timing belt, or new brake pads.
Or a whole new engine.
All of which knocks the overall cost up a thousand dollars or
more.
This time, the Service Advisor happily chirped:
“Your car’s all done and ready!
Would you like us to send the shuttle to pick you up?”
A few minutes later, the other shuttle driver called to say he would be
there in about a quarter-hour to get me.
No need for directions.
He remembered me from a previous visit, the result of a
well-invested $5.00 tip from before.
And the whole thing cost less than $160, not counting two $5.00 tips.
This morning I had my usual six-month visit to the
cardiologist.
The technician pronounced the box in my chest was working
perfectly. And the battery
that runs the box still has 2.5 years left on it.
The cardiologist reviewed the last
echocardiogram
and pronounced that my heart is now fully back to normal.
In other words, everything is coasting along nicely.
In other news…
I’ve decided to try
crocheting my “favorite” sweater with half-double-crochet stitches
instead of single-crochet.
This will give the garment more body, but uses far more yarn, resulting
in somewhat larger stitches overall.
Consequently, the pattern that I worked out previously won’t
work. I am therefore in the
“Goldilocks
Stage”. This is too long;
this is too short. What
happens if we try this?
Oops. Start again.
I am currently experimenting, using yarn leftover from previous
projects. Hence the
prototype is bright pink in the front left, orange in the right, green
in back, with yellow sleeves.
So far. Who knows, it
could become the height of fashion once it’s finished.
Everyone have a great weekend.
Love, as always,
Pete
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