Yesterday was a frustrating day.
My car had been in the shop; we took it over on Wednesday to have a bunch of minor things taken care of. Well, one of the things was a leaky tire, so that was actually not so minor.
It is amazing, however, how "minor things" can add up to big money.
When the cost of the oil change, map light bulb, turn signal bulb, plus two tires and adjustments to the "tire sensor system" were added up, the total came to $632.00.
Ouch.
And that was after I turned down the replacement for the automatic sliding door sensor ($200.00) plus two additional tires that the dealership wanted to sell me (another $200.00).
I'll open that door myself, thanks very much.
All this for a car that is less than two years old, a Chrysler Town & Country minivan (admittedly with high mileage - 55,000. Two drives to Florida this year and weekly trips to the Jersey shore in the summer can add up).
It took a day and a half for the car to be made available. As I am not currently employed outside of the home, this was not a catastrophe, but it was inconvenient; we were practically down to stale crackers and martini olives for dinner. Somehow, even though there are a net total of three other drivers in this household, each with his or her own car, all of them had to be out the door yesterday by 7:30 am.
Fortunately, my friend Joan was available and willing to give me a ride to the dealership, after I called them and demanded my car (nicely) at 10:00 yesterday morning. They said it would be available at 11:00, but when I got there at 12:00 noon, I still had to stand around for twenty minutes waiting for them to get the car.
Later, I had to pick Spencer up from school to go to choir practice. I have discovered that parents start lining up in the car line fully one half hour before school lets out, so that if I get to school at the time it actually ends, I am tenth in the line and have to wait ten or fifteen minutes for Spencer to be actually let out of the building. Then we have Toad's Wild Ride to get to choir practice fifteen miles away in another town. So, I have started arriving earlier and earlier at the school to save the ten minutes, so that I can drive Spence to choir in a more leisurely fashion and in better humor.
Yesterday I got there even earlier, since I had an errand to run in the area of the school. I was first in the car line fully an hour before he was to be let out at 3:20. I figured I would just relax, read a magazine, listen to the radio, and the hour would pass quickly, rather than driving around wasting gas, or going out to a store and spending money (see Wednesday's post).
Spence was on a class trip yesterday afternoon, though, and the letting-out time at school came and went. I sat, and sat, and sat. The rest of the car line came, picked up, and left, and I still sat. The class trip ran very late, and it was 4:00 before his bus came back to school. He was annoyed at the delay, and he ended up missing choir.
Spence and I were both pretty cranky for the rest of the day, which ended up in both of us yelling, about him practicing the viola, of all things. He is, of course, a teenager, and still maturing; I, on the other hand, should have been able to shake off the annoyances, but just couldn't.
Today, I am taking a deep breath. I am reminding myself that it is not worth getting worked up over small things, and that living in moderation is my goal, or better yet, living in the Aristotelian state of eudaimonia. Perhaps a review of Aristotelian ethics would be good for the soul. It is not easy finding the golden mean between spiritlessness and irascibility.
If all else fails, I can always take refuge in a piece of really good chocolate to change my mood.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment