I know, it sounds strange - when is a flat tire ever convenient? I managed to get one the other night somehow. I didn't notice it first, but when your car makes really obnoxious noises and starts leaning to one side, you probably have a flat tire. Go figure. So I ran down to the gas station just off campus (convenient) and I filled it with air. I had no idea where I was going to take it because I couldn't think of any tire places off the top of my head in the town so I decided to go ahead and go to work and hopefully figure something out eventually.
So I pull into the parking lot of work and I look up and literally look at the sign that says "Plaza Tire Center." (Convenient). So I run my car over there and have them look at it while I'm at work since I'm just up the street. (Convenient).
They say they fix it and all for only $15. Excellent. I drive to see a friend that night and while I'm driving back home again, it's clanking again and leaning to one side. Not cool. I manage to make it home (barely) without driving completely on the rim. I figured I couldn't do anything about it tonight so I just crawled into bed with a good book ("Hood" by Stephen Lawhead - excellent read so far) and forgot about it.
This morning I knew I had to tackle the problem. It was one of the few times in my life where I was sincerely sick of being alone, and by alone I meant single. But that's a different story. My boss - so grateful for her - told me I should just call campus safety and they can come put air in the tire, at least enough to get me to the tire place again. So the nice safety officer came with his portable compressor and put air in my tire and then I booked it down to the tire place to have them repair it again.
All that to say - despite a flat tire being a general pain in the rear, the little details have mattered. The safety officer who put air in my tire. My boss giving me some guidance on what to do next. My job being right across the street from the tire place. Not having to miss work because of all this. Living with in walking distance of both work and the tire place. Not driving home like I planned - because heaven knows I'd been in a big ol' heap if this had happened while I'm cruising along at 70 miles an hour on I-70.
So we'll get it fixed and move on with life, a potential major inconvenience being made a minor one at a convenient time. Thanks, God, for the little details that matter.
5.29.2010
5.26.2010
A Country Song for Every Season
I am convinced that there is a country song for every season of life. I’ve already got a couple years of college mapped out and if I thought about it long enough, I could probably figure out the rest. This season is no exception. In order to celebrate my recent completion of my MBA program, I present to you Montgomery Gentry’s song, “Hell yeah!”
She's got an MBA and a plush corner office
She's got a don't mess with me attitude
She'll close a deal she don't reveal that she can't fill
The loneliness the emptiness
Except when she comes in here
She's the product of the Me generation
She's got a rock and roll side when you get her agitated
She got the tattoo there on her derriere from a spring break dare
In Panama where love was all she thought she'd ever need
She yells out to the band
Know any Bruce Springsteen
Then she jumps up on the bar
And she, and she starts to scream
She says
Hell yeah!
A few things to note, however, about this song:
1. I don’t have a plush corner office. I have a closet. With no windows.
2. Don’t think the loneliness, emptiness really applies to me.
3. Definitely a product of the Me generation. Hello Millenials!
4. I’m not sure what a rock and roll side looks like when somebody gets agitated, but I’m going to assume I don’t have one.
5. And definitely no tattoos. I spent my spring breaks at home.
6. I think the only song I’ll be yelling out by Bruce Springsteen is “Born in the U.S.A.”
So really, about the only lines that apply are “She’s got an MBA…..and she says “HELL YEAH!”
:)
She's got an MBA and a plush corner office
She's got a don't mess with me attitude
She'll close a deal she don't reveal that she can't fill
The loneliness the emptiness
Except when she comes in here
She's the product of the Me generation
She's got a rock and roll side when you get her agitated
She got the tattoo there on her derriere from a spring break dare
In Panama where love was all she thought she'd ever need
She yells out to the band
Know any Bruce Springsteen
Then she jumps up on the bar
And she, and she starts to scream
She says
Hell yeah!
A few things to note, however, about this song:
1. I don’t have a plush corner office. I have a closet. With no windows.
2. Don’t think the loneliness, emptiness really applies to me.
3. Definitely a product of the Me generation. Hello Millenials!
4. I’m not sure what a rock and roll side looks like when somebody gets agitated, but I’m going to assume I don’t have one.
5. And definitely no tattoos. I spent my spring breaks at home.
6. I think the only song I’ll be yelling out by Bruce Springsteen is “Born in the U.S.A.”
So really, about the only lines that apply are “She’s got an MBA…..and she says “HELL YEAH!”
:)
5.24.2010
Notes from my niece
My niece and I have been exchanging a journal here recently. It's something I have done with several groups of friends, all of us maintaining long-distance friendships. One person will write in it, send it off, next person writes in it and sends it off, and so on. Well, it dawned on me one day that I should do that with my niece. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner considering I'm almost done with my time here in Missouri, but nevertheless, I figure it's never too late to start.
So I had this journal custom-made awhile back from Snapfish with a picture of my niece and I. Lots of blank pages with plenty of room to fill it with stories, questions, and thoughts. It's already made several rounds between her and I, but this last one particularly made me laugh. In my previous entry to her, I asked her if there was anything in the world she wanted to be when she grew up, what would it be?
Her response went something to the effect of, "I miss you lots, wish you were here...now about that question of yours." Typical fashion for my niece to be very straight-forward. She responded that she would like to be a baby-sitter (spelled baby-siter in her words). She then said, "Now I have some questions for you." She then proceeds to give me a series of math equations. I was little perplexed by that, feeling like I had asked one of the most profound questions of childhood and she responds with a series of math equations. But that's okay - I answered her math equations anyways.
What was particularly funny about that, however, I discovered through a conversation with my mom that before my niece began writing this entry, she bounced into the kitchen at our house and asked my mom, "Now, what's harder - being a realtor or babysitter?" She seemed to be very concerned about determining which was harder. My mom responded that for my niece in particular, likely the realtor job would be harder because it deals with finances and such. So my niece decided baby-sitter it is.
My next question to her is "What is your favorite animal and why?" I wonder if she'll ask my mom this time around, "Which is prettier - a horse or a dog?" If only as adults we had questions like that.
So I had this journal custom-made awhile back from Snapfish with a picture of my niece and I. Lots of blank pages with plenty of room to fill it with stories, questions, and thoughts. It's already made several rounds between her and I, but this last one particularly made me laugh. In my previous entry to her, I asked her if there was anything in the world she wanted to be when she grew up, what would it be?
Her response went something to the effect of, "I miss you lots, wish you were here...now about that question of yours." Typical fashion for my niece to be very straight-forward. She responded that she would like to be a baby-sitter (spelled baby-siter in her words). She then said, "Now I have some questions for you." She then proceeds to give me a series of math equations. I was little perplexed by that, feeling like I had asked one of the most profound questions of childhood and she responds with a series of math equations. But that's okay - I answered her math equations anyways.
What was particularly funny about that, however, I discovered through a conversation with my mom that before my niece began writing this entry, she bounced into the kitchen at our house and asked my mom, "Now, what's harder - being a realtor or babysitter?" She seemed to be very concerned about determining which was harder. My mom responded that for my niece in particular, likely the realtor job would be harder because it deals with finances and such. So my niece decided baby-sitter it is.
My next question to her is "What is your favorite animal and why?" I wonder if she'll ask my mom this time around, "Which is prettier - a horse or a dog?" If only as adults we had questions like that.
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