Just Another Manic Monday

Mom: Dee, you need to go get your father.
Me: Now?
Mom: Yes. He’s at the car place. It seems as if your car wouldn’t start when he tried to start it this morning, so he went to the Napa place to get something to jump your battery. But he didn’t put your car in park when he left, so it rolled down the driveway by itself but it stopped just short of the ditch. And he set off the alarm.
Me: Umm. Okay…

Such was the beginning of my Monday. My dad’s plan was to take my car to a local mechanic to have it checked out. The check engine light had come on Saturday. Along the way, he had the above eventful episode. I slept through it all. And then I chuckled in horrific amusement when I heard what had happened. (Dad blames all of the “junk” around my gear shift for his not putting the car in park). And finally I chuckled in not-surprised amusement after the mechanic told me that my car was fixed but the check engine light came right back on while I was driving home. Thankfully, I won’t be doing my normal amount of driving over Christmas break. It sounds like my car needs a 273,454 mile break and then a specialist’s visit to follow.

While my car was at the local mechanic’s shop today, I enjoyed a dreary day at home. Because wrapping presents is close to the top of my list of things I most dislike to do, I had a productive day in my living quarters—doing many of the things that I’ve needed to do for months but not made time for—sorting junk mail, filing papers, writing notes, finding things lost. Procrastination is often a useful tool in cleaning; it just doesn’t help with the present wrapping. NCIS marathons are also useful for cleaning; and I hope that they will be useful for present wrapping after I finish this note tonight.

Speaking of presents…On my way to get my dad from the mechanic’s shop this morning, I saw that Percy-the-Dog’s family had put two cans of soda and one tin of cookies on top of their trashcan. At first, I thought, “That’s a weird place to leave trash.” Then I realized, “That’s not trash. They left a Christmas gift for the trash-men. What a great idea. What a loving idea. Maybe people should do that more often.” When I got home from retrieving my dad, I worked with both of my parents to become copycats and leave a small present for our trash-men.

When I went to pick up my car from the local mechanic, I saw a bag of sausage balls, a cheese tray, and some other finger foods that tend to show up at appreciation luncheons or celebrations. I thought to myself, “Someone wants her mechanic to know that he is appreciated.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d gag on a daily basis if I were a sanitation worker and my car would be very dead if I were left to do its repairs…therefore, I am genuinely grateful for sanitation workers and the work they do to keep our towns and streets clean and I am genuinely grateful for mechanics and the work they do to keep our transportation vehicles running. And yet, I rarely say thank you. Maybe I should say thank you more often…and not just on manic Mondays around Christmas.