Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Everything changes

Today we had our first measurable rainfall in over a month.

Today, after driving home from work and running inside for 90 seconds to grab the food for Bethlehem House, the car wouldn't start. Wouldn't even turn over. This is the car Noel was going to take to the airport tomorrow,

Today I hunted down a screwdriver and pried the little cover off the transmission override switch so I could put the dead car in neutral and push it out of the way of the working car it was blocking, so I could take the food to Bethlehem House. In the rain, the first rain we've had in a month.

Today I didn't get the parking tag out of the dead car as it was being towed, the parking tag that will allow me to park the working car at work tomorrow after I take the kids to school.

Today we suddenly have no plan for how to get Noel home for the airport in 10 days. (A kindly neighbor is leaving for work an hour and a half early in order to drop him by on her way.)

Today I suddenly realize that I was always one dead car away from disaster, whether that car is in the shop here in town or sitting in an airport parking lot.

Tomorrow the experiment in improvisation that is Noel's annual trip to TIFF '07 begins. Let's hope most of the big surprises arrived 12 hours early.

2 comments:

the secret knitter said...

Transmission override switches? And I'm struggling to replace a silly brake light? Nice work.

Doc Thelma said...

I think it's a corollary to Murphy's Law. One parent leaving town dramatically increases the liklihood of some inconvienent or massively time-comsuming disaster striking the remaining parent. With us, some work-or church- related crisis always seems to strike when I'm away at a scientific conference.
In fact, I should probably call our paster and the IT department at Brian's school and tell them when the Society for Neuroscience meeting is, so they can plan ahead.