Monday, October 26, 2015

My Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad, No Good Day

October 26, 2015

It was a terrible, horrible very bad, no good day. That's part of the title of a children's book, and a pretty fair (albeit somewhat exaggerated) description of my day. It didn't start out that way; there wasn't anything pressing on the calendar, so after working out, Linda and I had some talk time this morning followed by Bible reading and prayer. What could possibly go wrong? I'm glad you asked. At Linda's request, I sorted through the pile of papers by my chair. It felt pretty good to get things organized, and then it was time to change the tire on my motorcycle. You can see where this is going, can't you?

After removing the front wheel, I discovered the reason for last night's flat tire-a nail in the tread. So I set about taking the tire off the wheel, something I've done plenty of times before. Not today. For some reason, I could not get the bead of the tire over the rim of the wheel. No matter how hard I pushed and wedged the tire irons, no matter what angle I inserted them, that tire refused to budge. I had managed to get one side loose, but finishing the job just wasn't happening. And then I noticed something. I had pushed and levered the tire so hard that I bent the rim! What should have been a half hour job costing me only my time turned into a three hour frustration marathon that will cost me between two and six hundred dollars, depending on whether I can find a rim that fits without having to buy a whole new wheel and brake assembly.

Nevertheless, I am thankful tonight, not the least of which is that my wife is melting into a puddle of hysterical laughter as she is feebly trying to text our granddaughter. What really makes me grateful however, is that I have been doing this gratitude discipline for a couple years now. There was a time when this frustration would have had me in a deep funk for days. I can't say I'm particularly happy that my do-it-yourself project is going to cost me far more than it would have had I taken the job to a shop, but my problem isn't life-threatening, and though I don't like shelling out that kind of money, it's not going to break the bank. My pride has taken somewhat of a beating, but maybe that's not a bad thing. So I am thankful that this happened at this time in my life, and that it's nearly the end of riding season anyway. I had planned on a few more weeks, but since it's nearly November, I can afford to shop around and wait. And if that isn't enough, I am able to tell people that this 66 year old man still has enough vim and vigor to actually bend the rim. Grrr!

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