On taking life as it comes

6 comments on On taking life as it comes
3 minutes

This is the street in front of my house after it rains a lot in a very short time.

flood

The storm sewers can’t keep up. I think they’re partially collapsed. I’ve complained to the city, but have gotten nowhere.

This is one of my two cars. It will become my son’s if he ever gets his license.

old-matrix

It’s beat up, leaks a little oil, and has a ton of miles on it. It breaks down sometimes as twelve-year-old cars do.

Recently, this car was having trouble starting. Symptoms pointed to a failing starter. My other car was running fine, so I figured I’d deal with the problem later. I moved it from its usual driveway spot (pictured above) out onto the street in case it wouldn’t start at all the next time and I’d have to have it towed.

Can you guess what happened next? Of course you can. Two nights later we got three inches of rain in an hour. I ran out to my car to move it out of the flood zone as the waters continued to rise. But of course it wouldn’t start. So I called my son out and, in driving rain and foot-deep water, we pushed it a half block to where the storm sewers were working and the street was clear.

I decided I might as well just have it towed to my mechanic right away. AAA told me there would be a modest charge, so I got out my debit card to pay the difference.

I didn’t realize that my debit card didn’t make it into my pocket until after I had been back inside my home for a few minutes. I quickly sloshed back out to catch the tow driver before he got away. He and I spent 15 minutes in the dark and rain with a flashlight looking for the card to no avail. At the point my clothes were so wet they were plastered onto me, I decided that enough was enough. I told the tow-truck driver that we were giving up and that I’d just call my bank to cancel the card and issue me a new one.

Which I did that night, at about 11 pm. It was one of the rare times I was thankful for an automated telephone system, which works when humans don’t. But the next morning when I tried to log on to my bank’s Web site to make sure I had funds to cover my obligations, my password wouldn’t work. I called the bank again, but this time talked to a live human being who explained that when you cancel a debit card, it locks you out of all banking until the new card arrives and is validated. Thank goodness I have a credit card with a different bank, so I can buy groceries and put gas in my running car.

Sometimes you find yourself on a roller coaster. All you can do is strap in and enjoy the ride until it ends.

I’m a veteran rider of roller coasters like these. Here’s another such story.


Comments

6 responses to “On taking life as it comes”

  1. Christopher Smith Avatar
    Christopher Smith

    Well you know what they say when it rains it pours :)

  2. vanilla Avatar

    All of which says what about decisions made in the middle of the night? In the rain? Your roller coaster rides make for entertaining reading.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      It’s funny. I’m a bit of a procrastinator, but when I decide to take action I move fast. Both traits were at play in this story!

  3. kiwiskan Avatar

    nice reflections though…

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Thank you!

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