New oil in an old van
This was a free day. In a break with tradition, I opted to use a weekday for the things I wanted to do, or a close facsimile thereof; there was no plan, so there were no unmet expectations. It makes it so much easier to consider things in a positive light.
Mind you, the alarm rang well before dawn, as a family member headed off on a training session in a foreign country. A short excursion to demonstrate good shopping habits to people facing a recession. Given the way our government is handling the current crisis-in-waiting, a training session for those at home, as well. What I can tell you is that the highways are delightful at 5 a.m., with no competition for those pesky lanes and ramps. A trip across the city in fifteen minutes, below the speed limit; this isn’t as much of a metropolis as our mayor would have the world believe.
There’s been a reminder on the dashboard of our family van for a few days (weeks, but who is counting?) requesting something known as an oil change. I heeded the call, and my local garage was ready to invite me in for a “drip and dash” session even while school bus runs were underway. I managed to pay the minimum tariff, even as the garage owner offered to replace the “front linkage assembly”. It sounded serious, but he did say that it could wait (until we’d returned the vehicle to the consessionaire at the end of the lease).
I contacted a “special station” on CW this morning. It felt good to send a 1×1, get acknowledged and then handle the exchange at a speed that was sufficient for commercial traffic. The station also and a 1×1 call, my first for one of those (W1P).
Things are quiet around the house this evening. I’m trying to install Ubuntu on an older machine, and it is proceeding, albeit slowly. Perhaps if I just let things run for the next while, and see how it looks tomorrow. No sense having all my fun in the first day of a long weekend.
