Killing Time

Watching someone else drive off in my car is something I haven’t quite reconciled with. Even when the mother pulls out of the driveway on occasion with Pearl, there is just something about watching the car drive away that seems wrong.

So I silently gulped as I watched the tech drive off with her this morning. I’m back at the dealership for her first scheduled maintenance visit (oil change) since I bought her. And as I sit in this waiting area once again, I’m grinning at the memory of the last time I sat in the very spot: a bundle of nerves, a mix of excitement and pit-of-your-stomach dread as I waited for all the paperwork to go through on the sale.

I’ll have a bit of a wait. I was the first car in the door, but the techs don’t start until 7:30, a time I’m usually already at the office by. So, I’ll be getting to work a little later than normal, too. I made really good time getting here this morning. Traffic was still on the light side. (Here’s hoping my trip downtown sees the same, though I doubt it.)

I’ll have to give myself just as much of a lead going home tonight. They’re closing the McKinley Bridge at 6 p.m. While I have other options for getting across, that bridge is my preferred method. (This D*mn House to downtown: 17 minutes.)

I’m now one of FOUR people in the waiting room. Dang! Sure hope too many more don’t show up for a while. It could get crowded in here.