Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Thunder In the Snow

It was cloudy and warmer than it has been when I got up this morning. I was going to try to fix the back bike wheel and change the tire when I finished The Scarlet Pimpernel...but by 10AM, we were in the midst of a full-blown thunder storm, with lightning and everything. I opted to do stuff online and run some Backyardigans instead. Austin plays Inspector Poirot looking for Pablo, "Le Master of Disguise," on the Orient Express. News boy Tyrone tries to make an "Escape From Fairy Tale Village" when he thinks Wolf Austin, Giant Pablo, and Witch Uniqua are going to try to eat him.

The rain didn't start slowing down until 11:30. Unfortunately, that didn't prove to be enough time to fix the bike. I don't know how I can get the tire off. I pulled at it. I pushed at it. I yanked with the wrench. I coated the nuts and bolts with oil and WD-40. They just wouldn't come off. The tire wouldn't pump up, either. It got so late, I ran out of time. It wasn't raining or snowing by quarter of 1. I had no reason to call for a ride, so I walked and was 20 minutes late.

I could have been infinitely late. Work was dead again through most of the early afternoon. It didn't pick up until 4PM...and when it did, this time, it got really busy. It didn't help that I was upset about the bike and being late, and a lot of customers were cranky or upset themselves. By the time I finished, my stomach was in knots and I was ready to tear out my hair. It died again by 8; they had so little to do, they couldn't even keep me an extra 20 minutes to make up for being late.

I walked home. I should have called for a ride, but I really hate having to rely on other people. It's not fair to them. My feet got stuck twice in the deep snow piles on the side of the road. It took me more than 20 minutes to walk down the ice-covered sidewalks on the Black Horse Pike; it normally takes me about 5. Walking was much easier once I got on Kendall, where the sidewalks had largely been shoveled.

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