Want to go for a ride? Huh? Because I have four round new tires, and I feel like driving around.

Yeah, except that I’m a little low on gas, and I don’t feel like fighting the Friday afternoon traffic if it means getting to a gas station before I can go anywhere. On my way back from the Saturn dealer today, I was tempted to turn left and head to the shops to pick up some holiday items I still need. Instead I turned right and went to the post office and then came on home.

It happened that I picked up my car, with its new tires, at just about the time school was getting out, so there were lots of other cars clogging the streets. My post office is across the street from the middle school, and it took me so long to drive two blocks, with kids streaming across the street, that I was happy to drive home and into my garage, where I could admire my nice, round tires.

When I took the car in this morning, I told the friendly folks at Saturn service that I hated my tires. Maybe that was going to far, but they insisted that they would check to see if I had a leak, as I suspected. I didn’t, but the tread was worn enough on all four that they suggested I replace them. I had no problem with that, not just because I hated my old tires, but also because I’ve been with these people for so long that I trust them to tell me the truth, and to do things right. So I gave them the okay.

Then I called the Boss, and by the time that conversation was over he was insisting on paying for my new tires.

At times over the last few months, I’ve felt stranded. I didn’t want to drive anywhere because I didn’t know if I’d make it. Sometimes I hid it by pretending to be busier than I was, or by asking someone else to drive when I did go out. I’ve made short trips shorter, and even on my morning errands I’ve done less than I needed to do, so that I could get home more quickly. I most definitely didn’t want to set out on any long trips at high speed.

Now, I’m still probably going to be a person who likes to stay home a lot, but I also have the option of getting out of the cocoon. It’s good to have options. I always say that, even though I probably have scads of options I never intend to exercise. It’s still good to have them.

It’s probably just as well that I don’t have enough gas to go very far this weekend. I’ve been sputtering this week, work-wise, and I could use the extra time to get a few things done. I have an audit in eleven days, and next week is the deadline on a huge bid that will require a lot of extra typing. As tempting as it is to light out for the territories, I can’t afford to give into temptation with this much on my plate.

One great thing about having new tires is that it gives me one less worry to lose sleep over. I expect to be in a much better mood most of the time now. It takes so little, sometimes, to lift my spirits, and this is actually something pretty big.