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For a person whose first choice of how to spend a Sunday might be spending the whole day in bed, I was positively adventurous today. All weekend long I’ve been stewing and fretting (both) over the fact that my car was so low on gas I was afraid to go anywhere that didn’t lead me straight to the gas station. And I was equally afraid that I’d get to the station and it would be so crowded that I’d have to keep driving, looking for another station until I ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere.
Of course, all these fears had very little basis in reality, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming them up. I don’t like driving on days when there is likely to be a glut of cars on the road, and that leaves out most of the last two weeks of the year, when the kids are out of school. But circumstances forced me today to put aside my reservations and venture out into the craziness.
The facts are these: For the first time I can ever remember, I ran out of shampoo during my shower this morning. (Well, this afternoon, actually, if you care about accuracy at all.) I thought I had a replacement bottle, but as it turned out, I didn’t. Suddenly my choices for Monday were skewered by circumstances that I failed to control. I didn’t want to face Monday with no shampoo, but I didn’t have enough gas to get to the drug store unless I filled my tank first. So on the last Monday of the year, with the last payroll to do, I suddenly had more errands to run than I thought I’d have time for.
Forcing myself out of the house on a Sunday turned out to be a lot easier under threat of an unkempt Monday. As I was driving to the gas station through more traffic than I’m comfortable with, I started running over alternatives in my mind. I could, of course, find a station where I would pay for my own gas, but when you have a company gas card, you really want to go to that station. My fears were unfounded, as usual, because there was only one other car in the postage stamp-sized station. It was easier to get in and out of the place on this Sunday than I’ve ever found it on a weekday.
After filling my tank, I went on to the drug store and picked up my shampoo, plus a three-quart saucepan. This last item became a critical necessity last night, when I pulled the knob off the lid of the saucepan I’ve been using almost every day. It just snapped off, making it unusable. And the pan’s handle is itself wobbly and only a few uses away from coming off, so I wouldn’t be able to reheat my large supply of leftovers. I wasn’t planning on buying a pan today, but I was there, and it was available, so I did. |
