random thoughts – Day 1,733 – (Saturday) – service and decor

Christmas decorating
is nearly done.

After failing to schedule my oil change and 60,000 mile service for several consecutive weeks, I finally remembered to call the Jeep dealership last week. Yes, it probably costs more going there, but they frequently send postcards with specials and discounts and the waiting room is always well stocked with granola bars and other snacks plus the coffee machine and fridge of cold drinks. 

The appointment was at 8:30 this morning. Thanks to light traffic and an absence of annoyances on the drive, I was outside the service area at 8:15 and checked in and seated in the waiting area by 8:20. The tech doing the check-in seemed unconcerned about my complaint about the tires losing pressure every two weeks (the warning came on again this morning, just two weeks after the last go-round). He said it's because of the cold, which would be plausible if not for the fact this is my fourth winter with this vehicle and I'm pretty sure it got cold during the other three and I definitely didn't need to get air every two or three weeks. 

In the waiting room, just like at the dentist’s office, the TV was playing a real estate show. Today is was the one where a decorator and contractor update the people’s existing home while a realtor tries to move them into a new place and then they have to choose to sell the renovated home and buy a new one, or stay put. Like most allegedly unscripted “reality” shows, it felt fake, but was still mildly entertaining.

The table is comically
far from the seats.

I enjoyed two relaxing hours in the waiting lounge. I had a cup of mochachino from the fancy coffee machine and a granola bar with peanut butter. The drink had to be set on the floor because the large coffee table is too far from the seats placed around it to be useful. Luckily, I didn't knock it over.

I read a couple chapters in a novel (How to Not Die Alone) and played Words with Friends and Woodoku on my phone. There were six or seven of us in the room and it was mostly quiet. Exceptions were when my lug sole boots squeaked on the floor at an embarrassing volume when I got coffee and then went to the trash with the empty cup, and when the much older couple who would be wise to invest in hearing aids tried talking to each other. It was painful. Holy Crap. 

Back at home, some signs of Christmas were hung – wreaths on each side of the front door and one on the bathroom closet door. A snowflake tree topper is set out like a piece of décor. Tinsel trees on the table in the enclosed porch. It might be done for this year. 

There were art exhibit receptions, open studios, and holiday markets happening today but I didn’t make it to any of them. The auto service took a ding out of the wallet and the newly derailed career prospects have taken a lot of wind out of my sails. The choice to lay low at home felt comfortable at the time, but was regretted later when I saw photos of friends and by friends at the reception for an exhibit.