random thoughts – Day 2,297 (Monday) – adulting

Somehow, the end of the month snuck up on me and there were only two days left to get my car inspection done. Once upon a time, there was a strategy for this, which was to schedule an oil change in June and have the sticker done then, too. Other times, the “strategy” was shrieking, “crap, it’s the 30^th” and logging off the work computer to drive two streets over to Hank’s Garage for the task.

This year it’s all different with no job to be working at from home during the week, no inspection station spitting distance from home, and not much urgency for life maintenance tasks because all the days are mostly empty and things can easily be delayed until tomorrow.

Anyway. This morning, I was checking the day planner I often forget to consult and saw “car inspection” on this week’s to-do list, having been carried over from last week’s list. The state website listed  three or four inspections stations in town, with two of them about a mile away down the street. The closest location was the Chevy-Jeep-Dodge dealership so I went there first. Unfortunately, it was 11:45 and the inspection guy was in the middle of an inspection and then was going to lunch until 1:00. I was invited to wait there for an hour and be the first car after lunch, but I declined (and also marveled about the one-hour lunch, because for nine years it was a measly 30 minute lunch break at the bank).

First in the queue.

I drove down the street to the other inspection station which was a large brick complex with a tow yard, auto repair bays, and activity in the lot with flatbeds, tow trucks, delivery vehicles from parts providers, and those of us waiting for inspections. I was the third car in the inspection line. The A/C was on, the radio was playing, and my phone was put to use with a game for the wait. It was about 35 minutes later when my car was collected by the mechanic and I was invited to wait in the office.

When my car was put into the inspection bay there were three cars in the queue outside (again). The office A/C was running on the Arctic setting and I was freezing, but standing in the asphalt parking lot in the heat felt kind of weird and dumb. Around 1:00, my car was brought back out to the lot and I was on my way. There were now four cars in the permanent inspection queue on the next to the last day for June inspections but mine was done with a day to spare and I was feeling pleased.

After the triumph of the annual inspection, I went to Dollar Tree for tin foil, but it’s dumb to buy just one item there so I browsed the whole store and also got a can of tuna, a can of mandarin oranges, a bag of coffee. News flash -- school ended in my town last Wednesday, and the back to school displays are being installed at Dollar Tree now. Basically, parents, teachers, and students had about five minutes to shake off school before having to think about the upcoming school year. That is cruel.

The shopping was marred by some old dude wandering the aisles and whistling random warbling notes and humming random noises. He seemed to be one aisle away from me no matter where I was, until he ended up two people behind me in the very long checkout line at the one cashier, still whistling. I don't know why whistling grates on my nerves like it does, but I was tempted to drop my items and flee the store to get away from it. 

I chose to be a responsible shopper, completed my transaction and declared the adulting tasks done for the day. And the month. Until I begin again with the bill paying and chores and to-do lists for July. Adulting is like being on a never ending gerbil wheel.