January 14 – “Familiar ground”

Ah, affirmation.  It is a sweet thing.  Particularly when it relates to spending money on car repairs.  We took the car in to Dennis for an oil change and general “we’re taking a trip farther into Texas than usual” checkup.  Chris’ last surviving aunt died, and the funeral is Thursday out near Bay City.  Then we are going to Waco to Caleb’s birthday party.  Gotta have that car running smoothly.  While I was there I asked Dennis about the Firestone recommendation to get an immediate alignment.  The way they put it, if we didn’t let them do an alignment right then, our new tires would fall off and the car would explode.  He asked me two questions:  “How is the car running?”  That was easy.  It’s running just fine.  Then he asked “How bad was the wear on the old tires?”  Well, they were definitely worn, but not down to where you could see those metal strands sticking out.  I have had them get that bad before.  His final assessment?  Let it go until you have a different answer to those two questions.  I asked about the printout they gave me.  He chuckled and said, “Do you know what they call that printout in the business?  It’s called a marketing upgrade tool to make the customer think he needs more service than he really does.”  Well, there you go.  I love having a mechanic who can be trusted.

Later in the day Chris managed to drag me away from the computer to go shopping with her.  OK.  There are two parts to that last statement.  “Drag away from the computer” is not a negative thing.  I tend to get on a roll when I’m preparing for a teaching and will sit there for hours.  Then when I do get up I can hardly walk.  She doesn’t particularly lie to listen to my groanings and creakings, so she reminds me every so often that I need to get up and move around.  Besides, it’s also doctor’s orders from my rheumatologist, so technically it is therapeutic. 

The second part about going shopping is not necessarily bad either.  We do enjoy walking through WalMart together.  She looks at the stuff and I look at the people.  But this time she wanted to go to Target.  Ah, a whole different type of people to watch and merchandise to peruse.  There for whatever reason the children don’t seem quite as out of control, and the adults are much more reserved in their shopping experience.  In other words, just not quite as “interesting” as WalMart.  But as it happened, we walked into the store right behind a little kid who must have been about two years old.  Cute little rascal.  I did manage a grin from him, but I couldn’t follow him as far as I would have liked.  Chris discovered the section she was looking for right at the front of the store.  Oh, she was looking at the swim suits that were on sale.  Swim suits.  In January.  When it is 41 degrees outside.  She didn’t do so well in finding one.  I can understand why.  Do bathing suits even fit the same when it’s this cold?  We did manage to find an excuse to stop by WalMart.  Needed some fruit.  Good to be back on familiar ground. 

Psalms 37:28 says, “For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.”

Father, thank you for honesty in the business world.  It is so refreshing.  Bless those who make a commitment to integrity.  Amen.