Kids in a Candy Shop

Don't worry, no candy was harmed during this incident. Actually, no candy was even involved. Just the bar stools.

So I'm off to WorldCON in a few days. There are four of us road-tripping to Reno from Salt Lake, and since my car has the best balance of shoulder room and gas mileage, I got nominated to drive. I'm good with that. The control freak in me is only too happy to have the fates of three others in her hands. A good bwah-hah should be inserted here.

I do admit, that driving others makes me a little safety conscious, so I did a mental check on what I should have done to my car before we left. The list included: new windshield wipers, an oil change, a few filter changes, vacuuming, dusting and a tire rotation. Big list. And I meant to start on it last Monday, but I got a nasty summer cold, and this week went out the window.

Good thing I didn't have plans for Saturday night.

Don't think I'm pathetic. Wait, you probably already think that. The truth hurts, I guess. Anyway, Saturday night was the only evening this week that I didn't have at least two things going on. We got back from Orem at 4:45pm and I decided that all of this silly car stuff had to be done before 6:00pm.

As we got off the freeway, I drove by the Discount Tire by my house (where I purchased my tires) to get their hours. Even better though, their phone number stood in big, bright numbers on their windows. So I called. Asked in my cutest voice if I could bring my Vibe in for a tire change, got an affirmative and did it.

I felt bad, it being their last fifteen minutes or their day, but they guy said to come in, so I did. As I sat down I saw one other man in the waiting room. He sat at a bar, on a red bar stool, leaning on his elbows and watching out the windows into the garage area with a look of pure bliss on his face. He glanced over at me, grinned, and said, “Best seat in the house!”

Sure enough, it was. He looked like a kid in a candy shop. There may have even been a bit of drool, I didn't look too closely. But I did imagine all of the men who would sit there and watch their tires being changed, balanced, rotated or repaired. Kudos to whoever thought that idea up. It wasn't there when I bought my tires a year or so ago. Whoever it was had to have grown up in a neighborhood where a man gets a new lawnmower, and the rest of the guys on the street have to come check it out the first time it gets used.

Way to go Discount Tire guys. And thanks for the tire rotation!

P.S. Word count is 38,120(ish) words and counting. Almost there for my WorldCON goal!