Sitting Along the Road Watching the World Rush By

 

by Pa Rock

Time Minder

When I have a meeting or an appointment, I am there early.  It is an OCD thing, and it is a big part of who I am.  That is especially true for medical appointments, of which I have plenty.

Yesterday I had an appointment for an eye exam in Springfield, Missouri, a very large cowtown which is one hundred miles exactly from my home in West Plains.  I have recently had some vision issues as well as difficulties with a couple of local eye doctors, so I had my personal physician refer me to a group in Springfield which he felt could deal with my eyesight and fit me with glasses that would meet my needs.  It was an appointment that I desperately wanted to keep.

The appointment was at 10:15 in the morning.  I had carefully packed all of the things that I needed to take the previous evening and had them in the car, ready to fly in the morning.  I left the house at about 6:30 a.m. and headed to Sonic for my standard roadtrip breakfast, a bacon and egg toaster sandwich (so yummy!) with a Route 44 unsweet iced tea, and by 6:45 a.m. I was pulling out onto the highway with the better part of two hours to spare!

Vroom!  Vroom!

Things were pleasant for the next ten miles.  It was still dark out, thanks to daylight savings time, and the traffic was light.  I finished my breakfast and was listening to a political podcast (thank you, Alexa) and the miles clicked by.

Drive, drive, drive.

Drive, drive, drive.

But then:

Thump, thump, thump!

I haven't had many flats in recent years because I keep good rubber on my vehicles, but I recognized the sound of a flat tire when I heard one.  I found a good place to pull over, said a few choice words, and proceeded to figure out how to respond.  I had left with what I thought was plenty of time to spare, so the day was not lost - yet.

I have changed many tires in my wild and wicked youth, but I am seventy-five now and no longer engage in that particular activity - and I honestly did not even know if the Kia had a spare tire or not.  My car insurance has roadside assistance and my four new tires, which were less than a year old, were also insured, so I knew that it would just be a matter of finding the right numbers to call and then waiting.

The first obstacle that I encountered was that I couldn't figure out how to get the car's interior light to come on, but my phone was handy and I knew how the flashlight function worked.  I found my insurance card in the glovebox where it belonged, and called my insurance agent - whose office I knew would be closed.  The call automatically transferred to an after-hours' assistance line with an automated responder.  I was asked a series of questions and had to respond with the phone's keypad.  Eventually my issue was understood by the machine, who was also able to find my location through the phone, and I was told that a wrecker would be dispatched.

I sat in my car and waited patiently as the sun slowly rose and vehicles began rushing by at a faster pace.  Everything roared by except for my tow truck.  After thirty minutes or so I got a call from the tow truck driver who told me that he had been getting another vehicle off of his truck, but was now out on the road looking for me.  (I was on a major highway, heading north, in a readily known location - very close to where the towing operation was headquartered.)

After another thirty minutes I called the driver back and asked, nicely, if he had gotten lost.  No, he said, he was on his way.   Thirty minutes after that he finally pulled up.  By the time he got the car on his truck and drove it and I back to West Plains to the tire shop where I had purchased the tires, it was almost 9:00 a.m. and I looked to be third in line.  I phoned the eye clinic in Springfield and cancelled.  

The tow was covered by my car insurance (thank you, State Farm).  The tire place had to put on a "loaner" tire yesterday and my new one should arrive this morning - and the cost of it is covered by the insurance that I bought when I purchased the tires, although I understand there will be a couple of hidden fees that will come out of my pocket.  

Now I have a new appointment with the eye doctor for next month.  Perhaps I should go up the night before and get a motel room!

Being old is damned hard work - even with insurance!