Thursdays are usually my busiest days of the week. But today is special. Besides all of the meetings, I had several important conversations in the morning and in the afternoon and by 3:30PM, I felt that I had all of the best things life could ever give me at this stage. Then, as in all dramas, all were but just a start of a much more convoluted and sometimes twisted adventure…

I went to my car at around 5PM and planned to get out to have some fun and to call some friends, only to find my car covered by dirt–the apartment staffs were steam cleaning the garage today without giving prior notice. My car was just washed & waxed last week and god knows how much damage such powerful cleaning would do to the paint. Then I found the car a little reluctant to start. I called some friends and was told that the battery probably need replacement. 

I went to Autozone and they said that I definitely need a battery replacement and it was a miracle that my battery already lasted 7 years. After they put in a new battery, I found that I could not start the car any more. The Autozone guys said that the starter might broke. Good grief! I called a garage nearby and they were closed then and could not let me to bring the car in tonight. I decided to leave the car there over night and get back tomorrow morning. The Autozone folks told me that I need to move the car because their parking lot need to be cleared after 9PM or my car would be towed by some city patrol folks because the Autozone was sharing the lot with a restaurant. 

Then I called a towing company, who told me that they would come in 30 minutes to bring my car back home for the time being. Then I continued calling some friends while waiting there. 1 hour passed; I was a little hungry; the towing truck did not show up; my cell battery ran low. So I cut the talk with friends and called the towing company staffs, who told me that the person would be anytime during the next 60 minutes. I was really hungry (and probably a little angry) and walked into a nearby restaurant and bought 2 quesadillas. 

I went back to Autozone and chewed the 2 quesadillas among a bunch of engine lubricant and car polish bottles and natural grease removers and a bunch of other gadgets (why I was so observant of THOSE things?!)–these gave some strange odors but for the first time in my life, I found quesadillas actually taste VERY VERY good. Then my cellphone battery ran really low and started to give me warning sounds. I looked at the watch, 90 minutes had passed since my last call with the towing company. I called again and was told that the towing guy would arrive in 5 minutes. 

Strangely, for the first time again, I felt I was so restrained by technology–the guys in the store tried to find me a cellphone charger but all models only worked as car chargers. I asked them to try to jump start my car and they said no because the starter was bad. I really wanted to talk with some friends over the phone, even it was for just a minute. But the red battery sign sort of froze my finger before it tried to push the "talk" button. 

30 minutes later, the cellphone battery totally died. 15 minutes later, just 5 minutes before the Autozone closed, the towing truck finally arrived. I have been standing there for 3 hours and 20 minutes–no chair, no table, no nothing. I was too tired to even ask him what took him so long. But it seemed that he was "just" told about my case like 40 minutes ago. Anyhow, I was too tired to get angry. It took a lot of energy to lose temper but I did not have enough. So I continued to pretend to be the patient girl. It felt cool but who knows.

It’s cool to see how the guy was able to move my little fat car onto that gigantic flatbed. At least I learned that I can still push the car around by switching to gear "N" even when I could not start the engine.

30 minutes later, I was back home. 10:15PM. Tired but still… not angry.

What’s more, I found that the allergy symptoms that had been bothering me all these days were gone.

Who said that one cannot have the best of both worlds?!