Impulse control

Monday

Today, my last day of vacation, is the first day I’ve accomplished anything. I bought toothpaste and took my car to the mechanic.



I'll pause until the oohs and ahhs quiet.

During my week at Eve’s the engine light in my car came on. I made an appointment to have it checked out and to have the oil changed. I dropped it off this morning, and Mica picked me up so I wouldn’t have to spend hours waiting for them to figure out what was wrong.

She had both dogs with her because they had a grooming appointment at 11:00. To kill the extra time, we took them to dog park first. No other dogs in the small dog side, but they could still run and chase one another.

A dog on the big dog side came up to the fence to check them out. The little white dog met him and they sniffed noses. Chloe, little bad ass that she is, charged the fence barking, and the big dog cowered. It was one of those times I’m glad we don’t know what they’re saying.

After dropping them off at the groomer, we went to lunch and ran errands that Mica needed to do. By then the dogs were ready to be picked up. We dropped them off at Mica’s, and she took me to pick up my car.

They told me there were two things that might be causing the engine light to come on. One is covered by warranty and one isn’t. They changed the part that is covered and said it seemed to do the trick. I hope it does because I’d like to buy tires before winter and would rather have only one major car expense at a time.

Once I had my car back, I went to Sam’s and bought toothpaste. They’ve switched to almost all self-checkout lanes. I saw a meme on Facebook a while ago directed at Walmart that said if I wanted to check myself out, I’d stay at home and shop on Amazon. That’s how I feel about the trend toward eliminating cashiers. I bought more than toothpaste and kept hold of the receipt. I’m going to check Amazon and see how the prices differ. I wouldn't mind having most things delivered to my door.

After that, I went to Mica’s to help her seed grass in newly added dirt and cover it with some landscape fabric that is supposed to protect the seed until it can germinate. We are not gardeners. We also suck at measuring and cutting. It looks like a mess. The dirt was needed to fill in a trench worn by the little white dog who follows the same route every time he goes outside. The real problem is how to keep him from displacing the new dirt before grass can anchor it. I think Mica needs some kind of temporary fence. She believes the little white dog will observe the fabric and choose now to exercise impulse control.

“Have you met him?” I asked.

She squirted me with the hose.

Back to work tomorrow.