Tuesday

Saturday, December 09, 2006


I left the college library around 5pm, it was raining and cold. Darkness had descended. I was quite happy about the amount of work i had got done in the Library.

I walked to the car, out the back gate, drove off but something wasn’t right. I stopped t discover a flat tyre, front drivers side. I decided to change it. no hassle. I could still get to pick up Jacob on time. I knelt down in the wet and started to use the wrench to turn the nuts to free the tyres. The wrench slipped and my hands hit the tar. I got some cuts in my hand. I tried and tried but to no avail. after about 15 minutes I called my wife to pick up Jacob as I wasn’t going to make it.

I continued to try. The wrench just kept on slipping, I couldn’t get a grip. Eventually I got One nut off. The second nut came quickly afterwards. But nut three and four just wouldn’t move. I continued try. for over an hour i tried until I was cold, sore, cut and physically tired. I decided to walk to some shops to see if i could find a shop with tools to help.

I went safe in the hazy knowledge of a style of shop i was looking for was at a local industrial estate. The shop i was looking for had moved it was now a one-pound style store. I managed to get some lubricant for the nut in an effort to get it off. I walked back to the car. I sprayed the lubricant. All it succeeded in doing helping the wrench slip off all the more easier.

I made some calls.

I got in a minister friend who lives in the local area. He was heading to a meeting about funerals, but managed to make the trip to help me out. He came and was happy to help. we changed the tyre and swapped stories about different times when we didn’t have the tools to do the job.

The help was good and got the job done in a good atmosphere and reasonably quickly.

I called home. We were needing shopping in from the local superstore. I drove there and got around , reasonably quickly considering it was 7.30pm by the time I arrived. I got the check out, and started to unload the trolley. The girl on the till, stated scanning and packing my purchases. Usual procedure in this store is the assistant says hello, and then asks If you want help packing my bag. She never asked.

I continued unpacking my trolley. I stopped and walked down to pack my bags. I thought the assistant would stop then. But no she decided to throw things down quickly without giving me the chance to pack a bag. when she assumed I had enough for a bag, she then started to pack another bag for me. Eventually it was done I packed my trolley, paid and headed for the car. I packed the car with the 11 bags of shopping. I drove home and tried to walk up the stairs. I have recently worked out 8 bags is the optimum number for managing up the stairs. With 11 I struggled. really struggled.

So two types of help. One asked for, One not asked for. One was good, helpful and got the job done quickly, the other was bad, annoying and got the job done quickly.

Strange how different types of help can differ so much.

Posted by scottp at 10:46 PM

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