Another Day At The Races

Today I had an 11am appointment with one of my doctors. I was about a block away from the house when I realized I had a seriously flat tire, so I decided to drive back home. It was the right front passenger side tire, which of course is kind of redundant, but I prefer to say it that way to lend completeness to the thought. If you follow my blog for any length of time you will discover that I always prefer two adjectives when even one might do superficially, as long as the denotations are the same but the connotations carry different thoughts. I hooked up one of those electric tire pumps you can plug into your cigarette lighter. Those things really work effectively, and have rescued me more than once over the years. It didn't take long to pump it up, and off  I started down the road again. But no sooner did I get close to the expressway than my engine started overheating, and the needle quickly started heading for the redline, so I turned around and headed back in the other direction again for the nearest shopping center. It used to be possible to find some antifreeze in a supermarket, so I went to Farm Fresh. Unfortunately they didn't carry anything but referred me next door to Dollar General. It was a blessing to discover they sold a gallon of antifreeze for just ten dollars, so I bought two just to be on the safeside and prepared for any eventuality, and then headed back out to the parking lot to transfuse my van, a Chrysler Town & Country LX. I always forget the year but it was in the last century: a whole other millenium away. As soon as I turned over the engine and knew it was stabilized, I called the doctor's office again to see if I still had enough time to make the appointment. They gave me the greenlight and I headed off, leaving the shopping center at the nearest exit, which I had never used before but how difficult could it possibly be?