Tue 27 Nov 2007
Thanksgiving’s four day weekend is over, and I have a lot to be grateful for. Not only did I have four marvelous days off in a row, but I
still have all the fingers on my left hand. Lucky me!
As restful as I’d hoped the time off would be, circumstances didn’t cooperate with me. I was happy as a clam on Wednesday night, returning home from a great dinner out, when I heard a hiss. Looking down, I watched my front passenger tire go flat in just a few seconds.
Normally, that wouldn’t be any big deal, but I’d been driving on my spare for eight months.
Here is a truism for you. Heed this, and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache. Ignore it, and life is sure to come and bite you in the ass.
If you think about doing something you know you should do, DO IT.
That’s it; pretty simple. You’d think that I’d heed my own advice; wouldn’t you? Not so much!
I thought about getting new tires last week…even priced them at 
several shops, but I never got around to going to get them. So, when my tire went flat, all I could do was blame myself. And it wasn’t a big deal…so I have to change a tire? So what?
Lesson number two: If you have a crappy little jack, and your neighbor — who’s always willing to help — has a nice jack in his garage, borrow your neighbor’s jack.
I didn’t.
Instead, I used the crappy jack and was surprised when it just tilted over and the car fell. For a second, my fingers were trapped between the wheel well and the tire, but I got them out — minus a layer of skin but still intact. Had they been under the brakes as they had been a few moments earlier, I wouldn’t have fingers on that hand any more.
So, now the car has four brand new tires on it. It’s balanced and aligned. It drives like a dream…except for the rubbing somewhere in my front passenger wheel. I guess I’ll have to take it in one more time to make sure that’s nothing serious.
In spite of all that, Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. We enjoyed our family dinner, the football game was awesome (OU beat OSU, of course!) and I got one out of four days to just goof off. What more could a person want? (Strike that…a year to just goof off would be nice.)
Okay, enough dreaming…let’s sing about dreaming…
Because reading a story about flat tires is boring as hell but you stuck with me anyway, here’s a wonderful little ditty for you. It’s not the standard version of the song, but it makes me very joyful when I hear it. It’s by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, who was a Hawaiian sensation and an amazing singer.
You can’t listen to this and not get happy! 
Stumble It!
November 28th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole or Iz as those around him called him was a remarkable talent and wonderful inspirational person. He passed much too soon and in life garnered very little attention outside of Hawaii. It wasn’t until the last 5 years or so after his medley had been heard in many movies and television programs that he sound has spread beyond the blue pacific. While a beautiful song, and one of my favorites, his story and how this ties into the passing of a good friend of mine, always brings tears to my eyes. Amazing the power of music and how a song can bring different thoughts and emotions to so many people.
Brian
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
So true, Brian.
That song has great meaning to me, too. I was introduced to it by a dear friend who has opened up a whole new world of music to me. Now, whenever I hear it, I immediately feel uplifted and happy. It’s so sad that Israel died at such an early age - such a waste of what was obviously a wonderful life and an amazing talent. He has inspired me to take control of my own life.
Maggy