Party

Longine and Chris, my landlords, invited me to a party yesterday. I had a pork pie in my freezer that Linda had made them and I was going to cook it for them. But at the last minute, they postponed the party till today. Yesterday was not a good weather day. It was cold and windy and it was sleeting for a good part of the afternoon. It was not a problem. I was going to be with my mother today, but I would be back in plenty of time as the party would not begin till 6:00.

Then Chris calls me at 4:00 to tell me that she let herself in to get the pie as the party was starting at 4:00. She forgot to tell me. Oh well. So I went home and had a salad and thought I might not go. There were a lot of people there and most of them, practically all of them, I did not know. But Christine would have none of that. She came to my door and nudged me into going. I couldn't say no.

I brought my coffee and after a few minutes, found myself sitting at the table next to a man who looked rather familiar and I don't know why. We started asking each other questions. He was short, grey haired with a diamond in his left ear. I was sure I didn't know him, but there was something about him.

This is the chorus from St. Theresa's Grammar School. He had this picture on his phone. I am the second one in on the left in the second row. Raymond Pare is in the front row to the right of the short boy.

We were in the same class with the same nuns, knew the same kids. Had the same outcast problems. He now pronounces his last name as Pa-ray. But back then he was Pareee. It is like our last name. We were the Messiers. You may be messy but we're messier.  now it is messy-ay. We change our last names to be what? - more presentable? I don't know.

So we talked and compared our lives. He ended up having a band in the seventies and eighties with the white pants and shoes and loud shirts with the girl singer. I will keep his email address so I can get more information from him.

It is a strange world indeed. I have not seen him since 1963. Fifty years. And now this picture. I just love this.

In 63 Years!!!

In 63 years I have never had a flat tire. Well, not that I have driven an automobile all those years. When I think of it, I don't really remember being in a car that had a flat tire. So this has been an unusual day. I watch my tires all the time because the one in the front driver's side has a slow leak and I know I have to get that fixed at some point. I was told I should have the leak sealed. It is supposed to be expensive. Over $50. But well worth it, I have been advised. What do I know. It's an old car. Fix it. For me, $25 is expensive. Over $50 is a week's pay.

So anyway, I left my Mother's house at 3:30 this afternoon and was making my way to Robin's office. It was Sydney's birthday a few days ago and I wanted to bring her her birthday present and it is my usual day to get an adjustment. I cross over the Amoskeag Bridge turning left to head to the West Side when BAM!! this crazy noise and my car is careening all over the place.  The traffic is heavy. I find a little spot where I can pull off the road. I get out thinking that something has fallen off from under the car. I have to admit that I was relieved when I saw that it was the tire. I group for a few seconds and call AAA. I didn't know the name of the road I was on. I have driven that road for years. It has no name. It is the road between Eddy road and McGregor St. There are two gas stations and a Dunkin Donuts. I am across the street from the Shell Station. What type of car do I have? Oh my god. For a second, I couldn't remember. I was so discombobulated. After many questions, he said it would be about 45 minutes..... OOOOOKAY.

I was blessed. He came in fifteen? Maybe twenty?? He was wonderful. He propped up the car and tried to put air in the tire so I could cross the road into the Shell station as there was too much traffic for him to work on the car in the road. But he was not successful at getting air in the tire. So the traffic was going to have to make its way around us. He was a lovely man.

I opened the trunk and he lifted the carpeting and commented that he didn't think that this had never been done as old as this car was. When he pulled out this little spare tire, it had never been used. It was a tiny thing. He then removed the flat tire and there it was :::::

A 6 inch wood boring spade bit also occasionally called a paddle bit. It went in by the small end and the spade was sticking out of the flat side of the tire. It was piercing the tire like a knife used to stab someone in the neck on one of the crime dramas on TV. It was so strange. How could this happen. I was not even driving alone on the road! I was following behind three other cars. Not trucks. Cars. I'm on a smooth road. How does such a thing happen? He put the tire in the trunk and told me to get a new tire soon as these little tires are not meant to really be driven on for a long time. Especially, they are not meant for the highway.

OK. Just down the street is the tire place that I was told to go to by my most excellent garage. So I just went and got a new tire. Not in my budget. They were just closing but the young man took one look at me and saw desperation. It took him all of ten minutes to put a new tire on. It is good for 70,000 to 80,000 miles. The car didn't even have that many miles on it when I bought it. So it is OK.

I mean look at that tool. I'm flabbergasted~~~~