Taking Time Off for Reality

Yesterday I had some work to do in the garage. When I got out there, I moved cars around so I could do some work on the Tahoe. With everything in place, I realized I had left my phone in the house. I decided not to get it, so I started to work. I needed to replace the parking brake shoes. When the Tahoe was being towed home after the wreck last October, we stopped a few miles after we started home. The wrecker pulling the other wrecked car radioed the driver of the wrecker pulling the Tahoe. He said he heard a loud ‘squeaking’ coming from the rear of the Tahoe. When I heard that, I told the driver that I bet it was the parking brakes. I always put the parking brake on when I stop to get out. That habit started when I had my ’68 Camaro. Since it was a four-speed car, I put on the parking brakes so it would not roll when I got out. The driver pulled over and found out that it was the parking brakes. He released them.

When I was ordering parts to repair the Tahoe, I included a new set of parking brake shoes. Yesterday, when I pulled the rear discs off, I found that the parking brake shoes needed to be replaced. One side was down to the metal but had not been that way very long. The disc still looked to be in good shape. The other side was in better condition but did have a lot of wear.

The way I work in the garage is by taking frequent breaks. I have a lawn chair with a stool next to the chair where I keep water and the phone, but yesterday it held only water bottles. I have discovered that when I have the phone out there, I end up looking at the phone a lot. Yesterday I got a lot done in the garage because when I took breaks, I drank some water and got back to work quickly. I enjoyed not having the phone out there. It was a beautiful day, I had good classic rock from the 1970’s playing on the sound system, and when I took breaks, I watched people walk and drive by. I think from now on I will take my phone out there, set the ringer to high, and leave it on top of one of the tool chests. That way, when I sit down for a break, I will not be tempted to pick up the phone to waste time taking longer breaks. But if someone needed to contact me, I would hear the phone ring.

I ended the day with a test drive with Axle and Paisley going along for the ride. When we got back, I sat down to listen to a few songs from my past and reminisced about how much fun it was to spend an entire day enjoying reality.

It was a great day!!