Jeff asked me to take his car in for service, including four new tires. The earliest appointment was today, so after my swim class, I drove over to Red Bank.

When I made the appointment, they said that the service would take two hours, so I didn't opt for a loaner car.

After they got it in the shop, they came out with a bunch of other stuff that needed doing. It was all stuff that we already suspected, so it was simply a matter of whether they could do it in the allotted time. They said that they could, so I told 'em to go for it.

The tires are expensive, you know that. My car needs four new tires too, actually.

As the "drop dead" time for my departure approached, I left the waiting area to ascertain how much longer they would need to finish up the job. They said, "20 minutes."

"That puts you over the time estimate that you gave me."

"Sorry, it is what it is."

I called my kids' school to say that I would be 15-30 minutes late in picking them up.

I got into the car at 2:50 (pickup time at school is 3PM) and got to school by 3:20, hit every light "green" and absolutely no traffic. And I didn't break the speed limit, well, except for a little stretch on Kozlowski between the county fairgrounds and Route 33, but, heck, I don't even know for sure what the speed limit is along there. I mean, it's posted as a "construction zone" but I haven't seen any construction there in months! And you certainly can't tell nothing from how fast the other cars are going!

Anyway, no one knew the difference except me ... and my stomach ... because I hadn't eaten anything all day!