Why?

Someone PLEASE explain to me why cars have trouble in the worst weather possible? And cell phones die on you just when you need them to work? Is there some law of physics I'm ignorant of? Well...I'm ignorant of a LOT of physics, but still...

Now this isn't as dire as it sounds. It's just -- I found my left rear tire flat this morning and had to change it in a steady snow shower because the road service people couldn't even begin to tell me when they'd be able to get someone out to do it for me. Not being a complete nitwit, I knew how to work a jack...so did. Took me half an hour and a frozen nose, but I got the dinky-assed spare on. Then I took it to a Firestone because I'd bought the tires at one in San Antonio and had been smart enough to get the roadside hazard protection on them. So the repair cost me nothing, but since I didn't have an appointment, he couldn't tell me how long it would take to fix.

Thing is, by this point it was 11 am and I'd done my usual minimal breakfast and was feeling a bit hungry. So instead of just waiting at the place, I went to a Tops grocery store that was nearby, bought something light to eat and set up my laptop in the solarium to do some writing. And I waited till 2:30 pm before finally giving up waiting and returning to the Firestone to see how it was going. Of course, by now the snow was worse and was accompanied by a biting wind. So I find out my car's ready, figured the guy hadn't had a chance to call me yet and head off.

I get back to the motel, buy some new WiFi time at the desk (you buy cards for 24 hours of use; it ain't free) and get busy doing other things, figuring I'll deal with the online stuff later -- until I get a call on the motel phone. It's the guys at Caladex wondering why I haven't responded to their emails and phone messages. And THAT'S when I find out my cell phone is dead. I popped in a new battery and learned that the tire repair was done in an hour and a half, and that my new job needed me to go to Miami for a couple of days. Man, I felt like an idiot. I mean, I NEVER get lots of calls on that damned phone, and I'm usually slavish about checking e-mails, but the second I'm out of pocket everyone's trying to contact me. It's irritating.

However...Tuesday, I'm heading for Miami and coming back Thursday. I feel so jet-set.

On a positive note, I did get some things going in RIHC6v2 -- a whole 5 pages fresh and new. It'll be interesting to see how this latest twist comes across.