My Week that Was - August 29

Capitol as seen from State St. 8/23/26 dwm

 Saturday and Sunday were good days to ride. Temperatures were comfortable, in fact, in the morning it was almost cool enough for a light jacket.

 

 It's indicates cooler days are coming. One way or another, September is going to be cooler than August, count on it.

 

 As I rode through campus it was fun seeing young people and their parents moving into their home away from home. Most will make it, some won't but will try again, it's another step down life's road.

 

 It was my fourth straight two-day weekend and I will say that I miss the luxury of an extra day before returning to work. When it comes time to deploy time off in 2027, I plan to spread the off days around the calendar instead of taking days off for consecutive weeks.

 

 On Tuesday, a long-time colleague had their retirement party. While I've been at Oakwood a long time, my work friend has twice the years of service. 

 

 Thursday afternoon I had an appointment across town, when I backed the car out I felt the car pulling left. I thought the steering might have an issue. I turned the car off then re-started when I left the garage, but it was still pulling left. I stopped the car and got out to look at it, discovering the front driver's side tire was flat.

 

I opened the back hatch where I found the spare and some tools, but I didn't know where the jack was stored. After looking at the driver's manual, I saw it was under the driver's seat. It needed to be loosened after removing a cover concealing its location. A guy I know from work asked if I wanted help. He was on his way across town too, but had more than an hour before his appointment and was a huge help. 

 

While I wasn't certain, I was sure this was the first time I needed the spare. Unfortunately, once we put the tire on the wheel, we found the spare was almost as flat as the tire it replaced. There was a Kwik Trip store a few blocks away, so I drove with the emergency flashers blinking until I reached the air pump. The spare was to be inflated to 60 pounds per square inch, it took more than 10 minutes before it was full. 

 

When the flat tire was removed I looked it over and discovered a nail in the middle of the tread. I have an appointment Wednesday to fix it.

It's been a wonderful week with temperatures in the mid to upper 70s or low 80s, which is perfectly fine. Next week is fixing to return to the upper 80s with high levels of humidity. If you go by the calendar when it comes to the seasons, this next week is usually considered the last week of summer! Be sure to enjoy it.