The Best Laid Plans

I have friends who are getting married tomorrow afternoon. It's a relatively small, low-key affair, and a few of us are helping out by supplying some of the food for the reception after the ceremony. I was asked to bring my antipasto, a platter of cold cut meats, cheeses, and vegetables that was inspired by a similar dish my aunt made. Most of my friends and acquaintances love it. Cold cuts have a limited shelf life, though, so I waited until tonight to pick them up. It seemed like it would be a simple enough affair to leave work, stop for a couple slices of pizza, do the necessary shopping, head home, and throw together the antipasto, with plenty of time to spare for working on the trailer.

Then some minor problems popped up at work, delaying my departure about 45 minutes. That wasn't a serious problem, though, and once I was out the door from work I relaxed.  The first five minutes after I left seemed to go according to plan, if delayed just a bit. I drove off into the sunset, intent on getting to the highway. Then I noticed all the dirt and dust on the windshield and decided to spritz the windshield and clean it. I hit the button and watched as a long strip of the rubber wiper blade tore almost free, but not quite. Instead, as the wipers finally stopped, I could hear the strip of rubber going flap, flap, flap as I drove down the street. I pulled into a store parking lot and tied the strip of rubber down.

The next part of the plan seemed to work well enough. I had two delicious slices of New York style pizza, did the grocery shopping, drove home, and put the groceries away. But tomorrow's forecast calls for rain, so I needed to go grab a new wiper blade tonight. I drove the short way to nearest auto parts store. Alas, they'd closed ten minutes before I got there. No problem, I thought, I'll just stop - nope, closed. That place was closed to. So was the other place. Finally, I found a place that was still open, bought the darn wiper blade, and got home. It was well after 9 PM and I still had a wiper blade to install and an antipasto to make.

Except I realized the kitchen needed to be cleaned first. Why I didn't think to do that yesterday I don't know, but I didn't. My kitchen is now clean. But it is now closer to 11 PM than 10 PM, and I still have to make the antipasto and install a wiper blade. It is safe to say that no work on the trailer will be happening tonight. I'm off to get a work light and install the wiper blade now.

. . .

And I'm back. So, sixty minutes driving around to buy a new wiper blade earlier, then a grand total of five minutes to handle the actual replacement including the time to get the work light, and the battery for it, and a set of pliers in case there was a problem. Jeez.

. . .

The antipasto awaits. Good night, all.