Another small-town life enjoyment hit me today. We have our car at the local automotive repair (Scharf Service - no, really - an uncle) and its transmission has been flushed and refueled. I want to use the car for some errands later today so I was thinking of how I could get the car without too much fuss. I ruled out walking with Chirpee in the stroller because it is pretty warm (30 degrees or so) and the road is quite slushy. The areas that aren't slushy are icy and I didn't feel like manuvering a stroller through them then putting those mucky wheels in the back of the van. So I opted for the walk without Chirpee - while he takes a nap.
We'd better do a quick geography lesson before some of your jaws drop too low. We live one block away from the repair shop - town-of-750people-block that is. Not a New York City block. Just a little one with a distance that could be visualized in feet or few yards. So I put Chirps down for a nap, waited until 13:00 and snuck out the front door with a check in my pocket and boots on my feet. The walk took twice as long as I was slipping and sliding down the road in my clunky, cheap boots.
Arriving at the shop I opened the door and noticed not a sound or person around. Then I remembered seeing the Snap-on tool truck in the front as I walked in. Every mechanic has an inherent weakness for quality, drool-over tools so I figured that is where everyone was. I also checked to make sure it wasn't between 12:00-13:00 as the whole town of Manitou shuts down to eat lunch.
Eventually a mechanic wandered in from the truck and went into the shop. I wondered, "should I go back there and just ask for my keys or should I just take them from the board on the wall?" Deciding they might appreciate knowing who drove off with the van, and wanting to write a check rather than wait for a bill I opted for waiting until he came back up front.
He didn't and I walked into the shop a bit to find him, but didn't hear a mouse so I just took the keys and drove home. I'll stop by again on my way to do my errands and see if they have a bill for me!
PS - the flooding watch has been severely downgraded so there shouldn't be anything too adventuresome around Winnipeg anytime soon! I guess we have the recent freezing temperatures to thank. I just am having a hard time being thankful - too much snow came along with cold!
3 comments:
Funny story! I love that small town feeling. We get a little bit of it here since we just have a Dr;s office, a couple of small restaurants and an ice cream store along the beach. No school, no groceries, no pharmacy etc unless you drive to the next town.
Ha, that's awesome!
That's hilarious! I love it! Oh for small town living...there's something really great about it.
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