The first thing to go

The perils of getting old...

I do a middling amount of work from home, so much so that it isn't unusual to lock up my Shop for a few minutes at a time so I can do something online or what not. I've even cautioned my customers to call if they get to the Shop and it's locked, because I'll come up if I can (it's only a couple blocks away). Often I'll drive my van back and forth to save a few seconds as against walking.

Yesterday as I worked from home I got a call about some cables. I told the guy I was at home, but call when he was close and I'd meet him. An hour or so later he calls; he's at my Shop. I ask him to give me five minutes and I'll be there.

I walk out the door, lock the house and start fumbling in my pocket for my van keys. At the same time I look out at the street: no van. It wasn't in front of the house or across the street from it, or even down the road a bit. My van wasn't there, anywhere.

Of course I began to get mad. I can't believe this is happening! And in the middle of the day! Someone took my van...no, Marty, you took your van. To the Mechanic. Because it had a broken coil spring.

In my defense, this was around 12:30 and I had already been up since 1 AM and driven a 400 mile road trip. But you aren't going to cut me any slack for that, are you?

Aging means forgetting

The signs of getting older...

When a customer comes in for a part, you get the part and set it down, then you can't find it. So you get another because the customer is waiting and sell him that one. The instant he leaves, you see the first one you got, hiding in plain sight.

Yep, that's how my morning has gone so far.