Friday, November 22, 2013

in the spirit of Thanksgiving

This week I have been the recipient of countless blessings for which I am truly thankful but two are worth mentioning.

1.  Our car brakes have been making a horrible noise, particularly when all three of us are in the car.  My non-mechanical brain decided we all weigh too much together and the brakes are rebelling.  So I took it to the shop which had done our state inspection and begged and pleaded for them to fix it (oh and to also check the antifreeze in the car).  The car was there for hours and I panicked that they'd found something horribly wrong with the car but were too afraid to call me.  When I finally called them, the receptionist said that, in fact, there was nothing wrong with the car.  He said there was some rust and the friction between the rust and the brake pads was causing the squeaking noise, but there's no need to replace anything yet because everything's just fine.  He also confirmed that the antifreeze was great.  After all that checking, they didn't charge anything - not one red cent - for the evaluation.  For the record, they could have bilked me out of considerable money to change brake pads or rotors and I would have paid it.  I'm very thankful for honest mechanics who don't take advantage of clueless women.

2.  For Mac's birthday dinner, he chose to eat at PF Chang's.  He ordered his beloved pork dumplings and the crispy honey chicken.  As we were finishing the meal, the manager was making her rounds to check on all the tables in our area.  Mac told her how much he'd enjoyed his meal and I told her that of all the great restaurants in our neighborhood, he'd chosen to go there for his birthday dinner.  She got very excited and offered him a complimentary birthday dessert.  He declined  (who does that???) and when our check was delivered, she'd removed the dumplings from the bill.  I'm very thankful for unexpected gestures of kindness and goodwill.

I'm reminded as we approach Thanksgiving that I need to be more cognizant of the many blessings in my life.

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