Re-Tire

 

What are the chances? Twice in one week!!!! Sometimes, the universe just likes to mess with your head...

Neither tire puncture was due to lousy driving habits or faulty cheesy tires. Both incidents were apparently caused by driving over something sharp...

Last week I was tootling back from Stop and Shop when I noticed an idiot light was on on the dashboard. Investigation proved it to be a low tire pressure sensor... what won't they think of next! (sorry: we're used to driving very old cars that don't have such new fangled instruments as back up computers and automatic transmissions...) Anyway, I checked the air pressure when I got home and lo! the driver's side rear tire was very low. Bob added air, but the next morning the tire was really low again. As luck would have it, I had an eye doctor appointment that morning but our local garage squeezed us in and was able to patch the tire- and not charge us! Thank you Jimmy!

So yesterday, I announced my intentions to drive to Trader Joe's in Danbury. Bob agreed to accompany me as he needed roof tar at Home Depot. This turned out to be fortunate in the extreme. As we tooled along towards Danbury, traffic on Rt 84 came to a crawl and we decided to get off the highway a couple of exits early and run our errands in the opposite order. As I pulled into the exit lane, that damned low air pressure light came back on. I suspected the patch had failed and as we rolled off the exit ramp, the noise of a flopping definitely flat tire became louder. We pulled into a gas station (*1) and yup! Flat tire! But on the passenger's side rear!

Lucky for me, Bob was present and "we" changed the tire (Bob doing most of the work). It really took only a few minutes and donut installed, we returned to Southbury to drop off the tire for patching or replacement. We suspected- and had it confirmed- that whatever we rolled over had punched a nice, really big gash into our tire. Heigh ho! New tire. I am hoping we have reached tire-max and don't need to have another flat for at least a couple of years! What were the chances! (*2)

(*1) Not a REAL gas station- do they even exist?- but a convenience market. At least it had a large, flat parking area! And air! But there was a dopey guy parked right in front of the air dispenser... do you think he'd move? Hahahahahaha!

(*2) And other than that, the car is really great: runs quiet, handles nicely, is comfortable, gets good gas mileage... exactly what you want. And the car now has a name! Beatrice ad John's car is Great White, Cathy's Corolla is the Silver Vortex. So, in keeping with a sort of family color motif, I christen our car Red Rover.

Eye Spy

 As some of you know, I messed up my left eye a number of years ago. No need to go into the grim details here but let this serve as a reminder to always wear eye protection when doing almost anything. My eye looks pretty normal, but what I see when I look out of it is anything but normal. (*1) And no, nothing is going to make it okay again as my cornea was sewn back together and I have copious scar tissue through which to view the world. But it's alright: I've gotten used to it!

Anyway, my regular eye doctor had noticed in the past couple of regular eye exam visits that it was noticeably blurrier. She recommended a laser procedure as a secondary cataract had formed behind my eye. I put it off last year as COVID prevented me from wanting to do a lot of things. But this year, after my exam,I decided to go for it.

Last Friday I had an experience that felt pretty sci-fi. I know that this laser technology has been the medical standard for quite some time now, but I don't undergo procedures often so it was novel. The cornea doctor is very relaxed about this procedure as she's doing it hundreds of times a year but I was a bit unnerved by the odd red light and strange clicking noises and her space-age helmet. It certainly didn't hurt while undergoing the procedure as my eye was numbed and it only took a couple of minutes. Afterward, on the way home, it felt (briefly) like someone had rubbed my eye with sandpaper and then put salt in it. That sensation passed quickly. Although my first application of the steroidal eye drops reinforced the salt-in-wound feeling. It was fine after that...

So two days after the procedure I can report no pain (good), no discomfort in applying the eye drops (also good) but I do have a few big black honking  floaters. You know how floaters are usually translucent and wiggly? There are two of these black spots that look like flies have come into view. I want to swat them! This is supposed to resolve soon... kind of annoying but normal. Other than that, I think that color seems to be a bit brighter but I'm not sure I'm "seeing" any less fogginess. I guess I'll have to wait a few days to really know what's up!(*2)

(*1) If you want to sort of approximate what I see out of my left eye, take a small piece of plastic or plexiglass and sand it. When you hold it up to your eye and close the other eye; it will be weird and foggy. You will still "see" but it will not be clear, distinct or articulate. It is like everything has been "generalized". Yes, you see the book shelf or the computer screen or the dog, but it will be as forms with no specific details. 

(*2) I reiterate: no, I will never see totally normally. Medical science cannot do that. I think the best my doctors and I hope for is less cloudiness. Too early to tell!