Life doesn't have to be complicated!
by Irwin Lengel
(Lakeland, FL)
Yesterday was a great day even though it rained most of the day.
I had been putting off getting the car serviced (30,000 mile service) primarily because I needed to decide if I was going to have it done locally or take it back to the dealer which was approximately 113 miles away. We knew it would be about a two-hour drive but we preferred the service at the Daytona Beach Toyota dealer as compared to the local Toyota dealer. But, we also knew that should we go to Daytona Beach to have the car serviced we would also plan on getting there in time to walk on the beach prior to taking the car in for service.
In our humble opinions, Daytona Beach has one of the finest beaches in the states to walk on and is usually the beach we spend our anniversary celebrations at whenever we can book a time share there. By now you guessed it. We made the decision to call the dealer to set up an appointment.
Thursday morning - 11 A.M. Now we knew it would take 2 hours but we also knew how difficult it is sometime to get through Orlando traffic in the early - going to work - traffic hours. So, we set the alarm for 4:30 AM so that we would be on the road by 5 or 5:30 at the latest.
5:45 A.M we were leaving the house and I thought of some coupons we had in the car for a Free Coffee and Breakfast Sandwich at Race Trac gas. Hmmm, my tank wasn't but half empty but why not. So, we drove over to the Race Trac station and filled up ($3.49 per gallon) and got our coffee and sandwich to go. We were now on our way to Daytona Beach.
Fortunately, even though it was still dark, the rain hadn't picked up too hard. We had brief intermittent showers but the driving was pretty good plus we eventually drove out of the showers and the balance of the trip over was rain-free. Made it to the beach and was lucky enough to find a parking space within walking distance of the beach.
There is something about a walk on the beach in the early hours of the morning that makes one feel great to be alive. And this trip to the beach proved to be no exception.
The good news is that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves while walking the beach - the bad news is that it almost re-ignited the spark that my honey has for wanting to live at the beach. Financially that is probably never going to happen. And she concurred before we actually left the beach.
So we walked a bit and enjoyed the sunshine (yes, it stopped raining and we had a pleasant walk on the beach) before heading on to the car dealer so that we could have the car serviced. The servicing took a bit longer than I had anticipated but while there we were able to have a cup of coffee and a hot dog (also free as they have complimentary coffee and hot dogs around 11 AM for their service customers). Finally the car was done but then there was a mix-up regarding the discount I was to receive due to my customer status with them. They finally got the bill worked out to what I had expected it to be. We were finally able to leave to head home by 2 PM and while it wasn't raining when we left the dealership, we hit rain almost immediately upon getting on Route I-4 and had rain the entire trip home. But, I just stayed with the traffic and did not let the rain spoil what had been a great day. My honey took a peepy nap while I drove and we were home by 4 PM.
I don't know what it is about a day such as this was but both of us were completely wore out upon our arrival home and so, since it was still pouring outside, we got into some comfortable clothes and relaxed the balance of the day.
I did some work on the computer and then had dinner followed by watching some TV and retired about 9:30 PM. But, sleep did not stay with me as I was back up around 12:30 AM, sitting on the sofa reading my Kindle Fire because I could not sleep. However, after about an hour or so of reading along with a glass of milk, I got tired ...again ... and made my way back to the bedroom. Once I fell asleep (almost immediately) I remained asleep until almost 7 AM. At 7 though I got up and decided to start my day, stretching, showering and the usual necessities before heading to the kitchen for breakfast.
What does all this have to do with life not having to be complicated? Easy - just this - I could have been upset about waking up at 4:30 AM in the morning to drive over one hundred miles to have my car serviced when, in essence, there is a dealer within 15 minutes of my house. But, being retired, and loving our walks on the beach plus a chance to spend the day away just doing what we want and enjoy, I decided to make the appointment.
I could also have been upset due to having to drive home 115 miles or so in the rain but instead I just went with the flow and enjoyed the fact that we had just spent an easy care-free day doing something that satisfied both of us (the walk on the beach and the fact that I was keeping my car in tip-top shape should we decide to take another road trip in the near future).
When working, people cannot be as spontaneous, but being retired, well, we can practically do anything we set our minds to do.
Now that is not complicated!
