Screwed, Shoes, and Food

 

It's almost fall.

Almost.

That means football (the NFL kicked off tonight) and the World Series and autumn clothes and pumpkins and costumes and cooler temperatures (eventually) and...

Conferences.

I prepared to meet with Chris Hunt at the Hunt Scanlon offices this morning.

We get together roughly two weeks before any conference to have me do a read of the script. It's a fairly nerve-wracking experience in which I stumble through words that I should never stumble through along with words that I should.

OK, it's actually not that nerve-wracking but I'm internally all over myself. If anything, we are pretty loose but professional during the process. 

There are almost always challenging names and companies and concepts that I might be unfamiliar with. So we do the read and I head on my way. The speech then gets tweaked a few times up to (and during) the conference.

But I had to get there this morning and all was well until, wait, what was that beep? Why was my car saying my tire needed air? How bad could it be?

I put my window down and listened. I could hear the whirring.

Uh oh.

I stopped near an office building just off Exit 4 of I-95. I got out and looked. The tire was, basically, flat.

Well, it was worth popping the trunk open as the sweat began to build.

I grabbed my portable air pump, plugged it into what us of a different generation call the cigarette lighter, and let it go to work.

It took a few minutes, and I was now running late (more sweat) but I was able to drive to the office.

It could have been much worse, given the hot and heavy air of this morning.

It played in the back of my mind as I tripped over my tongue in Chris Hunt's office.

I couldn't just go to the tire shop when left. Oh, no. There was a podcast to record and I was determined to honor the commitment!

So I made the short trip back home and recorded.

With that done, I jumped back in the car and went to Mavis Discount Tire. Fortunately, they took me in with minimal fuss.

I took a walk and got lunch. Within minutes of my return, the car was ready.

A screw got in the tire. Who knows where? My driveway? A road? The parking lot at Heritage Financial Park? It doesn't matter. The tire was fixed and I was on my way home.

I got back and got ready for "Doubleheader." Of course, I'm still preparing for Saturday at 2 p.m. on WGCH, when Greenwich hosts Fairfield Prep.

I will give you one quick note: I hope you listen to the opening, to be played at 1:50. I'm quite pleased with it. You'll understand perhaps after you hear it.

With the show over, I thought it felt like a good night to go out. It was time for me to get my binder to start the football season with.

Off to Port Chester I went to go to Staples. I figured a walk around Target and DSW to look at shoes was in order. Besides, DSW sent me a coupon. Plus it would allow me some exercise as night approached.

It took some looking I found a new binder. It's the same type as my previous one, in black, versus the one I had in blue. It's just flexible enough and small enough to fit in my backpack and works best for rosters and notes and all of the other things I'm supposed to spend countless hours on per game*.

*It helps if you have rosters. Currently, I have one for Saturday. Rosters, people. I can't stress it enough.

One other football note: I very much considered doing a game on my own tomorrow night. I talked myself out of it after giving it some thought. We'll start fresh on Saturday. With the new opening that I'm excited for you to hear..

After the binder, I went to DSW which was in a certain level of disarray, much like Staples was. It is, after all, the first week of school and stores need some time to recover. But I did find something to my liking and, with a coupon taking thirty dollars off, I walked out with a rare (for me) shoe purchase. 

Which is good. It's time to up my game a little.

I wasn't done with my adventures. We needed a few things around the apartment, including dinner. Wegmans was a five-minute drive away so I ran there to grab what was needed, including a chicken quesadilla to eat.

Finally, I was back home.

With the tire light back on.

Hey, it could always be worse. Heavy thunderstorms passed through Duchess County tonight and Sean said he's in the dark.

It's football season.

I'll deal with the tire tomorrow, if necessary.

Hopefully, my blood pressure doesn't pop like the tire might.