A day in balance?

So, on Thursday, I tried to do things in moderation. Well, at least I tried. I'll let you be the judge.

I was awaken from my slumber at the crack of dawn. Oh, all right. I was awaken by my cel phone going off at 11 am after sleeping soundly for twelve straight hours. (For some reason, this always happens after the semester ends.) A good start for the day as far as I see it.

On the phone, my friend called asking for a favor. As I groggily asked him what that favor was, he told me that he had a flat and didn't have a jack. I agreed to help him and started packing my jack, tool box and breaker/cheater bar into my vehicle. I drove twenty minutes to where his car was after the tire blew out and handed him the jack. We changed the tire and installed the doughnut (which was also flat) after inflating it.

He offered to purchase lunch (breakfast) as a thank you, and I went with him to get his tire replaced. When we got to the place he bought the tires (which happens to be a large, membership only place whose name happens to begin with a C and rhymes with pro), they told us that the tire would be changed in an hour. We walked around the place, sampling the many items they offered and squandered an hour away.

When we got back to the tire place, the guy rudely told us that the tire would not be covered under warranty because it had been driven on for a significant amount of time while flat. When I pointed out that my friend had his car within a few hundred feet of where the car had blown out, this guy walked back to the shop and talked to the mechanic for a few minutes. Then he walked back declaring that even if he did cover it under warranty, the prorated amount would have been five dollars.

At this point, even though it was not my car, I was getting upset with his attitude. He had already berated my friend unnecessarily in a manner that showed a certain animosity that, up to now, I had never experienced. I know that recently, there has been a great amount of anti-hispanic stories in the news, but being asian, had been largely untouched by it. I couldn't believe it. This is New York, the cultural melting pot, or so we claim. How can this be?

I counselled my friend, who was inches short of attempting to do serious harm to this idiot, that we should just go somewhere else for a tire. He agreed to go and we told the guy to get the car off the lift. I should mention that my friend is a trainer in muay thai, so he would have caused a lot of damage to this guy. I couldn't stand by and let it happen, no matter how much the guy had earned that beating.

We went to another place that I had a lot of good will towards and the guy treated us with respect. He told us that all four of the tires were pretty much worn out and needed replacement soon. My friend opted to replace all of his tires at once. This store made nearly five hundred dollars merely by how differently they treated my friend and I.

If the idiot at that large warehouse type place with membership only had simply presented the facts in a different way, that money would have gone to them. We both commented on how little business they were doing lately, and we both drew the same conclusion as to why business seemed so weak there. Perchance, the idiot had something to do with the decline in clientele?

After that, my friend drove to work, and I, being employed on the weekends only, drove to the beach. Yeah, it's a hard life, but someone has to live it, right? ;) I stayed there for a couple hours with the intention of letting my skin get a bit of sunshine. I was wrong. I came out after two hours looking like an asian lobster. I had forgotten to bring sunscreen, and well, you can imagine what I look like.

Then, I met up with some friends and we went out to play paintball for a few hours. I had plenty of fun shooting people out and having them come to me afterwards telling me how I got them out. It's great how you can just legally shoot someone and have them come back for more. Also a great way to get any stress out of your system if you so desire. After we ran out of paint, we went out for a bite to eat.

After dinner, we all went to see the midnight showing of X-Men. Another thrilling and exciting chapter in this enourmous saga. I won't spoil it for you, but if you're the emotional type, you'll leave bawling your eyes out. Just remember Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings when you watch it.

So, what do you think, did I keep things in balance? This short week is supposed to make up for three months of stress that I put myself through over the semester. For once, this mini-vacation was a much needed antidote to how the past few months had gone. Last night, I went back to work, going to a location in the city and setting up a PA system for a conference. As of today (I'm going to a gig in the Hamptons), I'll be working the entire weekend all the way until Tuesday. If I am still able to lift my arms up at that point, I will let you in on that good bit of news I have been holding out on.