One
day back when they were still living in Chapel Hill and I was visiting,
Sarah and I went to a restaurant. Sarah was driving. We arrived at
the plaza, and Sarah went down a narrow alley where there was a small
area that can hold about 4 parked cars, right in front of the
sidewalk to Elmo's. The likelihood of the four spaces being already
taken was high which would necessitate Sarah's turning around, going
back down the alley and then parking in the lot behind the plaza.
This struck me as an inefficient way of going about parking.
To
Sarah's delight, and my chagrin, a space was available in the small
lot. She parked the car.
Why
is it that someone who runs long distances still wants the parking
spot closest to the store? I have always found this a mystery.
People will waste gas waiting for closer parking spots to become
available. Some folks drive up and down and up and down aisles of
parked cars looking for the closest spots. They likely do this at the
gyms where they pay money to exercise but feel compelled to park as
close to the front door as they can.
I
myself prefer the sure thing. The first space I see I am likely to
park in. The time it takes me to walk into the store or restaurant is
less than the time it would take to find a closer spot. And I don't
mind the walk, of course. Exceptions would be if it is raining, or if
I would like to look for a spot where I can pull up such that I won't
have to back out when I leave – the Jeep is fickle lately in
getting into reverse. So if I don't mind a longer walk, why do others
– especially the exercising others?
It
is really very simple. When I asked Sarah why she had to get so close
to Elmo's, she said, “It's the challenge, Mom.”
And
that explains it perfectly!
Why
does my husband have to do several things at once when he is driving?
Mike fiddles with the radio – he doesn't change stations so much as
he plays with the tone and all those other audio buttons that I could
go my whole life without even knowing those adjustment possibilities
existed! He sets the cruise control and resets, and releases and
resets. The air conditioner, heat, fan need to be touched repeatedly.
Sometimes my dearest has a cup of coffee in one hand, the hand that's
kind of controlling the steering wheel while adjusting the air,
radio, cruise control with his other hand while on the six-lane highway that is I-85!
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| Mike runs and bikes sometimes |
It
makes me so nervous. And I have to keep telling myself that Mike
likes the challenge of balancing all of those things at once and
really is in control. I almost convince myself.
I
won't even mention how the phone mixes into his driving –
catching a glimpse of a text that beeps its arrival or looking at the map
to see if there is a faster route. “Oh we've just lost two
minutes!” Mike sometimes exclaims while looking to change lanes and
possibly catch another route. And I do try to tell myself that when
he turns the volume up on the radio just as I start talking it is
more that he's just compelled to do something with his hands while listening to me rather
than that he is hoping to drown me out – but I guess that is a whole
'nother can of worms.
Anyway,
what do I challenge myself with? Well, it is not searching for what
others might call the perfect parking spot or juggling several operations while driving a vehicle.
One of the personal challenges I have occurred to me after a discussion one recent morning with
my darling husband. A discussion about the thermostat. Our electric
bill for this month was $111 – which is surprising considering how
hot it has been. Apparently the air conditioner has not run as much
as we thought. Some summer months in the past, the bill has been much
higher. Mike's thought upon hearing this month's bill is "perhaps we can afford to
have the house a little cooler! " And my thought was, “I know we can
get it lower than $111 next month!”
So
you can guess why this started a bit of a dialog!
Growing
up in the snow-belt of Western New York, well, we were always a
little chilly in the house in the winter – it was too expensive to
make things comfortably warm. And it was always a little, a lot, hot
in the summer – air conditioning for such a short season was too
extravagant. I got used to being a little uncomfortable each season - it was
economical, efficient, smart.
When
I was working in Western New York – there were actual lunchtime
boasts of whose home thermostat was lower than anyone else's. Co-workers bragged of having only enough heat in their homes to keep the pipes from freezing.
In my own apartment during the winter, I tried to have the temp
no higher than 65 – but the heating bill was still high, and I was always cold –
not a happy medium.
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| I got this |
But
I guess that is where I got the challenge – from childhood on - I can control utility
bills, just watch me!
This
makes Mike nervous.
And just like I told him that morning, he
is not getting the last word on this.
Excuse me while I go turn the
thermostat up – and I'll keep it parked there while Mike is at work
all day.....!
20200722
Perfect Parking Place
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