My car in a place I’d rather be than sitting waiting for an oil change 

waiting, oil change task;

quick time promise dashed to bits

time unproductive

by Angie Quantrell

I ALWAYS have something on hand to do if I have extra wait time. Except for today. When, through a fluke of the nature of the beast (cars and things that can go wrong), I ended up with over an hour of wait time. This business requires customers to stay inside car. Keys are placed in a safety box. No radio. No book on CD. No steno pad. No newspaper or magazine.

What? How can that be true? Alas, I was sure it was a 20 minute stop and I’d be back home writing away.

After one hour 10 minutes, I was still waiting for a replacement plug. My honey came and got me and dropped me off for a quick lunch. I wrote tiny notes on my pocket-sized pad of paper as I (again) waited for food. I took off with his truck to get home while he waited for the car. Probably 2.5 hours? That was one LONG oil change. If they rate efficiency, my visit tanked their numbers.

But rest assured, they say I am good to go. No leaking oil, no stripped plug, no engine burning up. At least for now.

How about you? What do you do with unexpected wait time? I’d love to read your comments. Bonus points for writing a response in haiku!