The Tune-up

The weather App on my iPhone displays an icon that indicates it will rain today. For the most part, this feature is usually accurate and I can rely on this technology to help with my daily routines. The App world has expanded to include all sorts of things such as Mapquest to help find driving or walking directions to any desired place, Ladytime which keeps your menstraul cycle on record to help with fertility decisions, or ShopSavvy, a bar code scanner that helps locate the best price on a product. If you can think of it, there is an App for it. It is all great, until you go a day without checking into your Apps and you wind up like me today. Unfortunately, I proceeded my first errand for the day without consulting with my App

For the first time in 9 months, my car gets washed by the brand-new car washing drive thu offered at a local Shell gas station on the corner of Talbert and Brookhurst. For $8 and an additional .10 cents off per gallon on your total gas purchase, you get the whole nine yards, The Works - power wash, buff, wax, and dry. This is a deal I cannot pass up and it is a service much needed to maintain the longevity of the car's paint job. Driving through the car wash made me think of how spoiled I've been. Dan has been washing my car and detailing it every single week, all by hand and free of charge. God bless his kind heart. The day seems overcast, but still relatively nice.

My car sparkles as it gets driven to Thien Tan's Auto shop to get an oil change and on the way, rain came pouring over the entire car. The car wash excursion that happened two minutes ago was a complete failure. A text message comes through just when I am thinking that my eight- dollar car wash is being washed down by the rain. It is a text from a close friend whom I consider my own family, he informs me about his passing mom. Suddenly, nothing is that important any more. My heart skips a beat as I remember his mom and her unconditional love for him and everyone around her. She was the kindest and warmest woman I know.

As I begin to think about her, I begin to think about all the unconditional love

that surrounds me and appreciate the ones I interact with on a daily basis and regret to neglect the ones who are out of sight. Pulling into the auto shop, I push these thoughts aside in order to give my car it's usual tune-ups. A simple 10,000 mile oil change was my original intent and although I knew my breaks are on its last few stops, I was hoping it will last long enough to hold me over for a few extra weeks. But it's time. The breaks' life line has expired.

I feel slightly weakened by unexpected tune-ups expenditures exceeding my budget, totalling $950. But as I drive away from the auto shop, I acknowledge life in the grand scheme of things and understand that with everything that exists on earth, each requiring maintenance and all of which comes with an unforeseen lifeline. I will care for and maintain my car for as long as it will be with me. There are no Apps in the world that will predict how long my car will be around, so each day that it is with me, I will keep it clean and shiney, maintained to the best of by ability, and to appreciate and love it day in and day out.