Rolling

bad news: My right-front tire was flat when I left the office on Tuesday. I had known for a year or more that it was worn, but I put it off, and that's what happens.

good news: The truck was in the parking lot at work and not out on the road in some isolated place. It went flat while standing still and not going 70 in traffic.

bad news: The spare was flat, too. I had thought about replacing the worn right-front with the spare but didn't act on that intention, so I was unaware of its condition. I call the rec center and cancel my six o'clock class.

good news: Shamrock Towing can be there within an hour, and I call a tire store that's still open and might be able to fix me up tonight.

bad news: The tow truck can't get in the front gate because the security guard wants clearance of some kind.

good news: The tow truck got there in half an hour, and once in the gate, the driver was a decent guy. He knew the place where I wanted it towed, and on the way we talked about the price of living in Franklin County (higher) and Pickaway County where he lives (lower), how he doesn't mind the 40-minute commute in his beloved Honda, which has 300,000 miles on it.

bad news: The tire guy is done for the day and just about to drive off when we pull in. I give him the key to the truck, which I leave in the lot, and he says he'll have it done by 9:30 in the morning. We'll see about that.

good news: Zelda answers her phone and is getting in the car to come pick me up. I'm lucky the tire guy was still at his shop so we could make the arrangements, and I'm not surprised he couldn't get to it immediately. Zelda makes pasta, and I heat up some split pea soup, light a fire in the stove, and read a particularly poignant chapter of Dave Eggers' book in which he and his little brother make the transition from Waveland Avenue to a new living situation in California, go to the beach, throw the frisbee, hang out. I worked out a little and slept well.

bad news: Next morning Zelda drops me off at 8:30 on her way to work, and I fear I'm making her late. No sign of the tire guy, so I wait.

good news: 3C Food Shop is open, so I don't have to wait out in the cold, and the 24-hour video store next door is an even better place to spend the time waiting for the tire guy. The clerk at the counter, a dark, handsome woman with just a wisp of gray hair who resembles an actress on "Seventh Heaven," eyes me suspiciously at first because she's seen all kinds, but she doesn't have a problem with me looking around while I wait. I scan the shelves to see what their selection is like, and it's better than I expected, a wide variety of action, classic, current, mystery, comedy, soft porn, games, and "cult" DVDs.

bad news: The tire guy doesn't get there until 9:35 because it's snowing and he lives way north and his two employees aren't coming in at all, and he says nobody wants to work.

good news: Once he's off the phone with his amigo, he gets right on it, and I'm on the road in time for a cup of coffee before my eye exam.

bad news: I can't find the freaking optical office in the vast mall, although I walk past three other vision emporiums while absorbing the surrealistic morning sights and sounds of mall walkers, mothers with children, and upscale retail workers opening up for business in a grotesque display of conspicuous consumption that is Sprawlville, USA, where Amerika shops.

good news: It only takes a few minutes to fill out the form, and Dr. Stein remembers me from other eye exams years ago at City Center, which is now dying a slow and painful commercial death. He is deft and thorough and finds no unexpected problems, although my far-sightedness has increased.

bad news: The only new frames I like will cost a hundred dollars extra; lineless trifocals will cost seventy dollars extra; I'll settle for new lenses in my trusty old frames.

good news: The vision coverage in my health plan pays for it. I escape the mall experience unscathed and make it to work a little before noon.