Valuing confidence

I had to take an early bus into town inorder to walk to St German's for this morning's Mass with a class of children from Tredegarville school, as the car is still at the garage being repaired. Not long after the Mass ended however, I had a message to say it was ready, so I was able to walk just a mile from the church across from Adamsdown into Splott to collect and pay.

Hamid's stray baptism certificate turned up, so I countersigned it and sent a photo of it to his lawyer, before handing it over to him, ready for his tribunal appearance tomorrow. I'm very glad to have the car back from repair, to drive me to church for a nine o'clock rendezvous with him and Peter tomorrow, thus avoiding an even earlier start to get across town in good time, than today. 

The repairs were as expensive as when the tyres and exhaust were replaced. More than the car is worth maybe, but despite the wear and tear, the car is still worth the TLC. I think this whenever it's been serviced and runs well. It has an old fashioned solidity about it, and handles well on demanding roads. Finding a replacement to compare with it will be difficult. I don't suppose we'll get quite the same value for money expended on a wasting asset ever again. So we'll keep it a little longer and feel grateful for its general reliability. 

I remember the previous garage mechanic who serviced our cars, Terry Gibson, in Yate outside Bristol thirty years ago, saying that the time you must sell a car and get a new one is either when it is broken beyond economical repair, or, you lose confidence in its reliability and are not prepared to invest any more time, money or effort in it. Wise advice, and I'm sticking with this good counsel.

As I had to collect the car, I forgot that I had another eye test appointment after Mass. I couldn't have reached the clinic in time without a car anyway, and that hand't crossed my mind when I booked it in. Later in the day the eye clinic texted me to flag this up, and I was able to rearrange for a fortnight's time. What a nuisance for them. Yet, the receptionist was most gracious about my lapse.