Happy Sunday steaming Steemians and welcome to my blog. I hope His light shines upon you and be gracious to you this day. Meanwhile, let me fill you in on my yesterday.
Yesterday was one of those days, a perfect example of "man proposes but God disposes". I started off early as usual committing my day to the Almighty for His guidance, protection and provision. Then I drank a liter of water and cleaned up. My major appointment of the day wasn't until midday, so I just stayed home to prepare and brainstorm on it. I had been called for a consultancy job in a beauty school in town the previous day. I was excited about this because it's one of those opportunities where I have the chance to showcase my skills, groom young, aspiring hair and beauty specialists and also contribute to the growth of the beauty industry in our country.
At about 11 am, I showered, dressed up and left home. I had driven for about 10mins on our bumpy road leading out of my neighborhood when suddenly I heard a strange and uncomfortable noise coming from below the car. I didn't want to believe that I was going to have a breakdown. I stopped the engine, went down and checked but couldn't see anything, so I got in and tried again. The noise was still there and even more so because the road was really bumpy. I understood that such a strange sound couldn't just come from nowhere, something serious was certainly wrong and if neglected could cause even greater damage. Luckily for me there's a car repair garage just at the entrance to my neighborhood, so I drove very slowly and carefully in a snail-like manner so as not to cause more damage to the car.
I got to the garage, explained everything to the mechanic who looked below the car but could see anything either. The only option he had was to take off the front tire on the driver's side, where the sound was coming from to check. Guess what? Lo and behold, a part of the shock absorber was brocken🤦♂️. The only solution now was to buy a now one because it's not a part of the car that's advisable to be weldered. And to give the car adequate stability I had to change both shock absorbers at the front, if not one will be new and the other old.
Picture showing brocken part, taken and modified by me on Samsung Note 10
I was already running late and I'm not one to ever go late for an appointment and this wasn't going to be different. I knew my appointment wasn't going to be long since we just had to agree on the job to be done and payments. So I left the car there, told the mechanic I'll be back soon, and hopped on the next passing bike to my appointment. Thank God I got there on time and the school manager wasn't even there yet till about 20 minutes of wait at the reception area.
He came in all apologetic for keeping me waiting. Little did he know I nearly would have been the one in his late coming shoes😅. He ushered me into his office and we went through all the details and finally agreed. This took us about 2 hours of back and forth (money palava no easy at all). I finally signed and left. So work starts with them pretty soon😊. What do you think was next on my mind? Your guess is as right as mine👌.
I immediately called the mechanic to start undoing the parts to be replaced so that when I get there, he'll go buy them. When I got there, he was undoing the last one already. So I went with his advice of purchasing new ones and not second handed because he wouldn't be sure if they'll last, besides he wouldn't want to be known to have done a bad job. I gave him 70,000frs for both (about 648 steem), then he took the references and went and got the new ones.
A new pair of front car shock absorbers
It took him a while to fit them all when he returned. He is a very diligent mechanic who would not rush over stuff. I followed every step and watched him work with passion. He was done a few minutes past 6pm, then I took the car for a test drive and it was perfect👌. I paid for his labour, 10.000frs (about 94 steem) and we said good bye.
My return home from there wasn't far since I was just at the entrance of my neighborhood, but it seemed pretty long this time because after this experience, and having spent 80,000frs in all (about 740 steem), I was more conscious. Before reaching home, just close-by, I stopped to buy puff puff which I would eat with some beans we had at home.
I eventually got home at about 8 pm, showered, ate my puff puff and beans. I was mentally, physically and financially🤣 worn out and couldn't give in to my brothers request of us watching a movie together. I retired for the night. At about 9:30pm.
My dinner
I learnt this day that:
- Plans can be altered at anytime by forces beyond your control. Go with the flow.
- We should always keep our calm no matter what. That permits us to keep things in perspective.
- There is always an alternative solution when things go against our plans. Do you remember how I left the car and took the bike to my appointment?
- Let the plans change but never alter the objective or better still, stay on the goal.
- We should always pick the lesson taught by a disappointment. Now I'll drive differently in and out of my neighborhood.
- Last but not the least, that God's plans for us are plans to prosper us and keep us safe. Who knows what would have happened if I took out the car to the road🤷.
Thank you dear readers for sharing in my day and I also hope you picked one or two lessons from my experience.
Until my next post, have a blessed Sunday.
One love👊