The Broken 45 …..

Some time early in my life the tone arm must have dropped with force driving the record needle deep into my vinyl back and thus creating an endless repeat of aggravations. My stories, though varied, seemingly tend to share a similar theme to the ones previous for I am a vinyl 45 rpm with a scratch …..I am the proverbial broken record. Thats what I was thinking as I headed home today from what most would deem a very simple task.
Way back in history when I purchased my first car the attached tires could be topped up with air at any gas station , any where, anytime . Just drive up to the American made “air pump”, crank the handle to the appropriate psi and wait for the bell to stop dinging ….no charge, thank you very much. I’ts not the present $1.00 charge that bothers me now so much as the hassle of finding an “air pump” thats operable as was proven again today.
The first place I stopped to top up the right front had removed its pump altogether thus beginning my all over town search for air. Second stop confronted me with the familiar Out of Order sign we’ve all grown familiar with taped to its face. Stop three set the tone of the day by glibbly accepting my money before permitting its defective Chinese nozzle to allow more air to escape the tire than it was capable of putting back in. I soft tired it over to stop four to take note that someone had removed the little lever to operate the nozzle…..
Stop five was bliss….I even threw an extra buck and vacumed the vehicle while I thought about buying a Chinese compressor in order that I might be able to suffer any future aggravations from the comfort of my own home.
So for now the air I breathe might still be free…but for how long if I must depend on the Chinese to put it in my tires ….