But, this time I told Charlie I had a low tire and asked if he could use his compressor to pump it up. The compressor is in the RV, which is still at the RV Specialists. He said he would go across the street and see if our neighbor had a portable compressor.
I got busy in the house and a few minutes later Charlie came in. I said “Did you get air in my tire?” He said “Yes, I took it to “Joe and Pat’s Garage”. I started to say “Where?” and then I got it. He went to our neighbor’s. We call him “Mr. Pat” and his son is Joe. Mr. Pat has everything in the world in his garage. He is the “go to” guy for all of us.
Charlie walked over and asked if they had a portable compressor. Joe said “You got a flat tire? Bring the car over.” Charlie brought my car over. Joe took the tire off, found the hole, patched it and inflated the tire and put it back on. It took maybe ten minutes.
Mr. Pat is maybe in his mid-60's. He used to work at the National Steel Shipyard. He did welding and pipefitting. He had a really bad accident one day. Now he is disabled from working. He has nerve damage in his legs. He can walk, but can’t stand for anything to touch his left leg. He always wears shorts with the left side pinned up. When we first met him, I thought it was strange until we learned of his injuries. He says he is always in pain, but it is managed.
It’s unusual for Mr. Pat’s garage door to be closed. Even late at night sometimes, when Mr. Pat can't sleep, he is in his garage doing something. The door is open and the fluorescent lights shine out onto his driveway. If you can't sleep, you can always wander over and talk to Mr. Pat.
When Charlie was in Pennsylvania and I was here alone, it was comforting to know that Mr. Pat was there in his garage. I've been awake at 1:00 am and looked over to see his garage open. My neighbor, Bridgit, also said she feels safe as long as he's there. Her husband sometimes works overnight.
Sometimes when Charlie needs a tool or needs to ask how to do something, he looks over to see if Mr. Pat’s garage is open. If it’s not, we don’t go over because we figure Mr. Pat is lying down. Sometimes his leg starts bothering him and he has to get off of his feet for awhile.
Charlie and I went to Las Vegas with Mr. Pat and Paulette one time. They used to go out there a couple of times a year. We really enjoyed that trip. We stayed at the Golden Nugget, which is where they liked to stay, and then went down to the big, new casinos on the strip.
Mr. Pat and PauletteLas Vegas
Although it was February, Mr. Pat wore his dressier shorts, but the left leg of the short was pinned up. I wondered if people would stare, but if they did, I didn’t notice or care. Neither did Mr. Pat.
In Las VegasI think it’s been at least six months since Mr. Pat and Paulette went to Las Vegas. They had planned to stay for three nights. We were surprised to see that the car was back the next day. Apparently Mr. Pat’s leg was just bothering him too much and he couldn’t get comfortable when he tried to rest, so they just came home. Paulette said that they probably wouldn’t be going back for awhile, if ever. It’s a shame because they really loved going out there.
There’s no more Vegas, but now every few months, Mr. Pat’s garage is the place where “Texas Hold ‘em” is played. Charlie is always invited to play and sometimes he wins and sometimes he loses everything right away. But, he stays and watches and has fun. They’re all a bunch of characters and he comes home and tells me the stories.
I’ve been invited to play, but I hardly know how the game works and I would need to practice a little before playing with these guys. But, maybe when Patti and Bob come next week, we can have a few hands. Bob has a regular “Texas Hold ‘em” game every week.
I wish our cats could learn to relax!Lexi
More later.........
No comments:
Post a Comment