It’s been an up and down week. It started when I lifted my electric bike on to the bike rack to get it checked out. I got it down to the bike shop and then walked off down the road to the bank. About half way there I had shooting pains down my back and couldn’t breathe comfortably and it wasn’t going away.
On the up side I decided to visit the doctor at Hobsonville Point and it was by chance their first day open, I enrolled on the spot and Dr Ahmad was lovely. The pharmacy next door opened on the same day and is being run by what appeared to me to be two fifteen year old school girls. Apparently they both qualified about seven years ago and it is their business. You go young women! Both these services are literally two minutes from my new place as will be the coffee shop, the kebab shop and the convenience store. I am hoping to use the latter more than the former…
The following day I drove to work and admit that I did notice steam coming off the bonnet of the car but assumed that was some rain/heat transfer thing going on. Oh alright, I admit the temperature gauge was rising as well.
Today I visited the osteopath at the recommendation of my friend Patsy. Boy did that chap know how to press my buttons.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Shore-Massage-Therapy-Osteopathy/230810123674072
I drove off feeling suitably prodded and creaked and saw the temperature gauge on the rise as well as knowing I needed some new bulbs in the rear car lights. I also knew secretly in my heart, that my car needed servicing. So I drove down to Browns Bay where the blokes seem cheerful and honest and they are next door to the WOF place which is handy. With more prodding and poking but on the car this time, the verdict was that something was amiss with the temperature control, (lapsing now into vague terms). I was shown with some horror on his part, the filthy filter I was driving around with. It didn’t look too different from the filter on my vacuum cleaner so I couldn’t work up much of a sweat about it.
After a bit of negotiating, well not negotiating really, more just telling me it would be in the several hundreds I decided to leave my hot car there. He did tell me I had a very reliable and economical car and had it been European it would have cost a lot more. So sucks to my mocking friends who tell me I drive a farmer’s car or worse, a farmer’s wife’s car. I read the Dog and Lemon prior to my purchase and can report that the Toyota Camry is described as the safest and most reliable car on the planet. It also said it was akin to marrying your accountant as it ranked very highly on the boring scale.
So having abandoned my trusty steed, my solution was to walk around the corner to the bike shop and audaciously ride my bike back to Greenhithe, ambitious huh?
The lovely man at the bike shop had the pink peril all ready to go, clean, charged up and repaired. He loaned me a helmet (which, as it turned out, was fortuitous) and off I went. While mine is a Pedago, this company also makes their own and they are rather cool so if you want an electric bike I recommend them.
I started to relax after I reached the top of the hill and actually enjoyed going across country through pretty little bike trails. I did get a bit bewildered in Unsworth Heights, as of course I couldn’t use the motorway. Eventually found my way to Greenhithe. It was at this point that I became a little over confident and decided to go for broke and check out the building at Hobsonville Point.
All was well until the return trip when I was rounding a corner, missed the curbed and went ass over kite into a substantial planted area which had been subject to considerable flooding. If the entire Brickworks apartment owners had glanced out of the window at that moment and maybe they did, they would have seen me fall face first into the muddy abyss. If I hadn’t been the star of the show it would have been extremely funny. I would have taken photos as the depth was quite impressive but
I was sodden at the time and the schools were about to close for the day.
With as much dignity as I could muster, I clambered onto my dirt bike and tried to assume an air of unconcern as the hoards of school kids passed me. I shivered my way home praying the battery wouldn’t die on me and got under a hot shower. I have continued to find bits of bark and a few leaves on the floor and among my clothes.
Cost for the outing:
$30 Doctor ACC
$40 ACC Osteo
Free for my bike, so kind and thanks Bute Bikes
$xxx for the car
Loss of dignity- priceless
Future medical bills? Who knows, my back is sore in a whole lot of different places now.
I intend to stay put and keep on knitting and enjoying my hobby indoors. Have a good week, FG
No you dont! 
Fluffy George 