As the truck tire entered the hole in the parking lot the wheel had a brief but significant encounter with the drainage grate.

When all was over I had a flat tire and a bent wheel.

The local shop said they would try to fix it (no guarantees) and it would cost $150.

They broke the wheel trying to fix it (hence the no guarantees) and promised they could get me a new one in 1 day for $300.

What would we do without the internet?  (Thank you Al Gore).

A few clicks later I found a distributor in Michigan and ordered a brand new wheel for $135 with free shipping.

Imagine my surprise when a week later the UPS driver delivered to my door my brand new wheel plus 1.

Yep, a mix up in the shipping department netted me 2 wheels instead of 1.

I know for most of you, like me, it wasn’t even an issue of keeping the second wheel.

That’s just not part of who we are.

My surprise came to the reaction of the store when I called to inform them I had mistakenly received 2 for 1.

Thanks and appreciation for my honesty – more thanks and more appreciation in an email with the return shipping label.

My point is not to toot my own horn for something I would expect we would all do.

My point is how sad when honesty becomes the exception not the rule.

We’ve had several straight days without rain here in sunny Stockton.

Seems odd.

We got used to rainfall – those of us with webbed feet anyway.

I’ve got some fencepost holes to dig before the grown dries out.

A group of students from Harding University have chosen to spend their spring break doing service projects in Stockton.

Given the choice between Miami Beach and Stockton I think we all know the obvious choice.

They are working hard and working well.

The student who gives up spring break time to go someplace and work is probably an all around good student.

Still, they are good ambassadors for their school.

High school softball has begun and our girl played in her first tournament as a varsity player.

The first day of the tournament was a tough welcome into the world of varsity sports:  She lost her first start as a varsity pitcher and went 0 for 5 (for the day) at the plate.

The second day of the tournament yielded quite a different result:  She won her first game as a varsity pitcher, went 5 for 6 (for the day) at the plate and her team won first place in their pool.  Sure it was the losers bracket but hey – of all the losers they were # 1!

In the first game she launched this shot to the wall in the center field gap:

Her next at bat she bounced one off the wall in left:

Her next at bat she punched a grounder in between 3rd and short:

Yep, one shy of hitting for the cycle isn’t bad for a day at the plate.

Good for her the memory of her first varsity tournament ended with day 2 instead of day 1!