What made it fall apart today...

As soon as I merged onto the freeway on the way home from class, something felt wrong. It wasn't overt or obvious, but there was a sluggishness when I changed lanes.

A couple of miles later I changed lanes again, and something just seemed off to me. There was no loud noises and my passengers encouraged me to keep driving. But I had a strange feeling, so I pulled over and got out. There was smoke coming from the left rear wheel. Not a good sign.

I called a mechanic friend (great to have one of these btw) and he said it might be the bearings or a loose axle assembly. He suggested that I jack it up and check the lug nuts and the wheel to see if they were loose. So, I found the jack and placed myself between multi-ton vehicles flying by at 65mph and my car (I hate that feeling) and started to raise the car. Sure enough, after a few minutes of playing roulette with oncoming traffic, the tire was off the ground and it was VERY loose. It wouldn't have been much longer and the entire wheel would have come off... and this blog might be something very different... which of course got me thinking.

What else in my world is just about to fall apart? What's the difference between something working perfectly fine today, and tomorrow its useless or even dangerous? This has been an ongoing question for the past few years living in a 30 year old home. Most household appliances last 20-25 years. We have been replacing everything: oven, garage door openers, water heaters, furnace condenser pumps.... It just makes me wonder what other things in my world are on their last legs? How dangerous will it be when it finally stops working? Will it just die, or will it fall apart in some dramatic fashion?

I am not prone to living in fear, but it astonishes me how thin the line is between functionality and dysfunction. I suppose that applies to most things come to think of it.

Well, I encourage you to keep your radar up and alert. Trust your instincts and intuition. If something seems off, look into it. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had just kept driving.