Friday, January 23, 2009

Flat Out Flat

Last night one of my online buddies asked a group of us if we knew the term "flat-out." I had heard it, but wanted to give her something to look up, so I found a definition online.
flat out
adv. Informal
1. In a direct manner; bluntly: told me the truth flat out.
2. At top speed: running flat out.

I thought I could use that to describe what happened today. I had a "job" of sorts. There is a company in San Antonio that does studies to be used in law suits about vehicle accidents. They need vehicles like the ones used in the accident & they need people to "be" the accident victim, or surrogate. I always thought being a surrogate mom would be fun (no, not really, just that I liked being pregnant), but being a surrogate accident victim is faster and pays well.

Today they needed someone my size AND they needed a vehicle just like ours. So, we got paid for the van AND for me being there. I got there on time, but had to wait a bit for the right people to arrive and tell me to pull the car around back. As I got close to the back, the car felt like it wasn't quite right. When I got out & the man got in to pull the van into the bay, the tire looked low. When he pulled in, air was rushing out! My tire was going flat, in a hurry. It was going flat with rapid speed. It was becoming bluntly flat. Yes, it was flat-out flat! They needed the van THEN and they needed it with an INFLATED tire. I was so afraid they would tell me I'd need to go home & they couldn't use me, but they got a can of fix a flat to hold it through the session.

The money I received was about what I used to make with Pampered Chef in an average or even slow month as a director. It was WAY more than I am making right now at anything. It was hard to deposit that money and have to drive straight to the tire store. It seemed unfair to have to immediately give away a good chunk of change. I had plans to get a little bit of something to use for making cards & such to sell.

Then God reminded me that HE had provided that money for our NEEDS. We NEEDED a new tire. If I hadn't had this job, the tire probably would have gone flat somewhere else & we would have had no money to pay for a new tire. He also gave the guy at the tire store the grace to give me a better price for the tire we got than it cost. They were out of the lowest price type, so he offered me the next size at a $10 discount. It was still more than I'd just paid for a tire at Wal-Mart. I wasn't trying to bargain. I had no idea you COULD bargain. I just told him, um, flat-out, that it cost me less than that at Wal-Mart. He lowered the price so my walk-out cost was less than what we'd paid at Wally World.

If anyone's counting, this is our 4th flat tire since mid-October. Need a ride anyone? LOL!

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