Shouldn't…but Do

Forget the calendar, I need only the garage door opener to remind me it is December.

Last week, I made the mistake of admiring the fact that the door was still working.  A year ago, the device broke in early December and financial straits being what they were, I was unable to have it repaired until early February.

Last Friday, in a rush to pick up my son, I exited the driveway, pausing as I pulled away to notice the garage door was going back up.  Furtive attempts at disconnection and other jerry-rigging were of no consequence.

The result of leaving my car outside in freezing rain was frozen car door locks.  Note to self, the old trick of heating up the key does not work on car locks anymore.

I scraped up some cash  for the service call, hoping the mechanism had not completely given me up for lost.

The diagnosis was a faulty bearing,  causing the motor to lose awareness of its limits.  It could not ascend high enough to admit, could not descend low enough to rest.

A restless machine, bearings shot, worn out of shape.  I viewed the torqued oblong metal piece – once in the round – misshapen by relentless stress to exceed its natural boundaries.

$75 and it is no longer confused.  Opens wide enough to admit my vehicle, closes gently at the level.  Something to that.