It worked.

I knew that I was now on the right track.

I inserted my pumps cigarette lighter adapter into the lighter outlet.  An LED on the pump blinked to life.

I attached the pump to my tire, turned it on, and it … died.

"What the heck?"  I thought.  I looked at the wires that I spliced (with my pocket knife) and sprinkled with my life blood.  I had taken small fine gage wires that were used for a low power CD player and spliced them with the heavy duty wires that were used to run the tire pump.   The plug was designed to power a CD player not a tire pump.  I assumed that the plug must have had some sort of internal fuse, and that I blew it.

"Sheesh" I said to myself.  "Lucky thing that I bought some quarters with me."

I then drove over to the nearest gas station.  I looked for air.  I knew that gas stations have air machines. There were none to be seen.

"This is nuts." I thought.

I drove my car over to our other gas station.

Unbelievable; no air machines there either.

I thought it strange.  No air could be found or purchased in my town on a week end.

I parked my car in my drive way (with its low tire) and told my wife that I was going to wait until Monday before going anywhere.  "At least the tire shop will be open then, " I said; "and I know that is the one place in town where I can hit them up for some free air…"

There is a point to this rant. Times and communities have changed.  We no longer live in a world of "Service Stations" and free air.   It would seem that the only air that is free now is the kind that is not compressed. .. At least I think that it is still free.

I see my town growing.  I see life changing.   Some people call this progress.    I wonder about this.  Is it really progress?  Are our lives any better because of change?  Is this change a step forward or is it a step in another direction.  All I know is that things "just ain't what they used to be…"