Tuesday was spent at the doctor’s office with my dad, following up on his broken nose. After examining him, the doctor decided not to do anything since he could still breathe through it without any difficulty. Dad actually broke his nose when he was a kid, so it was already a little crooked. I guess he’s had decades to get used to a nose that doesn’t point due north.

My plans to go fishing on Wednesday changed when my son called early that morning saying his air conditioner had quit working.

I haven’t had to do much HVAC work since I retired, so it took me a little longer than usual to diagnose the problem. It didn’t help that there were actually two problems. After several hours, two trips to the hardware store, a new thermostat, and a new capacitor, his air conditioner was finally back up and running. It felt good to know I hadn’t forgotten everything I learned after 32 years in the business.

My daughter told me on Sunday that she wanted to go fishing. Since she had a hair appointment on Thursday, she decided to spend the night and get an early start the next morning.

We fished for several hours before either of us had any luck. Her luck changed first when she hooked a big fish, but it got off before she could get it to the kayak. Then my luck changed when I finally landed one. Unfortunately, my good fortune lasted about five seconds.

As I was handling the fish, my phone slipped out of my pocket and disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again.

My daughter actually climbed out of her kayak and tried feeling around with her feet to find it, but it was gone. This is the second time my phone landed in the water, and you’d think after the first time I’d have learned my lesson. I have a phone tether on order now that should arrive tomorrow.

As the saying goes, a day late and a dollar short.

Needless to say, we called it a day and headed home.

After unloading the truck, I spent the next several hours at the phone store getting everything transferred to a new phone. It wasn’t exactly how I had planned to spend my afternoon, but at least I got to spend the morning on the water with my daughter.

I’d gladly trade a phone for memories like that… although I’d really prefer not to make it a habit.