Why are the most basic things so difficult for so many people? It doesn't take that much effort to remember what day to take out the garbage, be somewhere at the time that you tell people you'll be there, or properly take care of the things that you own and care about.
My friend Mike is a great guy.
He is a family man, does well in his job, and owns a beautiful house.
Yet somehow his life seems to always be in disarray.
You know guys like Mike.
They wear designer suits but never take the time to get them dry-cleaned.
His home is more of an estate than a house yet the lawn is never mowed.
Maybe the most egregious of his errors is the way, or lack of way, he takes care of his car.
Mike drives the single nicest vehicle I have ever been in.
It is new, it is fast, it is expensive, and tons of fun.
My father always told me that if you perform routine maintenance to a decent car it will run forever.
At the rate Mike is taking care of little things, he'll need a new car in a few years.
We were driving around a couple of weeks ago and went past an oil change place.
I mumbled something about getting an oil change for my car and asked where he went when his vehicle was in need of service.
Mike mentioned a couple of local places and then the conversation moved to a different topic.
A few days later Mike picked me up to go to the driving range.
I noticed the sticker on his car and it said he hadn't had an oil change in more than a year.
The mileage was even more ridiculous.
He had gone close to 11,000 miles without routine maintenance.
I asked him why.
He shrugged and said that he hadn't had time but would get to it in the next few days.
Last night my wife and I went over to Mike's for dinner and drinks.
We had a fabulous meal, enjoyed great conversation, and at about 9:30pm decided it was time to head home.
Mike walked us to the door when I saw his car out of the corner of my eye.
I asked where he got his oil change.
Surprise, surprise, he hadn't gotten around to it.
Mike is really good to me.
He is a great friend, a trusted neighbor, and a lot of fun to be around.
I am tempted to ask him if I can borrow his car so that I can get him an oil change.
It takes less than a half hour and is vital to the long-term reliability of the vehicle.
Maybe the Mike's of the world are how car dealerships stay in business.