Deja Vu Version 4.0

We woke up Thursday morning with a plan. We set an alarm and everything.

Here's the plan:
1. Put the patched tire back on the car and the borrowed tire in the trunk
2. Drive to Mr. Mhongo's place to tell him we'll drop the borrowed tire with the Nyika office in Mzuzu
3. Grab lunch in Rumphi
4. Drive to Mzuzu
5. Get gas, buy a tire, drop the borrowed tire at the Nyika office, use the internet
6. Get to Nkhata Bay before sunset so we can negotiate the tricky final ascent to our hotel
7. Kuche kuche or two, watch the sunset over Lake Malawi, whatever comes naturally

We are focused. We are determined. We are excited about this hotel overlooking the lake that the Cheese and Squeezy are raving about.

We got up early, got ready impressively fast for a group of five sharing a single bathroom, and packed up our stuff.

Jon and Dan went outside to get ready for the tire change and . . . rut-ro. The patched tire doesn't hold air.

So back we go for the fourth time in two days to the mechanic's yard. The mechanic said he could fix the tire but he would need an hour. We asked if there was anyway to do it faster since we were in a bit of a hurry. "How about a half hour? Is that possible?" "Sure, come back in a half hour." We didn't go anywhere. An hour later, the tire was patched.

We're an hour delayed before we even begin.