Paul’s Alignment Service

Paul’s Alignment Service is more than it claims to be. Yes, it is run by Paul. Yes, he does alignments. Yes, it is a service. But what I didn’t know going into things today was that Paul’s Alignment Service doubles as stellar entertainment.
Let me set the scene:
Late morning. A bright day that is threatening rain. Just outside of Standish. A house in the wood. A brilliant specialist.
I was dressed for success, hot off of a business meeting. I’d had this appointment for over a week and I needed it, too, the way The Duke was whallopping down the road like the wheels would fall off. I imagined I would pull up to a cement block shop, two bays and plenty of grease. I’d sit in the dingy waiting room and flip through some outdated magazines, the sound of pneumatic drills and metallic clanks just out of eyesight. Maybe I’d play around on my phone or call my Mom. This is the standard auto repair experience.
Instead, I turned off the main drag (if you could call Rt. 112 a «main drag») onto a pretty residential street. Thinking I was lost, I dug out my phone for the address when I saw the unassuming black and white sign in a well-​cared for lawn. A cedar-​shake house sat back from the road. I hesitantly pulled down the freshly sealed driveway to a matching two-​bay garage at the back. A little sign flapped in the breeze advertising the shop entrance. Inside, I found Paul, scuttling under a Camry, some kind of spider-​like devices clinging to each wheel. He greeted me, called me by name, and immediately took to talking about the weather.
The garage was neat and clean, one half storing some garage-​like supplies and what appeared to be an amazing yellow dune buggy, obscured by a tarp. The other half had a singular lift, just tall enough for Paul to kneel under. Only a few minutes past my appointment time, he swapped out the Camry for The Duke and set to work, flitting about the car turning this, lifting that, moving this, a whirlwind of activity all the while chatting without a break.
Paul and I laughed and talked on a wide variety of subjects such as gas mileage, the downside of all wheel drive, snow tires, ABS, driver’s education (or lack thereof), estate management, hoarding, junkyards, the rising price of equipment costs, global warming, drag racing, the death of mom and pop stores, antiques, clothing, and funeral costs. Paul brought things right back around again when the hour was up and he had finished fixing my car to the subjects of gas mileage and the downside of all wheel drive like the expert conversationalist that he is.
So I walked away from the experience with a smooth ride, an education, and an hour well-​spent. I suppose it wouldn’t do to start calling the place Paul’s Alignment, Philosophy, and Stand-​Up Comic Service but that’s really what it is.