I swear I was not planning to take the day off on Labor Day.
As it happened, I was on my way to work (honest!) when I noticed the temperature gauge climbing above 'normal'. So, I pulled over and opened the hood, and steam was coming from... somewhere under there. A lot of steam.
I filled the radiator from a jug I keep in the trunk, and I was just about a half-mile from Pep Boys, so I went there.
They were pretty busy since some of their techs were off for the holiday, but the manager came out and we discovered where the water was leaking; just about the worst place it could leak from, a hose at the back of the engine that comes from the heater core.
He said they couldn't possibly get to it that day, could I leave it?
I couldn't.
Despite the signs in the parking lot "absolutely no maintenance is allowed in the lot", the manager let me change the hose. He even loaned me the tools.
Three hours later, the hose was changed, I was covered with sweat, grease and coolant and dehydrated to the extreme ( it was ~93 degrees F) and wanted a beer.
So I didn't go to work. I labored instead.