Roadside assistance…
Well, it didn’t start well. I came out of my all day appointment to find the drivers side rear tire completely flat. After a week of fixes and frustration, it simply let go. I was over an hour from home, on a sketchy street in a city I don’t know/like, and all I wanted to do was go home to play with my new puppy…
So, I quickly assessed my rescue situation and realized no-one was likely to be able to swoop in and take care of this. I’ve become rather accustomed to the rescue thing, you know married to a hero and all. In any given situation I have a handful of folks I can call on to take care of things. I know a guy. I texted my guy … he said call someone to take care of it.
This afternoon, I thought, well I can do this. I am not a helpless female unable to take care of myself. I am in no real danger, I don’t even have anywhere I really need to be. So, I pulled out the donut from the back of the car and began work. I calculated, as I fumbled with the jack, that it had only been 32 years since I did this. I distinctly remember changing the tire on my 1984 VW Cabriolet. How hard can it be?
So, parking in an oil slick wasn’t a great start. My work shoes slipped over the pavement, and I wasn’t really sure I should kneel in that black splash I could see glistening on the pavement. I found all of the pieces, but for the life of me couldn’t figure out how to put them together to raise the car. I was certain that I must be doing something wrong, and people were looking out the window laughing. Seriously, this is not the engineering I remember. I pulled out my phone and googled the directions, and was delighted to find that as awkward as I felt, I had it. Next, I had to find the slots on the undercarriage, the sliding shoes, and dress pants didn’t help, but I found it and managed to raise the car of the wheel. People who climb mountains do not feel more exhilarated than I did.
I quickly came back down to earth when I realized the “crowbar” had no leverage and there was some weird lock on the lug nuts. I was now an hour in… I raised the white flag and called for help. I did, however, leave the car raised… just so the nice man in the tow truck could see that I can handle stuff. You can be sure that I watched to learn about this locking lug nut situation and will be ready to handle it next time…
Two trips around Worcester, and I was back in business with an $18 fix and all four ready to roll. I drove home glad that I don’t often find myself in these situations. Keith is my guy for this stuff. He is handy in just about every area, and always ready to come to my rescue. There are just so many things I don’t ever have to think about. Today, I appreciated that just a little more.
This is part of the Write 31 Days challenge. Click here to follow along.
