Awesome!

Last Saturday I had a hair appointment on the other side of town, so I thought I’d leave early and stop at the garden shop where I could buy some herbs and seed potatoes for my garden on the deck. I got in my Volvo and hoped things would go well with it. I never know! It seemed a little hard to drive, sort of like it did when I had all the trouble with it several months ago. I kept going, but I realized it was extremely hard to steer. I had to grasp the steering wheel very hard, because if I didn’t, the car would veer off to the left. I kept checking the brake and everything I could think of, but nothing helped. I just knew I’d better keep a firm grasp on the steering wheel if I wanted to stay on the road. I got all the way to the garden shop, got out and bought what I needed and went back to the car. It was then that I saw the left front tire. It was flatter than a pancake! I had driven a couple of miles on a very flat tire. I know now that’s what it feels like to drive with a flat tire, so I’ll be prepared for the next time. Why didn’t I know what was happening? Should I tear up my license and turn myself in for being stupid?

I called my towing company who said they would be over shortly. They asked if I had a spare, and I said I didn’t know as I’d never looked. So I hung up and found where the spare should be, and there it was. So I called back and told the girl that I’d found the spare, and she said, “Awesome!” I had to agree; it was pretty awesome. So when the guy got there to change the tire, he couldn’t get the flat one off! He had to sit down on the ground, brace himself, and yank and yank, finally getting the tire off. He told me, after he caught his breath, that the flat one had rusted on to something. That’s why it was so hard to remove. Before the tow truck arrived, a man stopped and offered to help me change the tire. I told him help was on the way, but he was very nice to offer. The poor guy had no idea what would have been ahead for him with the rust and everything! That was a random act of kindness by the man, so I’m thinking maybe I should contact NBC as they are always putting on videos of things like that. Unfortunately, I don’t have a video so will forget it.

I then called my mechanic’s shop and told Ken, the manager, that it was Patsy with the Volvo calling. Ken said “I know who you are.” They know me well over there. So I drove the car very carefully to their shop which is right near where I live. I wasn’t too sure about driving on the doughnut, but I went slowly and carefully. Ken looked at the tire and found a nail in it – surprise, surprise! So I left the old tire there and I’m sure they buried it as it was dead. Today I went back and bought two new front tires. I asked about keeping the good front tire as a spare, but you have to have the frame, or whatever they call it, to go with it. I asked if that was free, and he assured me it wasn’t. So I just kept the doughnut. I asked if I could do “layaway” like everyone is doing now, but he said no. So I came home. He told me he didn’t want to see me again for a long time – he said it in a nice way, I think.

My tire experience was actually pretty awesome. It could have been shitty, but I guess I was in a good mood. That always helps.