Car Update

Sigh....

The car ran fine all the way to Wheaton. Where upon my arrival, my- oh so detail oriented- husband noticed that the bracket that holds the muffler on was broken in half. So he'd have to fix it. We then went to the lake for the weekend. We got back on Sunday around 3:00, where he decided he'd have to weld it since there were no stores open on Sunday in this small town. (now...why oh why, didn't he think to go to Fergus Falls to buy the part where we were on Sunday already, minutes away from the lake, I do not know. But I can tell you, that is what I would have done. But that's just me and my silly women's logic.)

So... He welds this thing on, and decides to tinker around with several other things to make sure I am good to go. Which I'm fine with because I'd rather have it safe than not. I'm just anxious to get back because I don't want to get back in the middle of the night again.
Finally, by 6:00 the car is ready for me to go.

Everything seemed to be going good until I got about 45 minutes away from home. I had just stopped at this very cool truck stop/travel center, bought some fresh bread (they have a great bakery/restaurant there, and had just finished munching on my sour cream and onion lays potatoe chips. Going.... oh probably 75 miles an hour. (I say probably, because the care has no speedometer) I notice that the alignment is off. But I'm not sure because I'm going around a turn, so maybe it's just me being paranoid. Then suddenly there is a loud thud/bang. And ALOT of smoke. Then thump! thump! thump! thump! thump! thump! I had a flat tire. In the left lane. In the middle of lots of traffice because the cities traffic is really thick at 8:00 at night on sunday. So I pull over as best I can and drive into the median. Which is a ditch. A steep ditch.

Remembering all those wonderful death stories on the news about people changing tires on the side of the road, I made sure I pulled into the ditch pretty well to avoid getting bruitally squished by something while tinkering around on this hunk of junk. Excuse me, I mean, "classic piece of muscle car".

I knew I was in for it, because I had never seen a spair tire on this thing. Nor did I know where Darin's jack was. It was all very frustrating to me because, had I been in my beloved -may he rest in peace- car, "Forest". I would know exactly how to do all of this.
So.... First things first. Call Darin to tell him what is going on. Call my Aunt and my cousin. In case they are in the area and can help me. Or stop off for coffee in the ditch.

Second. Find the frickin' tire. Call Darin, ask where it is? Get no good answers because he's more concerned with, I don't know what. My cell phone is dying and all I want is the facts.

Third. Found the tire, now have to find the jack. "What the fuck is this?!!!!" It's some crappy devise that takes me 10 minutes to figure out how to use. After calling Darin again, on my soon to be dead cell phone, he can't seem to tell me where the rest of the jack components are. Wonderful!

I finally get all together and start looking for a place to put this stupid bumper jack on. (aka the bumper.) BUT my bumper is so low that I can't get it under there because of the blow out. So as I'm about to throw a fit in the median, a state trooper pulls up. Turns out, even though part of why I was so irritated was because I was thinking, "had this happened to me in Texas, One of those guys that drives around looking for just this sort of thing would have found me by now, and been able to help me", someone on a cell phone had called and said there was a car in the ditch somewhere. So that was nice. Someone cared. Even know noone stopped for me. But I'm going to look up the state trooper phone number and put it in my cell phone to use if I ever see anyone needing help! Much much safer than pulling over to help!

So Woo hoo! State trooper is here! He then helps me get the jack under the bumper and we're on our way! woo hoo! He gets the tire off, and the spare on..... But... my luck is so fabulous tonight. The spare is completely flat. I now need air. He sends a second trooper off for an air compressor. The guy returns withing 20 minutes but the compressor doesn't work. So now I have to call a tow truck to come fill my tire. Another 20 minutes goes by.... All while I have one state trooper sitting in the ditch with me with all his lights on. All very very exciting. The guy fills my tire with air, and I am charged $45.!!!!!! I now have no money for the rest of the week. Sucks being poor.

Finally. FINALLY by 9:30 we get my car moving again. But now the challenge is getting out of this ditch into rush hour-like traffic. I thought I might pop a tire trying to get out of there. And let me also add, that is possibly the scariest thing I've ever had to do. It's already hard to judge cars in the dark, and I've got to get into the fast lane as well. I'm surprised I didn't freak out more than I did. Actually. I think I kept my calm pretty well. The most imbarrassing part is that the state trooper waited for me to get out, and so did the tow truck.

So I drove home with people wizzing by me on the left. Even though it was a full size spare, I was scared to death. So I just chugged along until I got home. Where I quickly collapsed into my bed. After calling my husband to let me know I was finally home.

The sweetest part of this whole mess was that he told me he had tires loaded in his truck, ready to head out on my next call if I had needed him. Isn't that just the sweetest thing ever? He'd head out 2 1/2 hours to find me in a ditch. Now that really must be love!.